WESLEY SNYDER, one of the old soldier citizens of Walnut, who is Commander of the John A. Dix Post, No. 408, was born on a farm near Huntington County, Pennsylvania, February 27, 1847, the son of John Snyder, who was born in the same place and was of German descent. He married Sarah Lynn, daughter of John Lynn, of Pennsylvania, and they were the parents of nine children who lived to maturity, namely: Jane, Susan, Elizabeth, Martha, Rachel, Lucinda, Wesley, Johnathan and Hugh. The Snyders were old settlers of Pennsylvnia, and John Snyder had two uncles in the war of the Revolution. Mr. Snyder was a comfortable farmer, and in 1865 emigrated to Iowa, settling on a farm in Johnson County where he lived until his death in 1876. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and an honorable and upright citizen.

August 29, 1864, at the age of sixteen years, Wesley Snyder enlisted in Company K, Two Hundred and Second Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. He served along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in Virginia, and on his return home he came with his father to Iowa, and has since been a citizen of this state.

In 1879 he left farm work, which he had followed until this time, and worked in the elevator as engineer for two years in Shelby, Iowa, and then in Minden two years. In 1884, he came to Walnut where he has since ran the elevator for Davenport & Co. In1889 he was appointed Commander of the John A. Dix Post, G.A.R., of Avoca for one year. He is a prominent member of the Methodist Church, of which is a Trustee and Steward. He is well known in Avoca as a conscientious and upright citizen.