"Robert Bogardus Snowden, undated"
 

Preview

image preview

Source Collection

R. B. Snowden family papers

Identifier

sc.0065.009_026.001

Description

Photograph of Robert Bogardus Snowden, undated. Image taken by E. G. Wilhams & Bro., New York, New York.

On February 26, 1835, John Bayard Snowden (1808-1863), a prominent Nashville businessman married Aspasia Seraphina Imogene Bogardus (1808-1885) in New York City. Aspasia, born August 8, 1808 in Utica, New York, was the youngest daughter of Revolutionary War General Robert Bogardus, while John was the son of the Rev. Samuel Finley Snowden. Their children were Robert Bogardus (1836-1909), Victoria Imogene (1838-1859), Octavia Augusta (18401885), John Bayard, Jr. (1842-1850), Eleanora Kirkman (1844-1880), Mary Jay (1846-1930) and Hughetta (1848-1926).

Robert Bogardus Snowden was born on May 24, 1836, in New York City. Shortly after his birth his parents returned to Nashville where John Snowden' s business was located. In 1855 upon his graduation from Western Military Institute in Kentucky, Robert moved to New Orleans to pursue a business career. At the age of twenty-one, he returned to Nashville and established R. B. Snowden & Co., a mercantile business, which prospered until the outbreak of the Civil War. Robert entered the Confederate Army as adjutant of the First Tennessee Regiment. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and commanded the 25th Tennessee Regiment at Chickamauga and in Virginia. He surrendered his troops with General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox.

In 1863 John Bayard Snowden died, and Aspasia Snowden returned with her family to her native New York and remained there until her death in 1885. After release from military service, Robert Bogardus joined his family in New York and resumed his mercantile career. On May 5, 1868, he married Annie Overton Brinkley (1845-1923), daughter of a prominent Memphis businessman attorney, and railroad builder, Colonel Robert Campbell Brinkley. Brinkley gave his daughter The Hotel Peabody (now The Peabody Hotel) as a wedding present not long after it opened, and the family owned the hotel until it was sold in 1953 to a hotel group. Annie’s deceased mother, Annie Coleman Overton (1823-1845) was the daughter of Judge John Overton (1766-1833), one of the founders of Memphis, TN, as well as a banker, lawyer, and a friend/advisor to Andrew Jackson.

Robert and Annie lived in New York for a year before returning to Tennessee and establishing residence in Memphis. Robert bought an estate on Lamar Avenue for Annie and named it Annesdale in honor of her. The estate remained in the Snowden family for 160 years and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Robert Snowden became one of the wealthiest and most influential men in Tennessee. He gained his wealth from the appropriation of key real estate in the commercial district of downtown Memphis. He was also an investor of consequence in Tennessee coal and iron and had considerable influence in state politics. Robert and Annie had five children: Robert Brinkley (1869-1942), Mary (1871-1938) who married Lawson Henderson Treadwell, Imogene (1874-1929) who married Edward Landseer Boyle (1869-1938), Annie Brinkley (1878-1924) who married John Thomas Fargason II (1875-1939), and John Bayard (1881-1968). On October 7, 1909, Robert Snowden died while vacationing in Atlantic City at the age of 73. On May 4, 1923, his wife Annie died at the age of 78 in Memphis as a result of heart disease.

Rights

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Date Created

2024

Date

undated

Download Medium Thumbnail

Keywords

Snowden, Robert B., Photograph.

Share

COinS