Representative Oliver P. Snyder

Oliver P. Snyder (November 13, 1833 – November 22, 1882) was a Republican U.S. Representative from Arkansas who served in the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses from 1871 to 1875, during the Reconstruction era in Arkansas. His public career encompassed service in both houses of the Arkansas General Assembly, participation in the state constitutional convention of 1867, and later county office in Jefferson County.

Snyder was born in Missouri on November 13, 1833. He completed preparatory studies in his youth before relocating to Arkansas in 1853, a move that would define his professional and political life. After settling in Arkansas, he engaged in scientific and literary pursuits while at the same time studying law, reflecting a broad intellectual interest characteristic of many nineteenth-century lawyers. He was subsequently admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in Pine Bluff, in Jefferson County, Arkansas, which became his long-term home and the base of his legal and political activities.

Snyder entered public life during the Civil War period. From 1864 to 1865, he served as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, participating in state governance at a time when Arkansas was under the complex pressures of war and the early phases of Reconstruction. His legislative service during these years placed him among those responsible for helping to reestablish and maintain civil government in the state as federal authority was reasserted.

In 1867, Snyder was chosen as a delegate to the Arkansas state constitutional convention, which was convened as part of the broader Reconstruction process to bring the former Confederate states back into the Union under new constitutional frameworks. He subsequently served in the Arkansas State Senate from 1868 to 1871. During his tenure in the Senate, he was a member of the committee that in 1868 revised and rearranged the statutes of Arkansas, a significant undertaking that helped modernize and systematize the state’s legal code in the postwar period.

Snyder’s state-level prominence led to his election to the United States House of Representatives. Running as a Republican, he was elected to the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses and served from March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1875. His service in Congress coincided with the height of Reconstruction, when federal policy toward the former Confederate states, civil rights for formerly enslaved people, and the reorganization of Southern political institutions were central national issues. Representing Arkansas in this context, Snyder was part of the Republican coalition that supported Reconstruction measures and the reintegration of Southern states under new political and legal conditions. In 1874 he was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination, bringing his congressional career to a close at the end of his second term.

After leaving Congress, Snyder returned to Pine Bluff and resumed the practice of law, continuing his professional work in Jefferson County. His legal career remained closely tied to local affairs, and he retained a role in public life through his involvement in county matters. In 1882, he was elected treasurer of Jefferson County, Arkansas. He held that office only briefly, serving for a few months before his death later that year.

Oliver P. Snyder died in Pine Bluff on November 22, 1882, nine days after his forty-ninth birthday. He was interred at Bellewood Cemetery in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas. His career, spanning state legislative service, participation in constitutional revision, and two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, placed him among the notable Arkansas political figures of the Reconstruction era.