Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Snell, Thomas

Died: 1907-06-19 Bloomington, Illinois

Snell was a farmer, merchant, railroad builder, business man, and a colonel in the Civil War. He moved with his father to Pekin, Illinois, in 1829. He resided in Pekin and Washington, while working as a merchant. In December 1840, Snell married Sarah E. Church in Tazewell County, Illinois; the couple would have five children. In the early 1850s, Snell moved his family to Clinton, Illinois, where he continued his mercantile pursuits and farmed. When the Illinois Central Railroad began construction in 1852, he took an active lead, contracting to build over 400 miles of the railroad. Snell also graded and bridged the road from Champaign to Havana, a distance of 101 miles. In 1859, Snell, along with S. L. Keith, erected a wagon factory in Aurora, which he continued until 1865. By 1860, Snell had amassed $150,000 in real property, with a personal estate of $125,000. Politically, Snell was a Democrat, and in 1860, ran an unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor of Illinois on the John C. Breckenridge ticket. In August 1862, Snell organized the 107th Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, of which, after six months, he was elected colonel. During his command, Snell and his troops passed through Louisville, Kentucky, where the soldiers, upon Snell's orders, burned fences and foraged as it suited them. In defiance of general orders, Snell was arrested and put in jail by General Jeremiah T. Boyle, commander of the post at Louisville. Through the interposition of Lawrence Weldon and Leonard Switt, Snell gained his freedom, and in 1863, returned to his business pursuits. At the time of his death, Snell left an estate worth over one million dollars.

History of DeWitt County, Illinois (Philadelphia: W. R. Brink, 1882), 126, 171-73; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Tazewell County, 17 December 1840, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Washington, Tazewell County, IL, 7; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Clinton, DeWitt County, IL, 116; History of DeWitt County Illinois (Chicago: Pioneer, 1910), 1:132; Gravestone, Woodlawn Cemetery, Clinton, IL.