William Snyder was a Methodist circuit rider.
Snyder was an ethnic German, but was born into an English-speaking family in the Ottawa Valley. There he learned French and English. He converted to Methodism while living in Edwardsburgh, Upper Canada, and began working as a local preacher.[1] He was accepted on trial as a Methodist preacher, and assigned to ride the Ottawa Circuit. The area had many French speakers and it was believed his knowledge of French would allow the Methodists to reach out to them. Before he could make any inroads, the local Catholic priests were able to turn the population against him, warning that Methodists would face eternal damnation, and Snyder soon found himself unable to gather an audience.[2] Snyder was assigned to the Ottawa Circuit in 1807, to preach mostly to English speaking residents, but also the French speakers as occasion arose.[3] Snyder was in Ottawa in 1808, but was dropped from the Methodist organisation in 1809. His failure to make inroads into the French Canadian communities under his watch took their toll on him, and his family ostracised him as a lunatic. He wandered the wilderness, preaching to those he found, whether they cared to listen or not, until his death.[4]
- ^ Carroll, John (1867). Case and his cotemporaries, or, The Canadian itinerants' memorial constituting a biographical history of Methodism in Canada, from its introduction into the Province, till the death of the Rev. Wm. Case in 1855. Vol. I. Toronto: Wesleyan Conference Office. p. 134.
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 135
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 144
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 172