My
name is Bonnie Snyder Smith. I am a descendant of Snyder Community colonists,
the coordinator of the Snyder Community Project, and the author of this web site.
Snyder Community
Hale County, Texas
Snyder Community Project
About the Coordinator/Author
My
name is Bonnie Snyder Smith. I am a descendant of Snyder Community colonists,
the coordinator of the Snyder Community Project, and the author of this web site.
My Grandpa Snyder was Orville A. SNYDER, son of Peter B. SNYDER and Ida GRABILL. My Grandma Snyder was (Lydia) Ellen HARTZLER, daughter of Joseph K. HARTZLER and Mary GINGERICH. Orville and Ellen were married at her parents' home in the Snyder Community, September 10, 1910. Rev. Jonas M. KREIDER performed the ceremony.
As a “virtual archivist,” I research public records, collect family stories from descendants of community members, and scan photos from various family collections. Then I interpret the material and publish items on this web site.
Contact me by e-mail. 
(This is not a clickable link. Please type the address into the To box of your
e-mail message.)
The large photo portrait of Isaac Hertzler (above) is in the gift shop of Behalt, the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center in Berlin, Ohio. Isaac was the father of Joseph K. Hartzler, who lived in the Snyder Community. My husband tried to get a clear photo of the portrait, but the glass just reflected everything. I've heard two different versions of the story about how a photographer captured Isaac's likeness. Both versions agreed that my Amish great-great-grandfather was tricked into it, having refused permission for his picture to be taken. On the wall under the portrait is Isaac's ancestral chart. He is a descendant of Jacob Hertzler, widely regarded as the first Amish Mennonite bishop in the U.S.
copyright © 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008 Bonnie Snyder Smith
