Edwin Snow  (1836-       ) & Family
         

EDWIN SNOW, one of the foremost businessmen of Snowville, is actively identified with the mercantile and manufacturing interests of this part of Carroll County. A son of the late Joseph Snow, he was born in this town in 1836, and has here spent his entire life.

He comes of Massachusetts ancestry. His great-grandfather, Captain Thomas Snow, was a native of Cape Cod, and was for many years engaged in the maritime service as master of vessel. On his retirement from seafaring pursuits, Captain Thomas Snow, who had a large family of boys to look after, changed his available assets into continental currency, and removed with his family to Falmouth, now Portland, ME., where the business outlook seemed promising. The subsequent depreciation of the currency left him practically without means; and he sought a new home for his family in Gorham, Me., where he took up a tract of unbroken land, out of which, aided by his sons, he made a comfortable homestead. He was one of the original settles or Gorham; and the Barn which he reared is still standing, being preserved as a landmark, although the old log house has long since been replaced by one of more modern structure.

Joseph Snow was born at Gorham, Me., in 1791, and, having the misfortune to lose his parents when quite young, was reared by his grandfather, Captain Snow, on the old Snow farm. After the close war of 1812, in which he took an active part, he became a pioneer settler of Eaton, N.H.

Taking up land that was still in its primeval condition, he partly cleared what was afterward known as the “Bryant Farm,” living thereon until 1822, when, in order to secure natural waterpower, he exchanged that property for land which now embraces the present site of Snowville in Eaton township. Here in 1825 he erected a gristmill, and two years later a sawmill, which later was burned in 1830, but was re built within two weeks.

Joseph Snow was a man of strong personality, and exerted a beneficial influence in the new town, of which he became a prominent citizen. His early education having been neglected, he acquired such knowledge as was essential to an ordinary business carrier after attaining the age of thirty-five years, employing a private tutor for that purpose. He married Sally Atkinson, daughter of John Atkinson; and they had eleven children - Silas, Hannah, Alvan, Apphia, Joseph, Susan, Sally, John, Mary A., Edwin, and Jane. Hannah married, first, Mayhew Patch, and second, the Rev. Edmund Dudley. Sally died at the age of eight years. Mary A. became the wife of William F. Brooks, and Jane the wife of Charles Robertson.

Edwin Snow attended first the common schools of Eaton, completing his education in the academy at North Parsonsfield, Me. Opening a general stone in 1856 in company with his brothers, he was associated with them until 1859, when he purchased their interest, and has since conducted the business alone. Beginning on a modest scale, he has gradually enlarged his operations, having now an extensive and profitable trade, and often taking timber, bark, and farm produce in exchange for his commodities. For many years he has been largely engaged, also, in the manufacture of lumber, dealing in shooks, barrels, shingles, boards, and other kinds of lumber; and from 1873 until 1878 he was one of the leading livestock dealers in the town. He cuts about eighty tons of hay yearly from his fifteen hundred acres of land, most of which is well timbered.

Mr. Snow’s energy and ability have brought him conspicuously to the front in town affairs, and rendered him a most valuable public official. In 1864 and 1865 he served on the Board of Selectmen, and since then has been ten years chairman of the board. He has filled the office of Town Clerk for many years, and frequently presides at the annual town meetings as Moderator. From 1881 to 1886 he was County Auditor, and for two years County Commissioner, giving excellent satisfaction in these offices. He represented Eaton in the State Legislature for eight years, in 1883 and 1884 being a member if the Committee on Railroads, at which time there was an exciting contest over the railway laws. He also served on the Judiciary Committee as a member of the Committee on Insane Asylums. In 1891 he was elected to the State Senate on the Democratic ticket, and served on several committees of importance.

Owing to the State having been gerrymandered by the Republican Party, he has held no electoral office since that time, but in 1892 was appointed by the Governor to the Board of State Equalization and Taxation, taking the vacancy caused by the death of E. W. Drew, of Stewartstown. He is a Baptist in religious faith, and contributes generously to the support of that denomination, having fitted up and furnished a hall for its worship. He is a member of Trinity Lodge, I. O. O. F., and also belongs to the Masonic order.

