Early Life
Snyder was born on 5 November 1759 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Moravian parents, Anthony and Mary Elizabeth (née Knippenberg) Snyder. His father was a mechanic, and had emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1758. After his father's death in 1774, Snyder apprenticed himself to a tanner in York, Pennsylvania, and employed his leisure in study. In 1784, Snyder moved to Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, where he opened a gristmill, and was justice of the peace for twelve years. His residence still stands at 121 North Market Street.
In 1790, Snyder married Elizabeth Michael. They had two children. Unfortunately for the Snyders, Elizabeth died in 1794 and left her husband to raise the children. Snyder did, however, remarry. With his second wife, Catherine Antes, he raised another five children. In total, Snyder fathered seven children.
Read more about this topic: Simon Snyder
Famous quotes related to early life:
“Many a woman shudders ... at the terrible eclipse of those intellectual powers which in early life seemed prophetic of usefulness and happiness, hence the army of martyrs among our married and unmarried women who, not having cultivated a taste for science, art or literature, form a corps of nervous patients who make fortunes for agreeable physicians ...”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)