As I have begun the descendancy research of William W. Waits for my Darthula Ross research project, I sometimes run across an interesting story. This story is about Joseph Thomas Snell and how he founded Snellville, Georgia. Snell married Annie Elizabeth Matthews. This is what the descendancy looks like for Annie Elizabeth Matthews:
Table of Contents
Joseph Thomas Snell Life Sketch
Joseph Thomas Snell was born 3 Oct 1856 in Roche, Cornwall, England. He was the son of Joseph and Ann Snell. He was christened the 25 Dec 1856 in Roche, Cornwall, England.1 In 1874 Snell and his friend James Sawyer secretly planned a trip to America. Snell’s parents found out about the plan and prevented him from leaving with his friends. James and his brother Charles left for America and arrived in New York 1 Apr 1874. The brothers quickly traveled to Athens, Georgia and began working on a farm. Eventually Snell left London and joined the Sawyer brothers on the farm. The Sawyers left the farm to pursue other opportunities leaving Snell to work on the farm.
Snell married Annie Elizabeth Matthews 21 Nov 1877 in Gwinnett, Georgia.2 James Sawyer returned to Georgia and he found Snell in New London, Gwinnett, Georgia. Snell was living on a homestead that he called Snellville. Snell and Sawyer built a wood frame building and opened a store. The store operated much like company owned stores found in mining operations. The store printed and distributed it’s own money that customers could redeem for goods. The store did well and attracted customers from neighboring communities.
The location of the store became known as Snellville and the community of New London adopted the name. Eventually the business partnership between Snell and James Sawyer dissolved with Sawyer taking over the store. 3
It is not clear what Snell did between leaving the partnership and his death, though a newspaper article implies that Snell was still involved in the store and post office until his death. Snell developed some kind of abscess on his liver which was successfully removed by a doctor in Atlanta. A second abscess was discovered in 1896 and the second surgery failed.4 Snell died 3 Mar 1896 due to complications from the second surgery. He was 39 years old. He was buried in Lithonia, Gwinnett, Georgia.5
Snell has one documented child on Family Search named Ellen Anne Elizabeth Snell. She was born 13 Sep 1877 in Gwinnett, Georgia.
Snellville, Georgia Today
Snellville is a vibrant community in Gwinnett County, Georgia with a population of about 18,000 people. It was officially chartered in 1923 by the state of Georgia and is located about 25 miles east of Atlanta. The city continues to experience growth because of its proximity to Atlanta.
Snellville has an active historical society. Their website features pictures of the Snell and Sawyer store after it had been converted into a stone building. There are also pictures of Joseph Thomas Snell and James Sawyer.
Further Research
I did a quick glance at the land records for Gwinnett County, Georgia and there are numerous property transactions for Joseph Thomas Snell. It may be worth the time to go through these chronologically to see what was happening to Snell. It appears he is buying and selling a lot of land between himself and several people. One individual named Wm. J Waits caught my attention but I do not know how he may be connected to the Waits family. It would also be worth looking at court records to see whether Snell did leave the partnership with James Sawyer or not.
A quick search of probates, wills, and guardianship papers did not return any results, though a more thorough search may turn up something. It would be odd for the family of a deceased person with a lot of property to not go through probate. Court records may reveal more information. A search for records connected to James Sawyer may also provide some insight.
The first mayor of Snellville is Gladstone F. Snell. Gladstone is likely related to Joseph Thomas Snell, but it is not clear. Gladstone’s family came from London to Snellville. Additional research should be done on the Snell family in England to see how they are connected to Joseph Thomas Snell. It would be nice to extend Joseph Thomas Snell’s line further back in England.
It is possible the Snellville Historical Society may have more information about Joseph Thomas Snell. It would be nice to add additional information to his Family Search page and also to provide additional support to his story.
Sources
- “England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975”, database, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NG3G-7HL : 19 September 2020), Joseph Thomas Snell, 1856.
- “Georgia Marriages, 1808-1967”, database, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWQ9-MQB : 11 January 2020), Joseph T. Snell, 1877.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snellville%2C_Georgia#English_settlers
- The Gwinnett Herald (Lawrenceville, GA), 3 Mar 1896, p. 3.
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22137592/j-tom-snell