Mr. Snow was married October 14, 1857, to Maria H. Perkins, a daughter of John W. and Caroline Nason Perkins and granddaughter of Stephen Perkins, Esq. Mr. and Mrs. Snow have four children, namely: Nellie H., wife of A. J. White, a contractor and builder of Grand Rapids, Mich.; Isabel S., wife of L. W. Atkinson, M. D., of Cherry Valley, Mass.; Leslie P.; and Bertha C., the last named born April 4, 1877. Leslie P. Snow, born October 19, 1862, received his elementary education in the public schools of Eaton, afterward attending the academies at Fryeburg and Bridgton, Me., and being graduated from Dartmouth College with the class of 1886. He studied law, was admitted to the New Hampshire bar, and became junior member of the law firm of Worcester, Gaffney & Snow, of Rochester, N. H.

Having survived both his partners, he is now the leading lawyer of that place. In 1887 and 1888 he served as a Representative to the State Legislature, and in November 1887, was appointed United States Pension Examiner by President Cleveland. He married Elsie Currier, of Haverhill, N. H.

William N. Snow, an enterprising and successful businessman of Snowville, was born in this town, February 28, 1863. He is a son of Alvan and Malvina (Nason) Snow and a grandson of Joseph Snow, an early pioneer of Eaton. Further information in regard to his ancestry may be found in connection with the sketch of Edwin Snow, which appears on another page of this volume.

Alvin Snow was born in Snowville, N.H., in 1820, and died February 6, 1895. For more than a quarter of a century he was associated in business with his brother Silas as a carpenter and furniture manufacturer, having learned those trades in his younger days.

He was a man of firm religious belief and a member of the Baptist church. In 1873 and 1874 he served in the State Legislature. He married, first, Malfvina, daughter of Ephraim Nason, and, second, in 1873, Sarah E., daughter of James and Dorothy (Smith) Cram, of Brownfield, Me. Two children were born of his first union, namely: Frank, a carpenter and machinist, now living in California, who represented the town of Eaton, NH, in the State Legislature in 1885 and 1886; and William N., whose name begins this sketch.

William N. Snow began the manufacture of carriages, in company with his brother, when but sixteen years old, and has continued in the same line of business since, having carried it on alone in recent years. An expert workman and mechanic, thoroughly understanding all the details of his trade, he possesses also considerable inventive ingenuity. In 1893 he invented and patented a flexible spring, consisting of a coil spring and an equalizing rod, and in 1894 a gear, both of which inventions proved of practical utility, and are still in use.

Mr. Snow makes a specialty of manufacturing sleighs, getting out about seventy-five in a season, and selling them to dealers in various large cities, including New York, Chicago, St. Paul, Boston, where he sold to Ferd. French & Co., and Lynn, where he dealt with the well-known firm of Buxton, Sawyer & Chase. Mr. Snow is also a musician of considerable ability, able to play almost any band instrument, and being especially a good cornet and clarinet player. For fifteen years he was a leader of the Snowville Brass Band, consisting of twenty-two pieces. Fraternally, he is a member of Trinity Lodge, No. 63, I. O. O. F., of Eaton, in which he has passed all the chairs; and of Mount Chocorua Encampment, of Eaton, which he is now serving as Chief Priest for the second term.

Mr. Snow married in September 1884, Susan E., daughter of Albert Brooks, of Eaton, NH. Mr. Brooks was a lifelong farmer of Eaton, where his death occurred about 1885, and was also for a short time in business with Mr. Edwin Snow, being junior member of the firm of Snow & Brooks. He represented Eaton in the State Legislature for several terms, and held other public offices. He was twice married, and by his first, Harriet Davis, of Eaton, had three children – Rose, Lillian, and Susan E. – the last named now being Mrs. William N. Snow.
 

History of Carroll County New Hampshire 1889
by Georgia Drew Merrill