Richard was born April 30, 1848, near Elamsville, a small town in Patrick Co., VA, the son of John T. Sneed and Sarah Foley, both natives of the county.

On March 18, 1862, (just shy of his fourteenth birthday, but falsely stating he was 21), he enlisted in Capt. Penick's (or Capt Lewis's) Company of the Virginian Light Artillery from Halifax Co., VA for a period of "3 years or the war". By November of the same year, he was sick and sent by his unit to the hospital in Richmond. He was in the hospital as late as March 1863, but was with his company at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May. He was sick again during late summer, but present at the Battle of Bristoe in October. In December, he was back in the hospital and was listed as absent without leave when he didn't return from Christmas sick furlough on time (patients were actually encourage to go AWOL to get better nursing at home or elsewhere), but by March 1864 he was in the Danville hospital (nearer to his home than Richmond) with a diagnosis of acute hepatitis. He deserted from there on April 14th (presumably to go home or somewhere else where he had a better chance of recovery) and was listed as AWOL until May 9, 1965, when he was paroled from a Union prisoner-of-war camp upon the war's end. According to an old family story told by Patricia Sneed Ackerson Clark, daughter of Richard's son, John Wiley Sneed, when he arrived back home after the war he weighed only 70 lbs and was carried off the train by a woman. He was barely seventeen years old.

Richard's official Civil War record:

Private Richard F. Sneed enlisted 18 Mar 1862 in Capt. Penick's (formerly Capt. John W. Lewis' ) Company, Virginia Light Artillery in Halifax Co., VA for a duration of ‘3 years or the war'. He was enlisted by Capt. John W. Lewis. On 3 Apr 1862, Capt. Penick's Company was mustered in as a company of Fitzgerald's proposed 1st Regiment C.S. Light Artillery. It served in Garnett's and in Richardson's Battalions of Reserve Artillery, which were composed of independent batteries.

May 1-4, 1863 – he saw action at Chancellorsville.

July 1-3, 1863 – His unit fought at Gettysburg, but he was sick in the hospital.

October 1863 - He participated in the Bristoe Campaign.

Early 1865 - after a long illness, at some point Richard was back in uniform and is captured by Union troops and sent to a prison camp. Richard was probably not at Appomattox with his unit, as all of the surrendered Confederates were paroled almost immediately from the battlefield. He could have been captured at any time since going AWOL in Apr 1864. Considering his very poor physical condition at the end of the war, it seems likely he was a prisoner-of-war during at least some of the time for which he was listed by his company as absent without leave.

9 May 1865 - Listed as belonging to Capt Penick's VA artillery, Richard signs a 25 Apr 1865 Parole of Prisoners of War who served in the Army of Northern Virginia. Gen. Robert E. Lee had signed on 9 Apr 1865 upon his surrender at Appomattox, VA.

Richard and his brother James both went west after the war and settled in Jackson Co., MO, where they had relatives and where Richard fell in love with his second cousin on his mother's side, Sarah Findley. She was born February 3, 1854, in Fayette, Howard Co, MO, the daughter of James A. and Elizabeth (Johnson) Findley. Sarah's maternal grandmother was Sarah Thomas, sister of Richard's maternal grandmother, Judith Thomas. Sarah & Judith were the daughters of Richard & Elizabeth (Ferrell) Thomas of Patrick Co., VA.

Sarah and Richard were married in Blue Springs, Jackson County on 5 Dec 1872.

1880 census, Jackson Co., MO, Snibar Township, 29 Jun 1880, pg 147C
Richard Sneed, 32, Farmer VA VA VA
Sarah J., 26, Keeps house MO IL VA
Eviline, 6, MO VA MO
Joseph R., 5, MO VA MO
John W., 3, MO VA MO
Mary E., 1, MO VA MO

In 1884, they bought a hundred acre farm near Blue Springs, where they would live for the next 27 years.

1900 census, Jackson Co., MO, Sniabar Twp., p. 206
Robert S. Sneed, b. Apr 1848, age 52, m'd 27 yrs, VA VA VA, farmer
Sarah J., b. Feb 1854, age 46, 9 chdn; 9 living, MO IL VA
James A., b. Jun 1880
Charles S., b. Jan 1882
Nellie D., b. Nov 1884
Lina A., b. Dec 1885
Fannie M., b. Jan 1888

By 1910, Sarah's sister, Susan, who had been blind since age 18, has moved in with them.

1910 census, Jackson Co., MO, Snibar Twp., p. 248
Richard F. Sneed, 61, m. 38 yrs. WV VA VA farmer, works on own acct (neither emplr nor employee), can r but not w, rents house; owns farm
Sarah J., 56, MO IL VA can r & w
Fannie, 21, MO WV MO
Susan M. Findley, 49 sister-in-law, MO IL VA, blind

By 1911, Richard's health was failing and they sold the farm and moved to Oak Grove to be near their married daughter

Richard died in 1914 and was buried at Perdee Chapel cemetery.

