Representative Howard Malcolm Snapp

Howard Malcolm Snapp (September 27, 1855 – August 14, 1938) was an American lawyer and Republican politician who served four terms as a U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1903 to 1911. A member of the Republican Party, he contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history, representing the interests of his constituents in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Snapp was born in Joliet, Will County, Illinois, on September 27, 1855. He was the son of Henry Snapp, who had also served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois, placing him in a family with an established tradition of public service and political involvement. Growing up in Joliet, he attended the local Eastern Avenue school, receiving his early education in the community he would later represent in Congress.

After completing his primary schooling, Snapp pursued further education at Forest University in Chicago, Illinois, where he studied from 1872 to 1875. He subsequently turned to the study of law, preparing for a professional career in the legal field. In 1878 he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Globe, Arizona. After gaining initial experience there, he returned to his native Joliet, Illinois, where he continued to practice law and became increasingly involved in local legal and civic affairs.

Snapp’s legal career in Joliet advanced steadily, and he was appointed master in chancery for Will County, Illinois, a position he held from 1884 to 1903. In this role he dealt with equity matters and contributed to the administration of justice at the county level for nearly two decades. Alongside his legal work, he became active in Republican Party politics. He was elected chairman of the Will County Republican central committee in 1893, reflecting his growing influence in local party organization. He also served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1896, participating in the national deliberations of his party during a pivotal election year.

Building on his legal reputation and party leadership, Snapp was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-eighth Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1903, to March 3, 1911. During these four consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, he took part in the democratic process at the national level and represented the interests of his Illinois constituents during a transformative era in American political and economic life. His congressional service coincided with the Progressive Era, and he was again recognized by his party as a national figure when he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1908. He chose not to be a candidate for renomination in 1910, thus concluding his congressional career at the end of the Sixty-first Congress.

After leaving Congress in 1911, Snapp returned to Joliet and resumed the practice of law, continuing the profession that had formed the foundation of his public career. He remained a respected figure in the community where he had been born, educated, and long engaged in public and professional service.

Howard Malcolm Snapp died in Joliet, Illinois, on August 14, 1938. He was interred in Elmhurst Cemetery in Joliet, closing a life closely tied to the civic and political life of his hometown and the state of Illinois.