Biography:
Mrs. Mary Ann Woodyard Snowden is buried next to her husband, Mr. John M. Snowden, in Ellsworth Cemetery in Westminster, Maryland.
Ms. Mary Woodyard was born in the late 1830s, the child of Mr. Andrew and Hannah Woodyard. She was likely born free, as her father is enumerated in the 1840 census with a woman of his wife’s age and 9 children. They were all free. In 1850, she’s living with her family, with five siblings. None of the children were attending school.
Sometime in the late 1850s, Ms. Woodyard married Mr. John M. Snowden, a child of Rev. John and Margaret Snowden. They had at least nine (9) children over the course of their marriage. By 1870, she had learned to read, but still had not learned to write. She kept house for the family.
Over the years, two of her children passed away, so that in 1900 only 7 of her children were still living. Most of them had moved to Everett outside of Boston, Massachusetts. They worked primarily on the railroad as waiters and porters.
In 1906, the couple moved to live with one of their children. Mr. Snowden died in 1907. When Mrs. Snowden died in 1912, her body was returned to Ellsworth Cemetery. She is buried next to her husband, and his parents.
The Carroll County Times published a moving tribute to her and her family.
Maryland State Archives
Headstone