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Snyder School

At the northwest corner of this Township there lies a beautiful and fertile region known as Crow Prairie. Its first settlers were Benaijah and Russell Mallory, who made a claim here in 1834 and put up the first cabin, and sold to Col. Snyder in 1835.

In the latter year Loton Frisbee came, and after a short time opened his farm, near the corner of the town at the edge of the timber. At that time there was neither fence nor house on the prairie, save Mallory's or Snyders, and no frame house in Henry. David and Orsemus Culver had begun breaking ground at the lower end of the prairie, and there were cabins at Bonham's and Rowe's.

There were no settlers on the west side of this prairie near Frisbee's till 1838, when Jerry Jones came. A man named John Smith made a claim in 1835-6 to lands afterward owned by Ward and Wilson, latterly by Mr. Emerick.

Mr. Templeton built a sod house in 1837. Mr. Snyder's was the first frame house built on the prairie. The pioneer school house was built of logs in 1838, and was known as the "Snyder School House." It was replaced by a frame structure in 1848-9. Two of Mr. Lyons' daughters were among the earliest teachers in the old building, where Preacher Devore and Father Cummings held forth to the Methodists and Elder Chenowith to the Baptists.

Extracted from Records of the Olden Time, authored by Spencer Ellsworth, 1880, page 384


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