Person:James Snow (23)

In 1850 a James Snow was living in Perry Township, Marion County, Indiana with (presumably) his son Oliver and his daughter Martha. He appears to be a widower, as no female who can be suggested as his wife is listed living in the household.

This is most likely the same James Snow who lived in Perry County in 1840, and who purchased US land there sometime in 1834, receiving his patent in 1835. Based on household structure in the 1840 Census, he appears to be the same James Snow who was recorded in Clark County, Indiana in 1830.

One of the questions regarding James is, who was his wife? It is tempting to assume that he is the James Snow who married Elizabeth Johnson in Clark County, Indiana in 1816. Unfortunately, he is not.

There is no James Snow listed in the 1820 Census for Clark County. At that time, the James Snow who married Elizabeth Johnson was living in Pope County, Illinois. In 1830, when this James Snow was living in Clark County, Indiana, the James Snow who married Elizabeth Johnson was living in Fountain County, Indiana. From there he moved to Boone County, Indiana where his financial investments and problems make it highly unlikely that he was also purchasing land in Marion County. He did, however, purchase land in Shelby County, Indiana from his brother-in-law Joseph Reese, and he and his wife Elizabeth were living there in 1839, not in Marion County.

The household structure of the James Snow living in Clark County, Indiana is consistent with the household structure of the James Snow living in Marion County, Indiana in 1840. The household structure of the James Snow who married Elizabeth Johnson and living in Fountain County, Indiana in 1830 is not.

In other words, these are two different James Snows, and the James Snow living in Marion County, Indiana is NOT the James Snow who married Elizabeth Johnson.

The James Snow living in Marion County, Indiana in 1850 most likely married before coming to Indiana, probably (based on the ages of his children) sometime around around 1818. He was likely the brother (based on proximity and similarity of migration) of the Benjamin Snow who appears in the 1820 Census for Clark County, Indiana, married Catherine Roads there on 7 June 1820, and who died in Marion County, Indiana on 5 January 1830 ^[5]; and of the Joseph Snow, also born in North Carolina, who was already living in Marion County in 1830, received a patent for US land on 30 October 1834, and who continued to live in Marion County through 1850.

Footnotes

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 United States. 1850 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432).
2. ↑ United States. Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records.
3. ↑ United States. 1840 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M704).
4. ↑ United States. 1830 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M19).
5. ↑ Index of Estates, Marion County, Indiana, 1823-1882; FHL #0382747