THE VALLEY OF HEART's DELIGHT
Santa Clara, California

FANNIE BONNEY SNITJER

In the annals of events in Santa Clara County the life history of Fannie Bonney Snitjer should be recorded, as it is of great interest. A native of Missouri, she was born in Clark County, the daughter of Joel and Eveline H. (Worthington) Bonney, born in Maine and Missouri, respectively.

Her grandfather, Edward Worthington, was married in Kentucky to Miss Elizabeth Wayland, a native of that state. They made their way across the country to Clark County, Mo., and were the seventh white family to locate in northeast Missouri, where they did much to improve the country.

Mrs. Snitjer's great-grandfather, Elijah Wayland, was a native of Germany, a son of a nobleman, and coming to Virginia in the early days, served through the Revolutionary War.

TheWorthington family were also of Revolutionary stock and members of the family also served in the Indian wars. Edward Worthington had a land grant in Kentucky, but moving out to Missouri, his property in Kentucky, was sold for taxes and it is now the site of Louisville.

Dr. Joel Whitney Bonney came from Farmington, Maine, to Clark County, Mo., when he was a young man and there he married Miss Worthington. He was a graduate M. D. and
practiced medicine in Clark County until the Civil War, when he located in Quincy, Ill., where he practiced for fifty years. He was a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and
spent his last days with Mrs. Fannie Snitjer, where he died, being survived by his widow who, at the age of ninety-four, lives with and is tenderly cared for by her daughter Mrs.
Alice Snitjer.

Mr. and Mrs. Joel Whitney Bonney had five children: William, a prominent attorney was judge at Ellensburg, Wash., when he passed away; Oscar was an attorney and a judge of
Adams County, Ill., spending his last days in Quincy; Fannie is Mrs. Drikus Snitjer; Joe Laura was the wife of John W. Lord of Chicago and died in 1921; Dr. Samuel B. Bonney resides
in Los Angeles. Fannie Bonney received her education in the public schools and Franklin high school of Quincy, Ill., then entered La Grange College, La Grange, Mo., here she
finished her college course.

She was married at her parents' home in Quincy, Ill., to Drikus Snitjer, who was born in Holland, where he obtained a good education, being welt advanced in his studies when
he came with his parents to St. Louis, Mo., when fourteen years of age. He secured employment in the Singer Sewing Machine Company's plant in St. Louis, where he worked for
a few years, leaving the company to engage in business for himself in Quincy; later, however, he accepted the position of manager for the same company in St. Louis. When he first
started to work for this company he received fifty cents a week and when he' left the company to come to California he was general manager of the Singer Sewing Machine
Company, receiving $26,000 a year. The family removed to California in 1894 on account of the poor health of Mrs. Fannie Bonney Snitjer; for a time they lived in San Jose, but later
bought seventy acres on the Homestead Road set to young orchard and here Mrs. Fannie Snitjer regained her health.

Mr. and Mrs. Drikus Snitjer were the parents of five children, two of whom grew to maturity, Alice (Armstrong - Burke) and Edwin. Mr. Snitjer was a Republican in his politics.
and fraternally was a Mason and Knight Templar. He passed away in 1918 at the family home in San Jose. Mrs. Fannie Snitjer has recently purchased a fifty-acre orange grove at
Lindsay, Cal., well irrigated and in full bearing. Mrs. Fannie Snitjer superintends her ranches and sees that they are properly taken care of . In religious faith she is a Baptist, in
which she has been a member for eighty-three years.

When Mr. and Mrs. Drikus Snitjer removed to San Jose they had one child, Alice, who married Charles Albert Armstrong, a native of New York, who lost his life in the service of
his country in the Spanish American War, while a member of Roosevelt's Rough Riders in Cuba. Mr. and. Mrs. Charles Albert Armstrong were the parents of one daughter,
Bonney . Mrs. Armstrong later married Dr. Richardson Burke of San Jose, who has since passed away. Alice Snitjer Armstrong-Burke was a very capable woman and was a prominent
platform lecturer, and during 1916 she covered the eastern, northern, western and southern boundaries of the United States in an automobile on a campaign for woman's suffrage.
She was the first woman to drive an automobile across the United States to "all" the contiguous states. She lived a very active and product life . She died in 1948 in Los Angeles,
California.

Her only daughter, Bonney Armstrong, was born in San Jose and attended the grammar and high schools there, continuing her education at Hollins, Va., and Columbia University,
New York. Her marriage united her with Elbert Julius Brown, who was reared in San Jose and attended the public schools there. He was first employed by the W. R. Grace Company a and then became purser on the Pacific mail steamer, Peru, from which he was later transferred to the Newport, and was then appointed agent for the Pacific Mail at San Jose de
G Guatemala. While living at San Jose de Guatemala, Mr. Elbert Julius Brown and his fiancée, Bonney Armstrong, decided not to wait for his return to the United States. He then sailed
a from Francisco on the Newport and was met by his future bride, and together they and together they went to San Jose de Guatemala, having been married on board the Newport by Captain
George Yardley. After living in San Jose de Guatemala for three months Mr. Elbert Julius Brown received a promotion, being transferred to Yokohama, Japan. While residing there,
s a son George Elbert Brown, was born to them.

Mr. Elbert Brown was later transferred to Kobe as agent there for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and is now general manager for the whole Philippine territory, with
headquarters at Manila. During their stay in the Phillippine another son, Charles Albert Brown, was conceived and later born in San Jose, California… Later, they were joined by
their sister: Francis "Bonney" Brown. Sadly, little Bonney was born educably retarded, due to a lack of oxygen. All the children lived with their parents in El Salvador. There,
their mother Bonney Armstrong Brown died from typhoid fever.. Her body was shipped back to San Jose, for burial next to her family. The children were sent to live with family
friends and little Francis Bonney was sent to a school for the retarded in Virginia, the Vine School. She became a ward of the state of Virginia.

After graduating from Burkley High School, their 1st born, George Elbert Brown, found employment as a Merchant Marine…Eventually, he hired on as an employee with Pan
American World Airways as an airport manager in Central America. There he met and married, Joanna Krenzer, a Pan Am Stewardess. Together, they had 2 children : Douglas
J John and "Bonney" June Brown. George spent his career with Pan American World Airways as a Latin American Executive.

Charles Albert Brown, the 2nd son was named after his grandfather the Rough Rider-Charles Albert Armstrong. He went to the college of Burkley in California and graduated.
After joining the Marines, he married Doris Cordes and found fame as an artist of Primitive Americana Art. They married and together had -2- children : David and Nancy Brown.
Transcribed cferoben, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 868


SNITJER -

In Cupertino, Cal., November 29, 1928, Mrs. Fannie Bonney Snitjer, widow of the late Drikus. Snitjer, loving mother of E.N. Snitjer and Mrs. A.S. Burke, a native of Illinois.
Friends are invited to attend the funeral today (Saturday), December 1, 1928, at 9 o'clock from the chapel of Hocking & Williams, East Santa Clara street at Eighth. Interment Oak HillCemetery. San Jose Mercury Herald, December 1, 1928, Saturday, page 28
transcribed by jch


SANTA CLARA COUNTY PIONEER BIOGRAPHIES
SANTA CLARA HISTORY