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A. Loudon Snowden

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Archibald Loudon Snowden (August 11, 1835 – September 7, 1912) was an American diplomat.[1] He served simultaneously as the United States Minister to Greece, Romania, and Serbia from 1889 to 1892 and as the United States Minister to Spain from 1892 to 1893. During the American Civil War, he raised a regiment of infantry and served as lieutenant-colonel during their training. He subsequently served as captain in the First City Troop. He held multiple roles at the Philadelphia Mint, including as chief coiner from 1877 to 1879 and as superintendent and Chief Executor from 1879 to 1885.

A. Loudon Snowden
U.S. Ambassador to Spain
In office
July 22, 1892 – June 3, 1893
PresidentBenjamin Harrison
Grover Cleveland
Preceded byEdward Burd Grubb, Jr.
Succeeded byHannis Taylor
U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Romania and Greece
In office
July 1, 1889 – August 25, 1892
PresidentBenjamin Harrison
Preceded byWalker Fearn
Succeeded byTruxtun Beale
Personal details
Born
Archibald Loudon Snowden

August 11, 1835
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedSeptember 7, 1912 (1912-09-08) (aged 77)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting placeLaurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Elizabeth Robinson Smith
​
​
(m. 1864; died 1910)​
Children4
RelativesJames Ross Snowden (uncle)
Carroll Livingston Wainwright (grandson)
Stuyvesant Wainwright II (great-grandson)
Loudon Wainwright Jr. (great-grandson)
Alma materJefferson College

Early life and education

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Snowden was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, on August 11, 1835.[2] He was a son of Margery Bines (née Louden) and Isaac Wayne Snowden.[3] His uncle, James Ross Snowden, was a politician and director of the United States Mint.[4] His father was a surgeon in the U.S. Army and served in the First Seminole War under General Jackson and was wounded at Fort Scott.[2]

Snowden graduated from Jefferson College in 1856. He studied law after graduation but never entered the bar.[2]

Career

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He was made register of the United States Mint 7 May 1857.[5] Politically, Snowden was a Democrat until 1860 when he switched to the Republican party believing that the Democrats' policies were detrimental to the manufacturing interests of the country.[6]

After the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Snowden assisted in raising a regiment of Pennsylvania volunteer infantry and was commissioned Lieutenant colonel. When the regiment was entered into the United States Army, they were divided amongst several Pennsylvania regiments. Snowden was not voted as one of their officers and he returned to his position at the Mint.[4] He was subsequently elected captain of the First City Troop of Philadelphia.[2][7]

He was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1873.[8]

Post-war career

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Snowden became chief coiner at the Philadelphia Mint on 1 October 1866. In 1873, he was elected vice president of the Fire Association, an insurance company, and became president in 1878.[4] From 1877 to 1879, he served as postmaster of Philadelphia,[5] Snowden served as the superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint from 1879[9] to 1885.[10] appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant. In 1878, he twice declined to serve as director of United States Mint, offered by President Hayes.[11] In 1879,[12] he became the Chief Executor in the Philadelphia Mint and served in that role until Grover Cleveland's election in 1885.[2] In 1887, he served as the Marshal of the Centennial celebration of the United States Constitution, which was held in Philadelphia.[13]

He made improvements and inventions relating to coining machinery, and wrote articles on subjects relating to coinage, the great seal of the United States, and other subjects.[4] He was identified with railroads, insurance companies, and other business interests.[5]

 
Snowden and his dog Nibbings in Athens, 1891

Diplomatic career

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In 1889, Snowden succeeded Walker Fearn and served simultaneously as the United States Minister to Greece, Romania, and Serbia from 1889 to 1892.[14] From 1892 to 1893, he served as the United States Minister to Spain, succeeding Edward Burd Grubb, Jr.[14]

Later career

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Snowden was the president of the Fairmount Park Commission. In 1903, he was accused, along with Charles A. Porter, former State Senator, C. Kennedy Crossan, a contractor and Ludwig S. Filbert, of making illegal profits through the Danville Bessemer Company.[15]

 
A. Loudon Snowden Grave in Laurel Hill Cemetery

Snowden died on September 7, 1912, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after battling a nine-month illness.[1] He was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in the Bridge section, Plots 9 & 10.[16]

