Reverend Joseph Perkins Sneed (January 10, 1804 – November 21, 1881) was an American preacher, farmer and educator. A minister of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...
, he established the first-ever Methodist church in Waco, Texas. Prior to and during the course of the American Civil War, he converted many slaves to the Methodist faith.
Early life
Joseph P. Sneed was born on January 10, 1804, in
Davidson County, Tennessee
Davidson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in the heart of Middle Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 715,884, making it the second most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Nashville ...
, near
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
. His father was James Sneed and his mother, Behania Harden Perkins. One of his brothers built the Constantine Sneed House in
Brentwood, Tennessee
Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census.
Sneed was ordained as an elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, by Bishop John Emory in 1833.
Career
Sneed was a preacher of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...
. He preached sermons from a log cabin off the banks of the
Brazos River
The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 11th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater Dr ...
in Waco, Texas in 1850. His log cabin was the first Methodist church in Waco.
Meanwhile, Sneed was also a farmer, first in Gay Hill, Washington County and later in
Port Sullivan, Texas
Port Sullivan, Texas is a ghost town in Milam County, Texas. It was established in 1835 by Augustus W. Sullivan. By the 1850s, Joseph P. Sneed, a pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; al ...
, where he founded the Port Sullivan Male and Female Institute (also known as the Port Sullivan College).
Prior to the American Civil War, from 1855 to 1861, Sneed helped convert African slaves to the Methodist faith at the Port Royal African Mission in Texas. After taking a year off in 1861, he resumed his ministry with blacks during the course of the war, from 1862 to 1865.
Personal life and death
Sneed married Achsah Bond Harris in 1842. They had three children.
Sneed died on November 21, 1881, in Milam County, Texas.
Descendants
Joseph Perkins Sneed (1804–1881) married Achsah Bond Harris (1814–1850)
#Cassandra Emily Sneed (1843–1866)
#James William Sneed (1845–1922)
##Ruth Linda Sneed (1895–1996)
#Joseph Tyre Sneed I (1848–1912)
##Joseph Tyre Sneed II (1876–1940)
###Harold Marvin Sneed I (1883–1934)
#### Joseph Tyree Sneed III (1920–2008) married Madelon Juergens
##### Carly Sneed
#####Clara Sneed
#####Joseph Tyree Sneed IV