McDonough ILGenWeb

SNOWDEN, William Ellsworth, who is successfully engaged in farming in Eldorado Township, McDonough County, Ill., was born in that township December 7, 1861, a son of John and Mary J. (Adams) Snowden, natives of Virginia. John Snowden was one of the early settlers in this vicinity. He first bought a farm of eighty acres, to which he added until he owned 200 acres. His second purchase was a farm adjoining the home place on the north, where he built a large residence in 1879 and lived there until 1893. At that period he retired from farming and moved to Vermont, Ill., where he now resides. His wife died January 6, 1890.

William E. Snowden is the sixth of a family of eleven children born to his parents. He lived with his father until he was twenty-one years of age, assisting the latter in work on the farm and attending the district school in his neighborhood. After attaining his majority he worked for five years at farming for James Marshon. After his marriage he went to Kansas and took up a homestead in Sherman County, that State. When his mother died, he sold out his improvements on the Kansas farm and returned to McDonough County. On February 1, 1890, he moved to the home place, and after remaining there three years bought 120 acres of the property. He raises Poland-China hogs and rents out the farming land. His labors are attended with success, and he is considered one of the representative farmers of the township.

On February IS, 1888, Mr. Snowden was united in marriage with Susanna Moran, who was born and schooled in Eldorado Township. Her father, William B. Moran, was born in Baltimore, Md., and her mother, Mary J. (Turner) Moran, was a native of Erie County, N. Y. Her grandfathers, Thomas Moran and Samuel Turner, came to Fulton County at an early period and settled near Canton. Her parents had four girls and one boy, and Mrs. Snowden is the third child in succession of birth. Her father moved to Chalmers Township, McDonough County, and died near Good Hope in 1895, her mother having died in Eldorado Township in 1890. Politically, Mr. Snowden lends his support to the Democratic party.

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Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of McDonough County, compiled by Dr. Newton Bateman, and Paul Shelby, 1907, volume 2, page 1005, extracted 30 Jul 2020 by Norma Hass.