Family

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On February 16, 1864, Snowden was married to Elizabeth Robinson Smith (1841–1910). Together, they were the parents of:[2]

  • Caroline Smith Snowden (1865–1960),[17] who married Stuyvesant Wainwright (1863–1930) in 1889.[18] They divorced and she married Dr. Carl F. Wolff (1864–1934).[19]
  • Mary Buchanan Snowden (b. 1866), who married Frank Samuel in 1887.[20]
  • Charles Randolph Snowden (1871–1913), who married Berthe de Pourtales Churchman (1878–1958) in 1899.[21]
  • Archibald Loudon Snowden (1878–1878), who died young.[2]

Descendants

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He was the grandfather of Stuyvesant Wainwright (1891–1975),[22] Snowden Wainwright (b. 1893), Loudon Snowden Wainwright (1898–1942), and Carroll Livingston Wainwright (1899–1967),[23] and great-grandfather of Stuyvesant Wainwright II (1921–2010) and Loudon Wainwright, Jr. (1924–1988).[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b Times, Special To The New York (7 September 1912). "COL. A. L. SNOWDEN DEAD.; Ex-Minister to Spain Expires After a Long Illness". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g McCormick, Leander James (1896). Family Record and Biography. Chicago: L.J. McCormick. pp. 238–242. ISBN 9780608317670. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  3. ^ Society, Sons of the Revolution Pennsylvania (1898). Decennial Register of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution: 1888-1898. F. B. Lippincott. p. 418. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d Smith, Andrew Madsen (1881). Coins and Coinage: The United States Mint, Philadelphia, History, Biography, Statistics, Work, Machinery, Products, Officials ... A.M. Smith. pp. 48–54. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  5. ^ a b c Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Snowden, James Ross" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
  6. ^ Morris, Charles (1896). Men of the Century, an Historical Work: Giving Portraits and Sketches of Eminent Citizens of the United States. Philadelphia: L. R. Hamersly & Company. p. 73. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  7. ^ Seymour, Joseph (2008). First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738557670. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  8. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  9. ^ "The United States Mint About Us". Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  10. ^ New York Times, 16 Sep 1885, pg. 1
  11. ^ "DR. LINDERMAN'S SUCCESSOR.; COL. A.L. SNOWDEN DECLINES THE POSITION--MR. PRESTON WANTS THE OFFICE". The New York Times. 5 February 1879. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  12. ^ Martin, John Hill (2006). Martin's Bench and Bar of Philadelphia: Together with Other Lists of Persons Appointed to Administer the Laws in the City and County of Philadelphia and the Province and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 9781584776475. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  13. ^ New York Times, 10 Jul 1887, pg. 1
  14. ^ a b "Archibald Loudon Snowden - People - Department History - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  15. ^ "COL. SNOWDEN A DEFENDANT.; Suit to Recover $325,000 in Connection with Danville Bessemer Company". The New York Times. 5 December 1903. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  16. ^ "Archibald Louden Snowden". www.remembermyjourney.com. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  17. ^ "MRS. CARL F. WOLFF". The New York Times. 14 March 1960. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  18. ^ "S. WAINWRIGHT DIES; NOTED YACHTSMAN; Was Descendant of Governor Peter Stuyvesant and Bishop Wainwright. NAVAL OFFICER IN THE WAR Raced Yachts for Several Decades-- Representative J. Mayhew Wainwright a Brother". The New York Times. 4 November 1930. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  19. ^ Social Register, New York. Social Register Association. 1920. p. 785. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  20. ^ Revolution, Daughters of the American (1917). Lineage Book. The Society. p. 122. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  21. ^ "WHAT IS DOING IN SOCIETY". The New York Times. 29 November 1899. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  22. ^ Times, Special To The New York (5 February 1975). "Stuyvesant Wainwright Dead; Bridge Player and Broker, 84". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  23. ^ "Carroll Wainwright, Artist and Member Of L.I. Family, Dies". The New York Times. 7 July 1967. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  24. ^ "LOUDON S. WAINWRIGHT; Senior Partner in Insurance Firm Was Flier in World War". The New York Times. 24 January 1942. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
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