Grandma's Photo Album - Page 26 - Snyders and Wilkes County Scenes

(Top left)  The previous building of Pleasant Home Baptist Church in Millers Creek, Wilkes County, N.C.  This building was replaced by the current red brick building which was build in 1947-1948.  This church was founded in 1880.  Founding members included several of my ancestors.

My grandparents' farm was on the same road as the church, Pleasant Home Church Road.

(Top right)  Three siblings, left to right:

• Betty (alive)
• Ralph Lewis Snyder (1932-1996)
• Kathy (alive)

These siblings were the children of my grandparents, Wiley Thomas Snyder and Nora Bessie McNeil Snyder.  This photo was taken on the front porch of their farmhouse in Millers Creek.

(Bottom left)  Left to right:  my grandparents, Nora Bessie McNeil Snyder (1900-1992), Wiley Thomas Snyder (1892-1988), with their son James Neil Snyder (1922-1993).  Neil served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 18 Sep 1939 to 11 Oct 1946.  (see note below)
 I don't whose car this was.  My grandfather only had 2 cars that I know of.  He had a 1924 Ford Model T two-seater with a cloth top.  He later got a 1928 Pontiac.  It was a four-door with dark grey shades in the back windows and rear window to pull down for the sun.

(Bottom right) I think this is my mother's car.  She had a light blue car in the 1950s.  I recognize the setting as her parents' farm in Millers Creek.

Note:  James Neil Snyder, Motor Machinist's Mate First Class, honorably discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard Personnel Separation Center Number Eleven on 11 October 1945; Honorable Discharge; United States Coast Guard; held in private collection of the author.  

Grandma's Photo Album - Page 25 - McLeans in Gloucester, Snyders in Wilkes County, N.C.

(Top left) Some McLean siblings in Gloucester, Mass.  Left to right: Kay, a brother, Caroline, a brother.  Kay and Caroline (both alive, so I'm not providing any details) had 5 brothers.  I'm not sure which brothers are pictured here.  Kay married James Neil Snyder (1922-1993), who served in the U.S. Coast Guard during WWII and settled in Gloucester.

(Top right) The five grown children of my grandparents, Wiley Thomas Snyder (1892-1988) and Nora Bessie McNeil Snyder (1900-1992).  Left to right: 

• James Neil Snyder (1922-1993)
• Carrie Mae Snyder (1926-2001)
• Ralph Lewis Snyder (1932-1996)
• Kathy (living)
• Bette (living)

They are pretending to golf in the field of their parents farm in Millers Creek, Wilkes County, N.C.  I think this photo was taken in the early 1950s.

(Bottom left)  Two McNeil sisters with some of their children.  These two sisters married Snyder brothers, so their children are double first cousins!

The two sisters are my grandmother, Nora Bessie McNeil Snyder and Mattie Lodemia "Demie" McNeil Snyder (1908-1992).  Nora married Wiley Thomas Snyder.  Demie married Donald Vance Snyder (1903-1986).

Left to right:  Kathy, Carrie, Demie, Ralph, Betty, Paul, Nora, Martha, Clara.

Nora's kids are Kathy, Carrie, Ralph, and Betty.  (Neil lived in Gloucester, so he was often missing from photos).

Demie had 3 kids, and they are all here.  Paul and Martha are both living.   Clara Louise Snyder Church (born 1930) died in 1998.

This photo was taken in front of my grandparent's farmhouse in Millers Creek, approximately 1950.

(Bottom right)  Tom and Nora with their five children, taken the same day as the top right photo.

Grandma's Photo Album - Page 24 - Mozelle and Carrie Snyder

(Left) Mozelle Snyder.  Looks like her high school graduation photo.  Mozelle is living, so I'm not providing any details about her.

(Center)  This photo fell out recently.  It is a photo of the sailor's monument in Gloucester, Massachusetts.   I'll show the pictures that fell out in a later post.

