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​'''John Wesley Snyder''' (June 21, 1837 – April 15, 1922) was a  pioneer rancher, [[farmer]], and [[business]]man from principally Georgetown in Williamson County, near the state capital of [[Austin]], [[Texas]].​

​'''John Wesley Snyder''' (June 21, 1837 – April 15, 1922) was a  pioneer rancher, [[farmer]], and [[business]]man from principally Georgetown in Williamson County, near the state capital of [[Austin]], [[Texas]].​

 

==Background==​

==Background==​

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==Pioneer cattleman==​

==Pioneer cattleman==​

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With the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]], both brothers enlisted in the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army. Dudley reached the rank of [[colonel]]<ref name=hope/> and served as a conscription officer in Williamson County. He moved herds across the [[Mississippi River]] to deliver beef to the Confederacy.<ref name=atwell>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fsn08|author=W. H. Atwell|title=Snyder, Dudley Hiram|publisher=Texas State Historical Association: ''The Handbook of Texas''|accessdate=November 16, 2019}}</ref> The Snyders sold and shipped cattle to the Confederacy's Trans-Mississippi Department. After the hostilities ceased, John Wesley sold [[cotton]] in [[Brownsville]], Texas, and Matamoros, [[Tamaulipas]], [[Mexico]]. He married the former Catherine Jane Coffee (1844–1928),<ref name=fgrave/> the daughter of John T. Coffee of Georgetown. The couple had eight children.<ref name=handbook/> Dudley Snyder married the former Mary Oatts of Round Rock and was the father of nine children.<ref name=atwell/> ​

With the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]], both brothers enlisted in the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army. Dudley reached the rank of [[colonel]]<ref name=hope/> and served as a conscription officer in Williamson County. He moved herds across the [[Mississippi River]] to deliver beef to the Confederacy.<ref name=atwell>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fsn08|author=W. H. Atwell|title=Snyder, Dudley Hiram|publisher=Texas State Historical Association: ''The Handbook of Texas''|accessdate=November 16, 2019}}</ref> The Snyders sold and shipped cattle to the Confederacy's Trans-Mississippi Department. After the hostilities ceased, John Wesley sold [[cotton]] in [[Brownsville]], Texas, and Matamoros, [[Tamaulipas]], [[Mexico]]. He married the former Catherine Jane Coffee (1844–1928),<ref name=fgrave/> the daughter of John T. Coffee of Georgetown. The couple had eight children.<ref name=handbook/> Dudley Snyder married the former Mary Oatts of Round Rock and was the father of nine children.<ref name=atwell/>

 

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 in the Texas Hill Country via the[Chisholm Trail to Abilene, [[Kansas]]. In 1870, he took a herd to Schuyler in Colfax County,  in eastern [[Nebraska]].  In 1878, he began a nine-year management of the John Wesley Iliff estate in [[Colorado]] and also invested in rangelands in [[Wyoming]]. After the 1887 [[blizzard]] on the [[Great Plains]], the Snyder brothers focused their efforts on their Texas holdings, including the Renderbrook operation in Mitchell County near Colorado City, Texas  as well as vast acreages in Lamb and Hockley counties about Littlefield and Levelland, 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.<ref name=handbook/> In November 1892, the Snyders formed the Texas Livestock Association. The two were business partners throughout their adult lives.<ref name=hope/> ​

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 in the Texas Hill Country via the Chisholm Trail to Abilene, [[Kansas]]. In 1870, he took a herd to Schuyler in Colfax County,  in eastern [[Nebraska]].  In 1878, he began a nine-year management of the John Wesley Iliff estate in [[Colorado]] and also invested in rangelands in [[Wyoming]]. After the 1887 [[blizzard]] on the [[Great Plains]], the Snyder brothers focused their efforts on their Texas holdings, including the Renderbrook operation in Mitchell County near Colorado City, Texas  as well as vast acreages in Lamb and Hockley counties about Littlefield and Levelland, 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.<ref name=handbook/> In November 1892, the Snyders formed the Texas Livestock Association. The two were business partners throughout their adult lives.<ref name=hope/>

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According to manuscripts at the [[University of Texas at Austin]], Dudley Snyder also operated large cattle ranches in Cooke, Stonewall, and Hartley counties, one of which encompassed 130,000 acres. He was a builder of the short-line railroad from Granger 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.<ref name=atwell/>​

According to manuscripts at the [[University of Texas at Austin]], Dudley Snyder also operated large cattle ranches in Cooke, Stonewall, and Hartley counties, one of which encompassed 130,000 acres. He was a builder of the short-line railroad from Granger 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.<ref name=atwell/>​

 

==Later years==​

==Later years==

John Wesley Snyder subsequently sold his land to the new private Southwestern University in Georgetown and relocated to Austin, where he spent his later years. After more than a half century of livestock and other agricultural business, Snyder died at the age of eighty-four in Groesbeck in Limestone County in East Texas. He is interred at the family plot at Odd Fellows Cemetery in Georgetown.<ref name=fgrave/> The Southwestern University Fine Arts Building is located at the site of the former John Wesley Snyder home in Georgetown.<ref name=handbook/>

John Wesley Snyder subsequently sold his land to the new private Southwestern University in Georgetown and relocated to Austin, where he spent his later years. After more than a half century of livestock and other agricultural business, Snyder died at the age of eighty-four in Groesbeck in Limestone County in East Texas. He is interred at the family plot at Odd Fellows Cemetery in Georgetown.<ref name=fgrave/> The Southwestern University Fine Arts Building is located at the site of the former John Wesley Snyder home in Georgetown.<ref name=handbook/>

*Gus L. Ford, ed., ''Texas Cattle Brands'' ([[Dallas]], [[Texas]]: Cockrell, 1936).​<br>

*Gus L. Ford, ed., ''Texas Cattle Brands'' ([[Dallas]], [[Texas]]: Cockrell, 1936).​<br>

*Richard C. Hopping, "The Ellwoods: Barbed Wire and Ranches," ''Museum Journal'' 6 (1962).​<br>

*Richard C. Hopping, "The Ellwoods: Barbed Wire and Ranches," ''Museum Journal'' 6 (1962).​<br>

*J. Marvin Hunter, ''Trail Drivers of Texas'' (2 vols., [[San Antonio]], Texas: Jackson Printing, 1920, 1923; 4th ed., [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], Texas: [[University of Texas]] Press, 1985).​<br>

*J. Marvin Hunter (1880-1957), ''Trail Drivers of Texas'' (2 vols., [[San Antonio]], Texas: Jackson Printing, 1920, 1923; 4th ed.); [[University of Texas]] Press, 1985.​<br>

*Clara Stearns Scarbrough, ''Land of Good Water: A Williamson County History'' (Georgetown, Texas: Williamson County Sun Publishers, 1973).​<br>

*Clara Stearns Scarbrough, ''Land of Good Water: A Williamson County History'' (Georgetown, Texas: Williamson County Sun Publishers, 1973).​<br>

*Snyder Family Papers, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, named for former [[Governor]] [[Dolph Briscoe]] of Uvalde, at the University of Texas at Austin.​

*Snyder Family Papers, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, named for former [[Governor]] [[Dolph Briscoe]] of Uvalde, at the University of Texas at Austin.​