Simon Snyder
| Simon Snyder | |
|---|---|
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| 3rd Governor of Pennsylvania | |
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In office December 20, 1808 – December 16, 1817 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas McKean |
| Succeeded by | William Findlay |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 5, 1759 Lancaster, Pennsylvania |
| Died | November 9, 1819 (aged 60) Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican Party |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Michael (1790–1794; her death) Catherine Antes (1796–1810; her death) |
| Religion | Lutheran |
| Signature |  |
Simon Snyder (November 5, 1759 – November 9, 1819) was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, serving three terms from 1808 to 1817. A Jeffersonian Democrat, he served three terms as speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives before becoming governor. The politician started his business career as a tanner and owner of a gristmill; his first electoral office was as justice of the peace.
He led the state through the War of 1812. Following the conclusion of his third term, he was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate. He died of typhoid fever in 1819 before he began to serve. He was the first governor elected in Pennsylvania who was of German descent.
Snyder was born on November 5, 1759 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to parents who were ethnic Germans. Anton Schneider and Agnesa Krämer (née Knippenberg) Schneider reared him in the Lutheran church. His father was a mechanic, and had immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1744 from Germany, part of a large wave of immigrants from there in the 18th century. After his father's death in 1774 when Snyder was 15, the youth became apprenticed to a tanner in York, Pennsylvania, in order to learn a trade. He used his limited leisure time for study.
In 1784, Snyder moved to Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, where he opened a gristmill. He was elected as justice of the peace, serving for twelve years. His residence still stands at 121 North Market Street and is now known as the Gov. Simon Snyder Mansion; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1790, Snyder married Elizabeth Michael. They had two children. Elizabeth died in 1794 and her widowed husband was left to raise their young children. Snyder quickly remarried, as was common in those days, to Catherine Antes on July 12, 1796. He and his second wife had another five children together. Catherine Antes Snyder died on March 15, 1810, in Selinsgrove and is buried at the First Reformed Church Memorial Garden in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
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