My Genealogy Hound

JESSE SNOOK. In the list of manufacturing enterprises that have contributed to the prosperity of Seneca County and to the advancement of its material interests, mention should be made of the Waterloo Wagon Company, Limited, one of the flourishing concerns of the village of Waterloo. The plant is a large one, and the products may be found on sale in the principal markets of the United States. The success of the firm and its enviable reputation among dealers and the retail trade are due, in no small degree, to the efforts of Mr. Snook, who is Treasurer of the company, and who, through all the years of his connection with the enterprise, has labored to promote the quality of workmanship and reliability of the products.

In the town of Newton, Essex County, N. J., the subject of this article was born in 1830. His parents, William and Elizabeth (Drake) Snook, were also natives of New Jersey, where they were reared and married. In the year 1831 they removed to Seneca County and settled in the village of Waterloo, in which place the father, who was a miller by occupation, found work in the gristmill of Thomas Fatzinger, continuing with that gentleman for sixteen years. His death occurred in 1850, when he was forty-nine years of age, and his wife, who survived him many years, passed away in 1873, at the age of seventy-one. Both were devoted members of the Baptist Church. He was of German descent, while she traced her lineage, through her father, Daniel Drake, to English ancestors.

Brought to Waterloo at the age of one year, our subject has known no other home than this village. In boyhood he attended the public schools here, but at the age of twelve left school and began to work in the Waterloo Woolen Mills. Later he was with his father in Thomas Fatzinger’s mills, remaining there for many years after the death of his father. In 1867, forming a partnership with two other citizens of Waterloo, he began in the malting business as a member of the firm of Mickley, Snook & Fatzinger. They carried on a large trade, principally with New York and Philadelphia markets, but after some years he sold his interest in the concern.

In 1882 Mr. Snook aided in the organization of the Waterloo Wagon Company, Limited, of which, since 1887, he has been Treasurer. For four years or more he has been a stockholder in the Waterloo Organ and Piano Company. He is the owner of one hundred acres situated in the town of Fayette, and all of which is under excellent cultivation. While he has never displayed any partisanship in politics, he is known as a pronounced and loyal Republican, one who is devoted to the welfare and success of his party.

His business affairs have occupied his attention to the exclusion of public matters, and he has never been prevailed upon to accept official position, though for three years he served as School Trustee and aided considerably in advancing the interest of the Waterloo schools.