For the United States Secretary of the Treasury

United States Secretary of the Treasury

The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...

 in the Harry Truman administration, see John Wesley Snyder

John W. Snyder

John Wesley Snyder was an American businessman and Cabinet Secretary.-Biography:Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, he studied at Vanderbilt University's engineering school for one year before joining in the Army during World War I.Snyder came to Washington in the early 1930s with a broad background in...

.

John Wesley Snyder (June 21, 1837–April 15, 1922) was a pioneer rancher, farmer

Farmer

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...

, and business

Business

A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

man from principally Georgetown

Georgetown, Texas

Georgetown is a city and also the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, United States with a population of 47,400 at the 2010 census. Southwestern University, founded in 1840, is the oldest university in Texas and is located in Georgetown, about 1/2 mile east of the historic square...

 in Williamson County

Williamson County, Texas

Williamson County is a county located on both the Edwards Plateau to the west, consisting of rocky terrain and hills, and Blackland Prairies in the east consising of rich, fertile farming land, The two areas are roughly bisected by Interstate 35...

 near Austin

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

Background

Snyder was the second of four children born to Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 native Charles W. Snyder and the former Kentuckian

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 Susan Hale (1816–1892), later Susan Wulfjen, in Yazoo County

Yazoo County, Mississippi

-National protected area:*Hillside National Wildlife Refuge *Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge-History:The area which is now Yazoo County was acquired by the State of Mississippi from the Choctaw Indians in 1820. Yazoo County was established on January 21, 1823. It was the 19th county...

 in west central Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. Charles Snyder died in 1840, and the three-year-old moved with his family to Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

. In 1856, Snyder and a brother, Dudley Hiram Snyder (1833–1921), came to Texas as partners in an apple orchard and horse-trading business situated between Georgetown and Round Rock

Round Rock, Texas

Round Rock is a city in Travis and Williamson counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the metropolitan area. The 2010 census places the population at 99,887....

, located in both Travis

Travis County, Texas

As of 2009, the U.S. census estimates there were 1,026,158 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile . There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile...

 and Williamson counties.

Dudley Snyder had gone to work at the age of seven. At fourteen, he was earning $3 per week splitting rails. In 1854, he was acquitted of murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

 in a case of self-defense. Thereafter, he committed himself to leading an exemplary life, and his family never again spoke of the trouble that he had faced in his early years. Dudley Snyder was a devout member of the Methodist Church. He was the founder of the Georgetown High School Board.

Pioneer cattleman

With the outbreak of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, both Snyders enlisted in the Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 Army. Dudley reached the rank of colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 and served as a conscription officer in Williamson County. He moved herds across the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 to deliver beef to the Confederacy. The Snyders sold and shipped cattle to the Confederacy's Trans-Mississippi Department. After the hostilities ceased, John Wesley sold cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

 in Brownsville

Brownsville, Texas

Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...

, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. He married the former Catherine Jane Coffee (1844–1928), the daughter of John T. Coffee of Georgetown. The couple had eight children. Dudley Snyder married the former Mary Oatts of Round Rock and was the father of nine children.

In 1868, the Snyder Brothers cattle enterprise began gathering herds and moving the cattle overland to northern markets. In 1869, John Wesley Snyder headed a drive from Llano County

Llano County, Texas

Llano County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 19, 301. Its county seat is Llano, and the county is named for the Llano River....

 in the Texas Hill Country

Texas Hill Country

The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...

 via the Chisholm Trail

Chisholm Trail

The Chisholm Trail was a trail used in the late 19th century to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. The portion of the trail marked by Jesse Chisholm went from his southern trading post near the Red River, to his northern trading post near Kansas City, Kansas...

 to Abilene

Abilene, Kansas

Abilene is a city in and the county seat of Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,844.-History:...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. In 1870, he took a herd to Schuyler

Schuyler, Nebraska

Schuyler is a city in Colfax County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 5,371 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Colfax County. The city is named after former Vice President of the United States, Schuyler Colfax...

 in Colfax County

Colfax County, Nebraska

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 10,441 people, 3,682 households, and 2,592 families residing in the county. The population density was 25 people per square mile . There were 4,088 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile...

 in eastern Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

. In 1878, he began a nine-year management of the John Wesley Iliff estate in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 and also invested in rangelands in Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

. After the 1887 blizzard

Blizzard

A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong winds. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have winds in excess of with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to 400 meters or ¼ mile or...

 on the Great Plains

Great Plains

The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...

, the Snyder brothers focused their efforts on their Texas holdings, including the Renderbrook operation in Mitchell County near Colorado City

Colorado City, Texas

Colorado City is a city in and the county seat of Mitchell County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,281 at the 2000 census....

 as well as vast acreages in Lamb and Hockley counties about Littlefield

Littlefield, Texas

Littlefield is a city in and the county seat of Lamb County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,507 at the 2000 census. It is located in a significant cotton growing region, northwest of Lubbock on the Llano Estacado just south of the beginning of the Texas Panhandle...

 and Levelland

Levelland, Texas

Levelland is a city in Hockley County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,542. It is the county seat of Hockley County. It is located on the Llano Estacado, west of Lubbock. Major industries include cotton farming and petroleum production...

, respectively. By 1891, they had sold these lands and moved their families to Georgetown, where John Wesley constructed a house which still stands. There they operated their San Gabriel horse farm. In November 1892, the Snyders formed the trade group

Trade association

A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...

, the Texas Livestock Association. They were business partners throughout their adult lives.

According to manuscripts at the University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

, Dudley Snyder also operated large cattle ranches in Cooke

Cooke County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 36,363 people, 13,643 households, and 10,000 families residing in the county. The population density was 42 people per square mile . There were 15,061 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...

, Stonewall, and Hartley counties, one of which encompassed 130,000 acres. He was a builder of the short-line railroad from Granger

Granger, Texas

Granger is a city in Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,299 at the 2000 census; it was 1,331 in the 2005 census estimate. Granger was the site for the filming of the 2010 remake of the movie True Grit.-Geography:...

 in Williamson County to Austin which was subsequently purchased by the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railway Company. He died at his home in Georgetown in 1921, a year before the passing of his younger brother John Wesley.

Later years

John Wesley Snyder subsequently sold his land to the new Southwestern University

Southwestern University

Southwestern University is a private, four-year, undergraduate, liberal arts college located in Georgetown, Texas, USA. Founded in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest university in Texas. The school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church although the curriculum is nonsectarian...

 in Georgetown and relocated to Austin, where he spent his later years. He died at the age of eighty-four in Groesbeck

Groesbeck, Texas

Groesbeck is a city in and the county seat of Limestone County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,291 at the 2000 census. The community is named after a railroad employee.- History :...

, the seat of Limestone County

Limestone County, Texas

Limestone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 22,051. Its county seat is Groesbeck.-Geography:According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water....

in East Texas, having been in ranching and other agricultural businesses for more than a half-century. He is interred at the family plot in Odd Fellows Cemetery in Georgetown. The Southwestern University Fine Arts Building is located at the site of the former John Wesley Snyder home in Georgetown.