SHEBOYGAN HISTORY

Jacques Sneider, Page 360

JACQUES SNEIDER.  Since 1861, the gentleman whose history we will proceed to trace has been numbered among the honored and representative citizens of Sheboygan County, and has been engaged in farming of section 5, Wilson Township, during the intervening years.  He was born in the eastern part of France, September 20, 1834, and is one of the four children of Jacques and Mary Sneider.

    During the youth of our subject he pursued his studies in both the French and German languages and is now a good English scholar.  he learned the shoemaker's trade in his native land, which vocation he followed for seven years after his arrival in America, since which time he has given his entire energies to agricultural duties.  He took passage from Havre, France, in a sailing-vessel, his destination being New York City, where, at the end of thirty-four days, he safely arrived.  On landing in the great metropolis, his capital was only $20.  After working for two years at his trade in that city, he went into the country and worked for six years.  Starting Westward, Mr. Sneider arrived in this county in 1861, and with the carefully hoarded savings of years, he purchased seventy acres of land, only twenty of which had been cleared.  He paid $18 per acre, and upon the land erected a small frame house.

    On the 1st of November, 1861, occurred the marriage of our subject with Miss Mary McManus, a native of Ireland.  Unto this worthy couple have been born three children, all living.  Isabel is the wife of George Kennedy, a carpenter and joiner of Manitowoc; Francis and Nellie are at home.  The Children received good English educations and are thus equipped for the battle of life.  The mother has proved a valuable helpmate to her husband, and numbers many friends in Wilson Township, which has been her home since 1861.  the family are members of the Catholic Church of Sheboygan, of which Father Van Treeck is the pastor.  Mrs. Sneider was eighteen years of age when she came to America, and she made her home for eight years after her arrival in New York State.

    The first Presidential vote of Mr. Sneider was cast for Gen. George B. McClellan, since which time he has been in the ranks of the Democratic party, though not an active politician.  Preferring to attend to his farming interests, he has not accepted official honors to any extent, though he was prevailed upon to act as Township Treasurer for one term.  He has the confidence of his fellow-citizens, is kind-hearted and generous in disposition, and has always been a man of his word.  He has ever borne his share in benevolent work, is public-spirited, and is a valuable citizen.  He well merits the success which has attended his business enterprises, as he has always been a hard-working and economical man, and by these means has risen to his present position as one of the progressive farmers of Wilson Township.