Building a Timeline for Jacob Schneider Clues from Tax Records Help to Build a Life Story

Kris Hocker on 13 Aug 2018

Based on my genetic genealogy research and the paper trail I’ve built for Jacob & Catharine (___) Schneider, I’m fairly certain that they are the parents of my 4x great grandfather Henry Schneider. I’m also pretty certain that Catharina’s parents were Conrad and Anna Margaretha (Roeder) Nuss. But that hasn’t stopped the search for additional evidence. After all, I would like to know who Jacob’s parents were.

Tax Records

I was combing through Montgomery County tax records for other research when I decided to look for Jacob and Henry in the records. Tax records may not provide a lot of genealogical information, but they can give you residency for a person between census years.

They can also be matched up with other records for verification or provide information when those other records are lacking. For instance, many times our ancestors did not record deeds with the county recorder. It wasn’t required and it cost money. Having a deed for yourself was enough to prove ownership, so that’s all they did. Tax records can fill in that evidentiary hole when you don’t have the deed. They can tell you if your ancestor owned land, when they owned it, how much they owned, and what it was worth.

Jacob Schneider

In Jacob’s case, I have a deed, but it’s the years before his purchase I want to know more about. He first appeared in Upper Hanover Township tax records in 17911 as a single man.2 He continuously appears in the available records, taxed on his occupation and 1 or 2 cows (his only property), through 1804 when his name was crossed out.3 At that point, I know he’s still alive, so he must have moved out of the township.

In 1810, he reappeared in Upper Hanover, taxed on 85 acres of land, 1 horse, 2 cows, and a dog.4 His occupation was listed as a saddler. Records show him in the township through 1829 when an entry consistent with prior records is attributed to “Jacob and Samuel.”5 This is consistent with the deed record which shows he purchased 85 acres from Henry Roeder on 2 April 1810.6 Jacob died sometime before 24 October 1829.7 His administrators, Henry and Catharine Schneider, reported to the Orphans Court during the January 1830 session that they sold Jacob’s land to Michael Gery and, indeed, Michael Gery was taxed on 85 acres in that year.8

So, Jacob Schneider worked as a saddler, even after he purchased his land in 1810. In order to learn this trade, he likely apprenticed as a young man with a saddler. Do you know who was also listed as a saddler in tax records?

His presumed father-in-law Conrad Nuss!

I found both Conrad and his brother Jacob listed in various tax records in Upper Hanover from 17749 through 1793.10 Curious about the years Jacob was missing from Upper Hanover, I checked Hereford Township records in Berks County where Conrad wrote his last will & testament in 1808. I found Jacob Snyder (“sadler”) in Hereford from 1805 through 1809 and Conrad from 1806 through 1808.11 It doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to argue that Jacob learned the saddler’s trade from one (or both) of the Nuss brothers and married Conrad’s daughter.

My 4x great grandfather Henry Schneider was taxed in Upper Hanover, too. He first appears in the records at age 25, taxed as a single man in 1817.12 He was taxed on his occupation—cordweiner, aka shoemaker—and his property—one or two cows—until he purchased land from his father-in-law’s estate in 1830.13 Henry’s mother and siblings show up in the records, too:

  • mother Catharine in 1832-183414
  • sister Catharine in 1831-183415
  • Elizabeth in 1830 and 183216
  • Jacob in 1819 and 182917
  • Samuel in 1826-184018
  • Daniel in 1831-183719
  • Michael in 183220
  • John in 1832-183721

Only Sarah and Jonas do not appear in the tax record, perhaps because they were too young for the records I looked at or they moved out of the township while still minors.

Conclusions

It seems to me that these records support the hypothesis that Henry was the son of Jacob and Catharine. The overlap in the tax record—at a time when there doesn’t appear to be another Snyder family living in the township—between Jacob and persons with the names of his children, each appearing shortly after they would have presumably come of age, is consistent with a familial relationship.

Several of these individuals also had money “at interest” according to the records in the early 1830s. This is consistent with payouts from an estate settlement. Henry and Catharine submitted their administration account of Jacob’s estate on 13 April 1831.22 There was a balance $1,232.21 to pay the heirs. Catharine would have received a third—$410, and the ten children would have divided the remaining $822.

The records also support my hypothesis that the Samuel Snyder who married Judith Ann Wolf, daughter of my 4x great grandparents Jacob and Magdalena (Brey) Wolfe, was the son of Jacob and Catharine (Nuss) Schneider. These tax records place Jacob’s son Samuel in the same location as the Wolfe family both directly before and after the marriage to Judith Wolf. They also note that he was a single man through 1831, but not after 1832, just about the time Samuel and Judith likely married.23

All in all, these tax records improve my understanding of Jacob Schneider’s life and family and add evidence to the argument that he and Catharine are my 5x great grandparents and the descendant of Samuel and Judith (Wolf) Snyder, their descendants, too.

