- Born: 9 Jun 1797, Montgomery Co, VA
- Marriage (1): Margaret "Peggy" Eahart on 19 Oct 1818 in Giles Co., VA 402
- Marriage (2): Lovina Dunham on 16 Jun 1860 in La Porte Co., IN 403
- Died: Abt 1877, La Porte Co., IN about age 80
General Notes:
The following men were summoned to appear as jurors at the first term of the Circuit Court of Porter County: Grand Jurors - William Thomas, Samuel Olinger, William Gosset, Joseph Wright, Samuel Haviland, James Walton, Asahel Neal, James Spurlock, John Bartholomew, Thomas Adams, Reason Bell, Peter Cline, Royal Benton, William Clark, William Trinkle, Robert Wilkinson, J. Todhunter and W. Snavely. The first session of the Circuit Court was held in October, 1836... Excerpts from "The History of Porter County, Indiana" Published by F.A. Battey & Co., Chicago, 1882.
1850 census, Clinton Twp., LaPorte Co. IN, pp 161/162, taken 10 Oct.:
William Snavely 54 VA
Margaret 54 VA
Martha 19 VA
Harvey 16 VA
Margaret V. 13 IN
David 4 IN
James 24 VA
1860 Census:
Wm 63
Margaret 62
David 20
Samuel 30
Ellen R 21
Wm 4
Mary V 3
Marriage bond in Giles Co., VA; Abram Ehart, sec. Married by Landon Duncan.
Ehart family notes say that they moved to 8 miles north of Valparaiso, IN in 1833 and then to Clinton Twnshp. in 1839.
William may have been in a party that went to California during Gold Rush. APPENDIX. page XVI Snavely, William J. South Bend
Original data: Library of Congress. California As I Saw It, First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900. Volume 32. [database on-line] Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1999. Leeper, David Rohrer. The Argonauts of 'Forty-Nine, Some Recollections of the Plains and the Diggings. South Bend, IN: J.B. Stoll and Co., 1894.
Leaving South Bend, Indiana in February 1849, David Leeper traveled to California seeking his fortune as a gold miner. This database details his journey west and life in California between 1849 and 1854. It contains recounts of his attempts to find gold at of Redding's Diggings, Hangtown, and the Trinity River. Additionally, it provides descriptions of Eureka, Sacramento and Humboldt Bay. [There is a William J Snavely listed in appendix. If this is the same William he obviously returned to Indiana.]
"An Illustrated Historical Atlas of LaPorte Co., Indiana", Higgins, Belden & Co., Chicago, 1874
"One of the oldest settlers of Clinton township was WILLIAM SNAVELY, who came to the county in 1835 and took up land in that township. He was born in Montgomery county, Virginia, June 9, 1797. His parents came from Germany before the close of the eighteenth century and did good service in our Revolutionary war. His father was at the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga.
The family first settled in Pennsylvania and subsequently moved into Virginia and engaged in farming. Here William spent his youth and early manhood, attending the schools and aiding his father in farming. His parents died in Virginia and their remains were buried in Montgomery county. Mr. Snavley married Margaret, daughter of William Erhart, of Virginia and by her became the father of ten children. She passed away in 1866.
He married for his second wife Mrs. Lovina (Dunham) Robinson, who came from Ohio. Her grandfathers were both Revolutionary soldiers. She was of Scotch extraction through her grandfather Drummond, who came from Scotland. Mr. Snavley became the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres in Clinton township. He passed away in 1877 or 78, but his descendants remained in the county."
Clinton Twp., pg 104
"In 1833, before Clinton was set off from New Durham township, Nathaniel Steel, R. Prather, Levi Reynolds, John Osborn, William Niles, Lemuel Maulsby, Richard Williams, Thomas Robinson, Stephen Jones, a Methodist preacher, William Snaveley, and R.R. Richardson came into the township and became residents."
History of Porter County, pg 148
""Snavely War." William Crawford located upon of the these Indian tracts -- a quarter section in the northeast part of the township -- but subsequently sold it to William Snavely. a little later Peter White laid claim to the land and asked the assistance of the law to dispossess Snavely. Charles G. Merrick, who had been elected sheriff of the county in 1838, organized a posse, and, pursuant to the order of the court, went to Snavely's for the purpose of evicting him. Snavely barricaded himself in his cabin, and he and his sons, well armed, put up a spirited defense. Unable to gain admittance through the doors or windows, the sheriff ordered some of his men to climb to the top of the house and tear off the roof. No sooner had they begun to remove the clapboards than Snavely fired through the opening and wounded one of the men. This had the tendency to stop active operations on the part of the sheriff and his men, and Snavely, thinking he had killed the man, made an attempt to escape. He was overtaken, captured and taken to the county jail, where he remained until his victim recovered from the wound, which was only a slight one, when he was released upon payment of a fine and a promise to relinquish the land. Some years after his death, his heirs received a portion of the value of the improvements made by Snavely while in his possession."
June 16, 1860, at age 64, William married Lovina Robinson age 32 in La Porte Co., IN.
William married Margaret "Peggy" Eahart, daughter of Abraham Eahart and Judith Kirk, on 19 Oct 1818 in Giles Co., VA.402 (Margaret "Peggy" Eahart was born about 1796 in Virginia and died in 1866 in La Porte Co., IN.)
William next married Lovina Dunham on 16 Jun 1860 in La Porte Co., IN.403 (Lovina Dunham was born about 1828 in Ohio.)
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