Richard's 1914 (partial) obituary, newspaper unknown:

"In 1869, he united with Christian Church at Lone Jack, afterwards moving membership to Blue Springs, and finally to Oak Grove, the place of his last residence.
Deceased was ever loyal to his charge, faithful to his vows, and often expressed to the writer his preparedness for the end.
For 27 years he lived near Blue Springs on his farm of 100 acres… Three years ago his health began fading and on this account he sold his property and located in Oak Grove, where h ceased from active labors about…" [rest of page torn off]

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Children:

1. Evelyn "Eva" Lena Sneed, b. 15 Sep 1873, Blue Springs, Jackson Co., MO; m. 3 Oct 1894, Independance, Jackson, Missouri [double wedding with sister Mary Elizabeth] to Jesse Merman Kerr [b. 11 Apr 1874, Jackson Co., MO; son of William Kerr b. 1831 KY and Paulina ______ b. 1832 KY]; she d. 10 Mar 1952, Belmont, Cascade Co., Montana; buried Pleasant View Cemetery, Belt, Cascade Co., Montana.

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2. Joseph Richard Sneed, b. 18 Jan 1875, Blue Springs, Jackson Co., MO; m. 5 Jan 1908 Lone Jack, Jackson Co., MO, to Ella Boggs [b. Oct 1889, MO; daughter of John B. & Mary A. Boggs]; he d. 12 Jan 1943, Monegaw Springs, St. Clair Co., MO; buried Lone Jack Cemetery, Lone Jack, Jackson Co., MO.

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3. John Wiley Sneed, b. 10 Dec 1876, Blue Springs, Jackson Co., MO; m. 18 Dec 1910, Oak Grove, to Katie Ora Reid, daughter of Joseph K. & Matilda A. (Cave) Reid; he d. 21 Dec 1952, Saugus, CA; buried Perdee Chapel Cemetery, Grain Valley, Jackson Co., MO

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4. Mary Elizabeth Sneed, b. 23 Oct 1878, Blue Springs, Jackson Co., MO; m. 3 Oct 1894, Independence, Jackson Co, MO [double wedding with sister Eva Lena], to Prior Jesse Duncan [son of Prior W. and Louisa L. Duncan]; she d. 8 May 1955, Carpenter, Laramie Co., WY; buried Carpenter Cemetery.

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5. James Alan Sneed, b. 10 Jun 1880, Blue Springs, Jackson Co., MO; m. 1 Sep 1904, Independence, Jackson Co., MO to Ada D. Owings; he d. 14 Jul 1955, Salem, Marion Co., OR; buried Belcrest Memorial Park.

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6. Charles Samuel Sneed, b. 12 Jan 1882, Blue Springs, Jackson Co., MO; m. 12 Mar 1905, Independence, Jackson Co., MO, to Glenna Alice Reid [daughter of Joseph K. Reid and Sarah Jane Findley]; he d. 20 Dec 1918, Lone Jack, Jackson Co., MO, during the 1918 flu epidemic; buried in Blue Springs cemetery.

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7. Nellie Dora Sneed, b. 12 Nov 1883, Blue Springs, Jackson Co., MO; m. 10 Dec 1903, to Alex James [b. 1873, MO, son of Julia A. ______]; d. 1 Apr 1927, Humphrey, Sullivan Co., MO; buried Buckner Hills, Jackson Co., MO.

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8. Lillian Alice Sneed, b. 9 Dec 1885, Blue Springs, Jackson Co., MO; m. 25 Dec 1904, Blue Springs, MO, to Ernest Abraham Shippy [b. 8 Mar 1877, Waddams Grove,
Stephenson Co., IL; d. 1 Jul 1952, Renton, King Co., WA; son of Lewis Shippy and Matilda Stile]; she d. 2 Mar 1949, Renton, King Co., WA; buried Mount Olivet Cemetery, Renton, WA.

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9. Wesley Lorenzo Sneed, b. 24 Jan 1888, Blue Springs, Jackson Co., MO; d. 31 Jan 1888, Blue Springs, Jackson Co., MO, aged one week; buried Blue Springs cemetery.

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10. Fannie May Sneed, b. 13 Jan 1889, Blue Springs, Jackson Co., MO; m. 14 Jun 1911, Cheyenne, Laramie Co, WY, to Alva Wallace Dimmitt [b. Feb 1890 MO; d. 1960, Renton, King Co., WA; son of Mile Mortimer Dimmitt and his wife Sirelda Warren]; she d. 27 Jan 1976, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara co., CA; buried Mount Olivet cemetery, Renton, King Co., WA.

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