Footnotes

  1. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1791: unnumbered, Jacob Snyder entry; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913, image #67; citing Board of County Commissioners, Norristown. ↩
  2. A single man was unmarried and did not own land. ↩
  3. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1804: unnumbered, Jacob Snyder entry; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913, image #240. ↩
  4. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1810: unnumbered, Jacob Snyder entry; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913, image #318. ↩
  5. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1810: unnumbered, Jacob and Samuel Snyder entry; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913, image #663. ↩
  6. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book 32: 158, Henry Roeder & wife to Jacob Snyder, 2 Apr 1810; digital image, Montgomery County Recorder of Deeds, Historic Land Records Online Access (http://imagesyncweb.montcopa.org/imagesync : accessed 21 Sep 2105). ↩
  7. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Orphans Court Book 5:545, Land sale petition, Jacob Snyder Dec’d, 24 Oct 1829; online, FamilySearch, “Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994” (https://familysearch.org : accessed 14 Feb 2014); citing Orphan’s Court, Norristown. ↩
  8. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1830: unnumbered, Michael Gery entry; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913, image #675. It appears that Michael Gery did not live on the land as he is only taxed on the land and no horses or cattle. ↩
  9. William Henry Egle, editor, “Proprietary, Supply and State Tax Lists,” Pennsylvania Archives (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: William Stanley Ray, 1897), Series III, Volumes XIV and XIV, multiple pages; PDF, FamilySearch, “Proprietary, supply, and state tax lists of the city and county of Philadelphia” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 13 Aug 2018). ↩
  10. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover (misc. Years): unnumbered, Conrad Nuss and Jacob Nuss entries; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913. ↩
  11. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Hereford Township (misc years): unnumbered, Jacob Snyder and Conrad Nuss entries; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913. ↩
  12.   Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1817: unnumbered, Henry Snyder entry; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913, image #435. ↩
  13. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1830: unnumbered, Henry Snyder entry; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913, image #687. ↩
  14. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1832-1834: unnumbered, Catharine Snyder entries; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913. ↩
  15. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1831-1834: unnumbered, Catharine Snyder entries; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913. ↩
  16. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1830 & 1832: unnumbered, Elizabeth Snyder entries; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913. ↩
  17. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1829: unnumbered, Jacob Snyder entry; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913. ↩
  18. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1826-1840: unnumbered, Samuel Snyder entries; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913. ↩
  19. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1831-1837: unnumbered, Daniel Snyder entries; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913. ↩
  20. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1832: unnumbered, Michael Snyder entry; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913. ↩
  21. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover 1832-1837: unnumbered, John Snyder entries; online, FamilySearch, “Tax Lists, 1785-1847” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 12 Aug 2018), film #21655, DGS #8350913. ↩
  22. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Orphans Court Book 5:795, Account administration, Jacob Snyder Dec’d, 13 Apr 1831; online, FamilySearch, “Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994” (https://familysearch.org : accessed 21 Sep 2015); citing Orphan’s Court, Norristown. ↩
  23. Samuel received his inheritance in 1831 or 1832 and would have thus been better able to support a family. He had $200 at interest in 1832, significantly more than he would have received from his father’s estate. He must have been saving his earnings, presumably with marriage in mind. ↩

Cite This Page:

, "Building a Timeline for Jacob Schneider Clues from Tax Records Help to Build a Life Story," A Pennsylvania Dutch Genealogy, the genealogy & family research site of Kris Hocker, modified 13 Dec 2020 (https://www.krishocker.com/building-a-timeline-for-jacob-schneider/ : accessed 2 Nov 2024).

Content copyright © 2020 Kris Hocker. Please do not copy without prior permission, attribution, and link back to this page.

One Reply to “Building a Timeline for Jacob Schneider Clues from Tax Records Help to Build a Life Story”

  1. Sharon Beach 14 Aug 2018 at 10:04 am

    I have one Hans Jacob Schneider, born 8 Nov 1730 in Burg Hof, Canton Zurich, Switzerland & died 22 Aug 1812 in Hope, Warren Co., NJ, who married on 2 Sep 1778 at the Moravian Church in Bethlehem to my 5th great-aunt, Anna Maria Heil, born 19 Jun 1741, Warwick Township, Lancaster, PA & died 15 Mar 1808 in Hope, NJ. The only son I have for them was also John Jacob Snyder, born 21 Nov 1781 in Hope, NJ & died on 22 Oct 1867 in Hope, NJ. Could these be related to your Schneiders??

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