George W. Snell was born around 1807 in Barnstead, New Hampshire, to Thomas and Eliza Snell. He married Hannah Watson, and they had at least three children: Elizabeth, born around 1832; Amanda, born around 1845; and John, born around 1854. They lived in Pittsfield, New Hampshire, and Snell worked as a shoemaker. By 1850, he owned $300 of real estate. Hannah died sometime in the 1850s, and he married Louise Jones on June 6, 1860. They had at least two children: Ida, born around 1861; and Hannah, born around 1865. By 1860, he owned $250 of real estate and $50 of personal property.

 

Snell enlisted in the Union army on September 9, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company G of the 15^th New Hampshire Infantry on October 11. He apparently lied about his age, claiming that he was born in 1819. The regiment took part in the siege of Port Hudson. Snell opposed slavery when the war began, and his experiences in the Deep South only strengthened those convictions. As he explained to his brother in March 1863, “I am a stronger aberletionist, since I came out here than I was in New hampshire…I say that it is bad to keep them in bondage and I beleave that God will frown on the Nation that will do it.”

 

Snell mustered out on August 13, 1863, and he returned to Pittsfield after leaving the army. By 1870, he was working as a farm laborer, and he owned $400 of real estate and $100 of personal property. Snell remained in Pittsfield for the rest of his life, and he died of pneumonia there on February 28, 1895.

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