The "Why Didn't I Learn This In My History Classes?" Story

 It was an ordinary day.  Finally took a photograph of the Pennsylvania historical street sign that stands in the 100 block of North Queen Street in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  I have driven and walked past the sign hundreds of times in my life, but never took the time to read it until this past week when I stopped in the same block to take a photo of another item in the block.  

Sign was a brief summary of the life of Mr. Simon Snyder who was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and who happened to live in the building behind the sign at one time.  I have written many times about members of the Lancaster community, but had never known about Mr. Snyder until I recently read about him on the sign.  Typed his name on my computer and found page after page about the gentleman whom I had never known before now.  Mr. Snyder was born in Lancaster in the Province of Pennsylvania on November 5, 1759.  His parents were ethnic Germans who brought Simon up in the Lutheran church, but eventually became members of the Moravian Church in Lancaster.  His father died in 1774 when Simon was 15, so Simon became apprenticed to a tanner in nearby York, Pennsylvania.  Ten years later Simon moved to Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania where he opened a gristmill.  His home in that town still stands at 121 North Market Street and is now known as the Gov. Simon Snyder Mansion and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  So, just how did Mr. Snyder become Governor Snyder?  Well, a bit about his private life should come first.  He was married to Elizabeth Michael in 1790.  They had two children, but Elizabeth died four years after they were married.  Snyder quickly married Catherine Antes two years later in 1796.  He and his second wife had another five children and then she died in March of 1810.  Four years later he married Mary Slough Scott, a widow.  They remained married until Mr. Snyder's death in 1819.  Getting back to his political life; Snyder began his political career as a Justice of the Peace when he moved to Selinsgrove in 1784.  Five years later he was elected as a delegate and he helped revise Pennsylvania's state constitution the following year.  

Simon Snyder

He then served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving from 1797 to 1807.  During those years he was the Speaker of the House in 1804, 1805 and 1807.  During that time he sponsored the "Hundred-Dollar Act" which provided for the trial of civil cases only when the amount in question was more than $100.  In 1808 the Jefferson Democrats united behind Snyder and he became Governor of Pennsylvania.  He was re-elected in 1811 and 1814.  In 1812 Snyder suggested the capital of Pennsylvania be moved from Lancaster to Harrisburg and his proposal was approved.  Simon Snyder supported the War of 1812 and after the war Snyder was considered for the Vice-President slot, but it never happened.  Snyder moved to Union County, Pennsylvania where he was then elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1818, but died of typhoid fever before taking office.  He is buried in the Old Lutheran Cemetery in Selinsgrove.  Pretty impressive credentials for someone I had never heard of during all my classes in history in high school and college.  Of course, I never did care for history until I got older and became a part of it.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.