America in 1805, landing at Baltimore, where they stayed until 1813 or 1814. They then moved to Pennsylvania and laterto Perry Co., OH. Nicholas Dominic Snider had been in the German Army, stationed in Austria and billeted in the house where his future bride, Elizabeth Ann Eckhardt’s family lived.

Nicholas Vincent Snyder, son of Jacob and grandson of Nicholas D. Snider, was the first to come to Iowa. His sister Elizabeth married Anthony Gossman (son of Andrew Gossman) who came to Iowa in 1858 along with his brother Joseph. Joseph’s wife was Marian (Mary Ann) Snyder, daughter of Lewis Snyder, a son of Nicholas Dominic and brother of Jacob.

Elmer and Marge Gossman

The farm of Nicolas Vincent Synder was later purchased by Nicolas Dominic Snider, a son of Simon, who was the son of the immigrant Nicolas D. and brother of Lewis and Jacob. This was in 1880 when Nicolas Dominic and his wife, Hulda Overmeyer, came from Ohio with their family.

Three of Simon Snider's children married into the family of Andrew Gossman, who had purchased the farm adjoining Nicholas D. Snider’s in the 1860’s. Andrew's oldest son, William (my grandfather), married Rosanna Snider in 1885. Emma Gossman married Thomas Benton Snider and farmed land in Sec. 17 of Burr Oak Twp. Anna Gossman married John Jay Snider. A brother of Anna, Andrew Gossman and her son Jacob went to Wenatchee, WA about 1906 and began a nursery and orchard business which is still operated by the Snider family. Andrew never married.

Simon Snider's wife, Nancy Ann Jackson, also had a number of relatives come to Iowa. Her brother Joseph settled near Village Creek in Allamakee Co. Robert and William Jackson also came to Iowa but William moved on to Omaha. Her sister Rosanna, who married Walter

Mitchell, settled in Chickasaw Co., IA.

The Jackson family history was written up in a book published by Horace Martimer Jackson in 1905. The Jacksons came to New England in the early 1700’s with three sons. The first Michael Jackson went to the coast to trade and never returned. His son, Michael married Susanna Willcocks/Wilcox, whose family had come to America in the early 1600’s. Michael fought in the French and Indian War and was at Bunker Hill. He was with the American forces at Burgoyne’s defeat. His son, Lyman enlisted in the Revolutionary Army seven times. Lyman married Diedamia Dunham, whose father was a physician and surgeon from Wales named Obediah. Obediah’s wife was Lucy Gillet.

During the War of 1812, Lyman (who had moved to Albion, Erie Co., PA) along with seven of his sons and a son-in-law entered the local militia. One son, John J. Jack-son, was sent to Fort Belle Fontaine north of St. Louis. There he met and married Sarah Howard Ijams. They moved back to Perry Co., OH. The Perry Co. area of Ohio was the destination of many immigrants after the War of 1812. Their daughter was Nancy Ann, wife of Simon Snider.

Sarah Howard Ijams' parents were Elizabeth Howard and William Ijams. Elizabeth’s family came to Maryland in the 1620’s from England. William Ijams also had family roots going back to England. They moved to Ohio where William died about 1815. Elizabeth then married John Whistler who she had known in Maryland (he also had recently lost his spouse). John was sent to Fort Belle Fontaine as military storekeeper, where he died in 1829. John had come to America as a British soldier with Burgoyne. After Burgoyne’s defeat, John joined the American Army. He served with General Anthony Wayne. His son, George Washington Whistler, went to West Point. George later went to Russia where he laid out the Moscow to St. Petersburg Railroad. One of his descendants was James Abbot McNeill Whistler, the painter.

Nicholas Snider was a weaver and his sons became the owners of saw mills, planing mills, lumberyards and farmers.

This short sketch gives a brief outline of some of our family ties. There are descendants in most states of the union, including Hawaii and Alaska. We have a listing of some 400 names in the Gossman line and, of course, it is not complete.

Grangaard, Louis - His Autobiography

(Marilyn Preus and Marie Smedsrud)

While all the other stories in this book are biographies, the following is an autobiography. The original is written in pencil on two sides of a fragile piece of paper which has darkened with age. It is not known when L.A. Grangaard wrote this autobiography. He includes few dates, thus one can only make educated guesses based on the fact he was born 20 Apr 1861 and died 17 Oct 1938. His wife Helena Sevatson was born 17 Jun 1861 and died 3 Aug 1917. They were the parents of 6 children: Inga, Orrin, Idelia, Stella, Olga, and Conrad. L.A.