(Right) Carrie Mae Snyder Disher (1926-2001), my mother. This photo was taken in front of her parent's farmhouse, on Pleasant Home Church Road, Millers Creek, Wilkes County, N.C.  It's hard to date it exactly.  I would guess it was taken in the 1940's.

Grandma's Photo Album - Page 23 - Lacy, Ed, Toyce, and Genie McNeil, and Nick Snyder

(Left) Siblings Lacy and Ed McNeil:  Lacy Florence McNeil (1902-1990) and Edward McNeil (1916-1963).  Ed was the youngest child of George Thomas McNeil (1870-1930) and Clara Eva Hettie Ellen Jarvis McNeil (1873-1959). 

I can't tell who the woman in the background is, or where this photo was taken.

(Center) Nicholas Grindstaff Snyder (1863-1944).  I believe this photo was taken on the day of his wife's funeral in 1933.  This gravestone lookes like the gravestone of his parents:

• Noah Snyder (1826-1915)
• Sallie Stout Snyder (1827-1909)

This gravestone is in the cemetery at Reddies River Baptist Church, near Wilbar, in Wilkes County, N.C.

(Right) Sisters Toyce and Genie, daughters of G. Thomas and Clara Eva McNeil.  Toyce Etta McNeil (1905-1969) was their 4th child.  Genie's full name was Mary Lougenie McNeil (1908-1966).  Genie was a twin of Demie.

Nick's wife was Louise Jane Whittington Snyder (1863-1933).  Her funeral was on August 25, 1933.
Other photos of him on that day are on pages 13, 14, 16, and 17.

Grandma's Photo Album - Page 22 - Vannoy baby, Grandma Wright, Tom Snyder, Mr. Elam

(Left) "Isaac's baby"  This photo is similar to the photo on page 21, where I have the details.  I believe this is Wiley Thomas Vannoy, who died at age 2 in 1924.

(Top center) "Grandma Wright, a neighbor in Millers Creek."  I have never heard of this lady!

(Top right)  Hard to see - looks like a photo of some horses or mules

(Bottom center)  A young Tom Snyder (my grandfather, Wiley Thomas Snyder, 1892-1988).  I love these candid snapshots that show people in their work clothes.

(Bottom right) The man on the left is a soldier friend of Tom's, Tom is in the center, Mr. Elam is on the right.  I have not been able to identify any Elams living in Wilkes County, N.C. in the 1920's or 1930's.  On page 21, there is a girl named Dorothy Elam, so I guess this Mr. Elam may be her father.

Grandma's Photo Album - Page 21 - Dorothy Elam,, Issac Vannoy's baby, Tom and Neil Snyder

(Left) Dorothy Elam.  I have no idea who she is!  There are no Elam's in Wilkes County in 1920, 1930, and 1940.  On page 22, there's a photo with Mr. Elam, who I assume is related.

(Middle) This is Isaac Vannoy (1894-1979), who married my grandmother's sister, Ila McNeil, holding his baby son, who died as a child.  The son's name was Wiley Thomas Vannoy.  He was born on Christmas Day 1921.  He died of dysentery at age 2 1/2, on July 31, 1924.  (His death certificate says his name was Willie, but his tombstone says Wiley.)

Isaac and Ila also had two daughters:

1. Eula Mae Vannoy Sharpe (1920-1993)
2. Bettie Sue Vannoy (living)

(Right) My grandfather and his son Neil.  My grandfather was Wiley Thomas Snyder (1892-1988).  Neil's full name was James Neil Snyder (1922-1993).  They are all dressed up!  This picture was probably taken in late 1922 or early 1923, when they were living in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Sources:

(1) Wilkes County , North Carolina, death certificate no. 281 (1924), Willie Thomas Vannoy; digital image, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, "North Carolina Death Certificates, 1909-1975," Ancestry.com　(http://www.Ancestry.com : accessed 24 Jul 2011).