WELCOME to the John Snider Family Website.






JOHN SNIDER FAMILY John Snider, first child of Mike and Veronica Snider, was born in Wooten Wells in Robertson County near Bremond on September 19, 1907, the oldest of nine children.

As a young man, John recalls,"We always went to dances at different people's houses. The older people would play the fiddle and guitar for the younger folks. Many times, we got together at somebody's house almost every night. Josie and Katie and Eva Nowaski gave a lot of dances. We'd just move the furniture out in the yard and go to dancing."

"Back in those days, we went to a lot of weddings. Most of the neighbors would help with the cooking and baking. We cooked pork in big cast iron pots that we stirred with wooden paddles. I remember one time when one man picked up a paddle and knocked hell out of the man next to him!"

"I remember in 1916, Papa (Mike Snider) bought a brand new buggy. We had a little blaze-faced mare. She was a going buggy puller! We had a top on the buggy. We used to enjoy riding in a buggy through the countryside on our way to town and to church. You had time to greet your neighbors and see the changes that the seasons brought on the trees and grass. Of course, it got pretty cold in the winter time."

"When the Model T's came out, that's when things went to stirring up! In 1921, Papa bought a Model T without a starter. You had to turn a crank to start it. In those days, the model with a starter cost $85 more. In 1923, Papa sold that car to Freddy Johnson and bought another Model T, but this time with a starter."

"One time, a big load of us kids went out to a wedding in the Model T Ford. At the wedding, they wouldn't give us anything so we went out back and picked up one of those pots and carried it off into the woods. We had our own wedding feast!"

As a young boy in the Wooten Wells schools, John met Lula Krysinski (Born March 8, 1905) whom he later courted and married. Lula lived with her folks on a nearby farm. John and Lula were married at the Bremond Catholic Church on November 10, 1931. After the wedding, they returned to Lula's parent's farm for the traditional Polish wedding feast.

As was often the case at Polish weddings, some of the wedding guests consumed a little more than their share of beer and towards the evening, an exciting fight broke out between several of the ladies. It seems that some of the men dressed up in ladies skirts and during the course of the evening, began flirting with some of the unattached ladies. At any rate, a big fight broke out among several of the women! It so happened that one of the neighbors in attendance that day was not Polish and was overheard to say, "Remind me not to ever tangle with one of them Polish women!"

John and Lula set up housekeeping on a nearby farm. According to John, "When we first got married, we got a $7 book of stamps from Campbell's which was supposed to last a month. We'd trade the stamps for groceries at his store for things like flour and sugar. Later, I paid back my bills after my fourth bale of cotton."

Next, John and Lula moved to a farm near "Wildcat" where they lived from 1932 to 1936. It was at this farm that their first two children, Angelina (August 2, 1932) and Norbert (March 3, 1934) were born.

"During the 30's, President Roosevelt instituted a program where you could plow up so many acres and get paid for it. You'd get a small check for about $9 an acre which helped pay for groceries," recalled John as he spoke with us on a recent visit.

"A bale of cotton in those days was worth about $25 or $30 at the gin."

John and Lula continued to sharecrop in the Bremond area during which time, their third child, Albin (L.B.), was born on March 1, 1936.

After another year in the Bremond area, John and Lula moved to a farm in Reagan (Falls County). This was the fall of 1937. John started out as a sharecropper but eventually bought the farm in Reagan where he raised cotton, cattle, hogs and poultry and a big garden which provided most of their food requirements.

That same year (1937), John's sister Connie and her husband, John Kubiak, sharecropped nearby. Lula and Connie helped each other during childbirth time and canning time. Later, the Kubiaks moved to the Little Brazos River bottom but John and Lula continued to live in Reagan for another ten years. Their third son, Aloytsius (Al) John was born in Reagan on June 22, 1940. Their last child, Mildred Mary, was born on August 15, 1942.

In the summer of 1948, a tragedy occurred that put the religious convictions of John and Lula Snider family to the test. Their second oldest son, L.B., had grown up doing hard chores around the Snider farm as did the other Snider children. At the age of 12, L.B. had the chore of tending to his Dad's cattle on horseback.

On the morning of July 26, 1948, L.B. rode out to see about the cows but didn't return. This was not like L.B. to miss dinner so Lula began to worry about him. A short time later, his horse returned to the house riderless. When they went to see about him, they found L.B. lying unconscious in the dirt, bleeding from a large bruise to his head. Apparently, something startled the horse causing him to throw his rider to the ground, accidentally kicking him in the head in the process.

L.B. was rushed to Torbit's Hospital in Marlin where he underwent immediate brain surgery. After 10 weeks at the Marlin Hospital, his condition was little changed and he remained in a deep coma. L.B. was then transferred to a Houston hospital for eight weeks and then brought home to the Reagan farm where he was constantly watched by John and Lula.

Finally after a five-month coma (156 days), L.B. regained consciousness and began the slow process of learning again. The brain damage suffered during the accident prevented L.B. from returning to public schools.

John and Lula and their family lived on the Reagan farm until 1950 when John built a new home near Bremond where he and Lula live today.

One of the happy occasions at their new home was the marriage of John and Lula's oldest daughter, Angelina, to Robert Grucholski in June of 1951. John and Lula prepared a traditional Polish wedding feast complete with Polka band, and food and drink for hundreds of guests.

Lula (Krysinski) Snider was the daughter of Anton and Antoinette (Lehoski) Krysinski. Her father, Anton came to America from Poland with his brother, Hubert Krysinski, and two sisters, Antoinette Krysinski Brezinski and Rosie Krysinski Ciherski and they all settled in the Bremond area except for Hubert who settled in the St.Louis, Missouri area.

Anton entered the United States on Joe Ciherski's passport (son of Anton's sister, Rosie Krysinski Ciherski).

Anton and Antoinette (Lehoski) Krysinski had eleven children including: John, Mary Franko, Anton, Katherine Bonner, Lula Snider, Pauline Warhol, Vickie Lott, Bill (died at age 5), Josephine Shymanski, Joe, and Raymond (died age 3). Anton's wife, Antoinette (Lehoski) Krysinski had a brother, Pete Lehoski, and a sister, Mary (Lehoski) Szydek.

On November 10, 1981, John and Lula celebrated their 50th (Golden) wedding anniversary.

The following spring (April 25, 1982), the Snider family was saddened by the sudden death of their son, L.B.

In July of 86, we visited Uncle John and Aunt Lula on their farm near Bremond. We found Uncle John out working on a tractor. As we walked to the house, we passed the corrals, barns and a well-kept fruit orchard. Things had not changed much on the farm over the past 30 years!

Inside, we met Aunt Lula and were soon joined by Uncle John where we spent a couple of hours recalling old times. As we were leaving, Aunt Lula took us on a tour of her storeroom where she had put up hundreds of jars of fruits and vegetables during the canning season. Her canned sauerkraut is always sought after at the annual Snider Reunion auctions!

John and Lula are now both deceased and buried in the St. Mary's Catholic cemetery in Bremond near their ancesters.


Willie (Snider)Storemski Family History
Connie (Snider) Kubiak Family History
William Marion (Bill) Snider Family History
Bruno Snider Family History
Christine (Snider)Knapik Family History
Louis Snider Family History
Lee Snider Family History

.

Over time, I intend to include family history information for all families that tie back to Tom and Jacob Snider. Bear with me, this will take some time!

Leonard Kubiak

For questions or comments, send me an Email

Click Here to Return to the Snider Family Homepage