Biographical Sketches
CHESTER ALLYN SNIDER
Is the vice-president of the great livestock commission company, the Evans-Snider-Buel Company, of Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City, being the resident manager of the company at its Kansas City office. Actuated by an honest, manly purpose and with firm confidence in the right, he has by earnest effort secured the favorable result that usually rewards well-directed labor, and by his straightforward course has won the respect and confidence of his associates. He is a young man imbued with the progressive and enterprising spirit of the age, and stands as a leader in his line of business in Kansas City.
Mr. Snider was born in Platte county, Missouri, August 9, 1860, and is a son of Andrew J. and Hannah (Beery) Snider. The family name has for the past 25 years been prominently connected with the city's live stock interests. Reared on a farm near Lancaster, Ohio, his father early began driving cattle to market across the Alleghanies, and later turned to the West and engaged in contracting, some of the old buildings at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, being erected by him. He passed through the early mining experiences of Colorado and Montana during the gold excitement. Returning to the states in 1870, he identified his interests with those of Kansas City, and for nearly 20 years was the leading cattle merchant of this city.
Our subject was about 10 years old when he began his education in the public schools of Kansas City, and completed his studies in Bethany (West Virginia) College. At the age of 21 he laid aside his text books to learn the sterner lessons of practical business life. Returning from college, he went to his father's cattle ranch, which was located on the Cherokee strip, Indian Territory, where he remained for some 3-4 years. His father retiring from business, owing to ill health of his eldest son, our subject, after a year's travel abroad, entered the commission field, the Evans-Snider-Buel Company being imcorporated in 1889. This company has since conducted the largest livestock business in this country. During the past 7 years it has handled on commission at its 3 offices over three million head of livestock, and its actual money transactions during this time have aggregated over one hundred and eleven millions of dollars!
On August 23, 1882, Mr. Snider married Miss Lillie C. Hyatt, daughter of W. W. Hyatt. The only child by this marriage, Lillie Hyatt, is now 12 years of age. The mother's death occurred on Thanksgiving day, 1883. On December 27, 1888, Mr. Snider married Miss Olive Olga Oglesby, eldest daughter of Governor Richard James Oglesby, of Illinois. They were married in the executive mansion in Springfield. Mrs. Snider spent her girlhood days in Decatur, and acquired her education in Springfield and in a convent near Washington, D. C., while her father was serving as United States senator there. One child has been born of this marriage, Catherine Oglesby Snider.
Mr. Snider is a valued and esteemed member of various business and social organizations, belonging to the Kansas City Club and the Commerical Club, and is a director of the National Bank of Commerce and the Union Avenue Bank of Commerce. He served for 5 years in the directory of the Kansas City Livestock Exchange, declining a further election. Lovers of music, both he and his wife take an active interest in promoting this art in Kansas City. Mr. Snider is at present the vice president of the Symphony Orchestra.
Their home is noted for its hospitality, and their circle of warm friends is extensive. The home is adorned with many choice paintings and other works of art - all that refined taste can suggest. The library is one of the finest private collections in the west. Few persons in this commercial section of the world know as well as Mr. and Mrs. Snider how to manage their wealth to the best advantage, obtaining more happiness out of a given sum that untrained people can. Many persons think that if they only had a little more money they would be happy, even when they are in possession of more than other, happier people in their community. Not so with the subject of this brief notice, who knows the more important art of spending money, as well as the art of earning it.
This page was last updated August 2, 2006.