Leonidas Horney: His Life and Times
“My grandpa was shot off his horse in the Civil War.” These intriguing words spoken
Winifred Ruth Sneed is a family historian and retired teacher of many years. Because of her interest in genealogy and history, she's researched and written much about the descendents of the Sneed and Scott families. Throughout the last few decades, Ruth has written and published many books and stories. This site hopes to serve as an archive so others may read the stories of the past.
In her own words, written as a biography for Daughters of the American Revolution in 2018:
It was one of the hottest, driest summers on record, 1934, right in the middle of the Depression. What a time for a new baby to arrive! My parents, like most Jasper County residents, were struggling to make ends meet. Now, they had a new baby and a two-year old. My childhood was spent growing up on the farm, wonderfully barefoot every summer and always with a book in my hands.
At the age of five, education began in a one-room school; my sister and I walked a mile and a half every day, carrying our metal lunch boxes. A bright spot was the very small shelf of books to read! There are many stories that can be told of attending a rural school. It was a whole different world from today.
In the years before actually going to school, an aunt would pick us (my sister and I) up in her Model A Ford and take us “visiting” to the rural schools where she was teaching. This greatly influenced my dreams to become a teacher. After graduating from Jasper High School, I attended Kansas State Teachers College, now known as Pittsburg State University, and eventually received both my degrees in elementary education. My teaching career of close to thirty years began in the same rural school I had attended as a child, ringing the same little bell with a wiggly handle to begin classes. In 1997 I retired after teaching twenty-five years in the sixth grade of Carthage R-9, and then spent the next thirteen years as a substitute.
While a senior at Jasper High, a new student enrolled – handsome and with brown eyes! We began dating and, after serving his stint in the army, we were married. This coming May we will celebrate sixty-five years of marriage. We have been blessed with four fantastic children: Montee, Vicki, Michael, and Steve. They all share the same values, while choosing to pursue different careers. Best of all, they have added wonderful spouses to our family and have given us super grandchildren, and now we are great-grandparents of three adorable little ones.
As our children were growing up, I was involved in their 4-H activities and taught in Sunday School and Bible School. We are members of the Mt. Moriah Methodist church. Organizations to which I now belong include Alpha Delta Kappa, MRTA, and Daughters of the American Revolution. The focus of the first two are fellowship, altruism, and legislative action. DAR emphasizes lineage, history, and patriotism along with the friendship of many wonderful ladies - all of which I cherish.
Genealogy became a life-long hobby in 1967. Learning and writing about the daily lives of my ancestors has been a rewarding undertaking. An added bonus has been proving the lineage and history of my DAR patriots. It has been a privilege to serve as Rhoda Fairchild’s Registrar, getting to know prospective members and to help in the searches for their ancestors. Truly, one of my favorite quotes: “Genealogy is like a jigsaw puzzle with no sides.”
Things I love (other than the obvious ones of family . . .) include beautiful things, wonderful aromas, springtime, open windows, the smell of fresh baked bread, beautiful flowers, reading good books, sewing, writing stories of my ancestors, and occasionally finding more of my lineage. I am most comfortable when there is order – in my closets, my home, record keeping, in the nation – in my life.