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Note: David Snodgrass brought his wife and family from Alabama to Titus Co., Texas in 1849.
From the History of Titus County by Traylor Russell, 1965, Pages 15-17
THE DAVID SNODGRASS FAMILY IN TITUS COUNY
David Snodgrass and Elizabeth (Betsy) Walker were married at Scottsborough, Alabama on
October 15, 1827. They came to Texas in 1849 and settled in the Southeastern part of Titus County. The Snodgrass and Walker families in Alabama were reputed to be rather wealthy, and it is said that David Snodgrass and his wife brought considerable money to Texas with them. The courthouse of Titus County burned in 1895 and all records were destroyed, and many of the deeds that had been previously recorded were not refiled and rerecorded. However, it can be determined from the Deed Records by sale and partitions of lands in the Southeastern part of the county that David Snodgrass and his wife acquired in excess of 3,000 acres of land out of the Wade H. Vining Survey and the two Kendall Lewis Surveys. There is one deed recorded from J. B. Tennison to David Snodgrass dated December 21, 1868, for 300 acres; and this appears to be the only deed of record to David Snodgrass. Their home place was on what is now a tract of 150 acres out of the Northwest corner of
the Wade H. Vining Survey owned by A. C. Blackburn. Fred Traylor, who is a (page 16) resident of Titus County for some 80 years and was born and reared in that section of the county, says that he remembers the location of the old Snodgrass home. This home was located near a large Spring, and was a �dog-trot� house. This house has been torn down for many years.
There were twelve children in the Snodgrass family, and these are John Snodgrass, William
Snodgrass, Mary Tennison, Caroline Harkrider, Ann Allison, born 1838 and died in 1915, Frances Jemerson, Carrick Snodgrass, Minty Singleton, George Snodgrass, Nancy Rhodes, Dave Snodgrass, and Thomas J. Snodgrass, born 1833 and died 1892. These children are not named in the order of their age.
A good many years after the Snodgrass family came to Texas, Dave Snodgrass and his wife went back to Alabama for a division of their parent's estate, and they secured a sum of money in gold, said by many to be in excess of $20,000.00, and brought it back to Texas with them. Evidently this money was never used and was kept by Mr. and Mrs. Snodgrass and resulted in a very bitter lawsuit between members of the family after their death. David Snodgrass died in 1882, and his wife had him buried at night, she did not go to the funeral. Some of the children said after the death of their mother, that the gold that their parents had was buried under the fireplace hearth, and that their parents had discussed the fact that this gold should be removed when one of them died and buried at some other place. They felt that the best way that this could be done was that when one of them died, that that one be buried at night and while everyone was gone to the funeral, the surviving parent would dig up the gold and rebury it, and this is evidently what was done. Elizabeth Snodgrass died in March 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Snodgrass, along with other members of the family, were buried in the Snodgrass Cemetery, which is located on a tract of land owned by E. C. Simms and lies immediately south of a tract owned by T. A. Bell. This is the northwest part of the Wade H. Vining Survey. There are a good many graves in this cemetery, only a few of which are marked. Some of these graves have rock vaults over them. The entire cemetery is very much neglected, is not fenced, and is growing up in brush. In the matter of a few years, it will have completely disappeared. The graves of David Snodgrass and his wife are not marked, but there is one area that is enclosed with a brick wall, which is reported to be the place where they are buried. Among those buried there and having a marker at their grave is John Lindsey. His monument says he was born in 1789 and died in 1853. His wife was a sister to Elizabeth Snodgrass. There was another sister who lived and died in Cass County by the name of Poll Talley. It is said that this Poll Talley was one of the meanest women that ever lived. It is reported that on one occasion she became angry at a small Negro slave child and picked this child up and threw it into a pot of soap that was being cooked. It is also said that Mr. and Mrs. Snodgrass were very cruel to their slaves and had to keep a strict watch over them to keep them from running off, and quite often placed them in chains.
After the death of Elizabeth Snodgrass, her son, Carrick, dug up the gold that had been buried and carried it to Floyd County where he was then living. It is said that he and his sister, Frances, dug up the gold and he carried it to Captain E. R. Nelson�s home in the same community. Mrs. Nelson made him some sacks to carry it to Floyd County. Some said it was discovered that he had recovered the gold due to the fact that he began to exhibit signs of prosperity. It is said that Captain Nelson was in Mt. Pleasant, and while under the influence of whiskey told about Carrick and his sister getting the gold.
Buried in the Snodgrass cemetery is Luther Snodgrass, born 1873 died 1890. He died of poison. He was a son of Thomas J. Snodgrass. Whit L. Russell was killed by Jim Lasater in 1883. He was survived by his wife, Eugenia Jennie Russell, and five children. The family lived in the Snowhill Community of Titus County. Within a year or so after his death, Eugenia Jennie Russell married Thomas J. Snodgrass, but the marriage did not last long and (page 17) somewhere around 1889, she divorced him. She then began courting T. J. Holmes, who had moved into the community from Georgia. He was living with a sister of his by the name of Mrs. Leeves. T. J. Holmes loved whiskey, especially if it was someone else�s whiskey, and probably if he had been living today he would be called an alcoholic. Thomas J. Snodgrass did not like the idea of him courting his former wife, so he decided that he would put strychnine in some whiskey and give it to Mr. Holmes. He did so, but his son, Luther, got into the whiskey, drank some of it, and died of the poison, thereby saving Mr. Holmes� live.
Dave Snodgrass is also buried in the family cemetery, but his grave is not marked. He was killed at the New Hope Church by his nephew, Bill Snodgrass. It is reported that they were there at the church, drunk, and got into an argument, and Bill shot him.
Descendants of this family still live in the southeastern part of Titus County. There are Barbers, Harkriders, Longs, Snodgrass' and other families in this area who descend from David and Elizabeth Snodgrass.
Due to Captain Nelson telling in the saloons of Mt. Pleasant about Carrick Snodgrass digging up his parent�s gold, a suit was fied by some of the heirs in the District Court of Titus County for a partition of the money Carrick had gotten. This is Suit No. 24 and it was finally determined in 1897. There were two lawyers by the name of Snodgrass who were representing the Plaintiffs and Judge S. P. Pounders, of Mt. Pleasant, was representing Carrick. The Plaintiffs alledged that Carrick had dug up gold in excess of $20,000.00. Although Carrick admitted digging up his parent�s gold, he said that it was only $1250.00, and that his mother had told him where it was in order that he might take it and take care of his sister, Frances, who apparently was an invalid. Before the suit was finally tried, several of the Plaintiffs withdrew and when it was finally determined; only John and Minty Singleton, together with some grandchildren, were still in the suit. John and Minty were each given $320.08, which when multiplied by twelve, would indicate that Carrick had recovered in excess of $3800.00. However, it was generally said in the community by other members of the family, as well as neighbors, that the amount that he had found was in excess of $20,000.00.
Sarah Snodgrass who was a sister to David married a Maddox. They had a daughter who is named Catherine Ann Maddox and she married J. C. Kirby, and Catherine and J. C. are the parents of Evie Traylor. [vss - see 1880 Franklin Co TX, John C. Kirby 28 AL,
Catherine 30 AL]
(The above information was gathered by reading the court papers in Suit No. 24 in the District Court of Titus County, Texas, the Deed Records of Titus County, Texas, and interviews with Fred Traylor, Evie Traylor, and others who knew members of the family. Sarah Snodgrass, who was a sister to David Snodgrass, married a Maddox. They had a daughter who is named Catherine Ann Maddox and she married J. C. Kirby and Catherine and J. C. Kirby are the parents of Evie Traylor.]
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