April 23, 2025
Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues her series on Mayflower descendants, focusing on the family lines of Hopkins descendant Kenneth Souder Snow Jr. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
Today I continue with my series on “Mayflower Descendants: Who’s Who,” focusing on the family lines of Kenneth Souder Snow Jr. (1937-2008), one of the six children born to Kenneth Souder “Snowbird” Snow Sr. and Anne Mary (Lovett) Snow.
Here is a photo of Kenneth Souder Snow Jr. taken on Memorial Day in 1990 outside the Vet Memorial Home, Landis Avenue, Vineland, New Jersey.
Snow is a 12th generation lineal descendant of Mayflower passengers Stephen Hopkins and his daughter Constance Hopkins (who married Nicholas Snow). Nicholas Snow arrived in Plymouth on the ship Anne in 1623.
Lineage
- Stephen Hopkins and Mary (Kent?)
- Constance Hopkins and Nicholas Snow
- Mark Snow and Jane Prence
- Thomas Snow and Lydia Sears
- Thomas Snow and Rachel Nickerson
- Samuel Snow and Mary White
- Samuel Snow and Elizabeth (Hooper) Frost
- Richard Dowse Snow and Sally Quimby Foss
- Richard Dowse Snow Jr. and Jane McCullough
- Robert Kellock Snow and Sarah Alzira Souder
- Kenneth Souder Snow and Ann Mary Lovett
- Kenneth Souder Snow Jr. married Joyce “Joy” Linville Winfeldt
In 1990 Kenneth Souder Snow Jr. was featured in a newspaper article entitled “Like His Ancestors, He Travels the World.” In this article, Snow provides some insights into his ancestors, and I supplement his account with further historical details.
Snow, like his Mayflower ancestor Stephen Hopkins, was an explorer and loved adventure. He traveled the world during his 30 years serving in the United States Navy and visited over 35 countries. His impressive career would have made Hopkins proud.
Snow tells the press about Hopkins sailing to Bermuda, Virginia, and then Plymouth, which you can read all about at the links at the end of this article.
This photo, from the Plymouth Tercentenary Pageant, shows reenactors representing Stephen Hopkins, his wife Elizabeth, and their children – including infant son Oceanus, the only child born during the Mayflower’s journey across the Atlantic. This photo was taken in August 1921 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, by Edward P. McLaughlin.
According to this article, Snow’s interest in history began at an early age, but it was his uncle Marvin Earl Snow, governor of the Cinnamon Township New Jersey Society of Mayflower Descendants, who piqued his interest in genealogy. Snow comments that his children benefit in school studies from knowledge of their pioneer ancestors, “especially when they study history and government.”
Snow not only has genealogical ties with the Pilgrims who landed in Plymouth in 1620, but also to one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence: John Hart.
Snow was a member of both the Society of Mayflower Descendants and “Descendants of Signers,” for those who are direct descendants of signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Snow’s membership application for the Society of Descendants of Signers was proven through the marriage of his grandfather Robert Kellock Snow (1886-1969) to Sarah Alzira Souder, a direct descendant of John Hart (1713-1779) of New Jersey.
Another distinguished ancestor in Kenneth S. Snow’s lineage is Plymouth Governor Thomas Prence, whose daughter Jane (1637-1712), born to his second wife Mary Collier, married Captain Mark Snow (1628-1695).
A relic of the Collier family, a pewter plate dating back to the mid-17th century, is housed in the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston and was part of the exhibition “New England Begins: The Seventeenth Century,” in 1982.
The plate’s stamped touchmark is a crowned Tudor rose in shield shape, bearing the initials of Mary (Collier) Prence’s parents William and Jane Collier.
William Collier, a merchant adventurer from London, provided the Mayflower and the resources to outfit it for its voyage to New England in 1620.
Collier came to New England with his family in 1633, and the following year he served as an assistant to Plymouth governors, first under Gov. William Bradford and later under his son-in-law Gov. Thomas Prence. In 1659 Collier was designated “richest man in the Colony.”
According to antiquarians the plate has an excellent provenance of American ownership. It descended to the Colliers’ daughter Mary, wife of Governor Thomas Prence, and then to their daughter Judith (Prence) Barker and remained in the family until Mrs. Harriet (Westcott) Lawrie gifted the plate to the MFA. Mrs. Lawrie was the daughter of Stephen and Mary (Barker) Westcott and wife of William Lawrie.
Another characteristic Snow inherited from his ancestors was a charitable nature. His deep need to be of service reveals itself in newspaper articles.
Here is one from the Trentonian, who covered him and Lodge members making some veteran soldiers very happy during the holidays.
This article reports:
The Veterans Committee of the Bordentown Elks Lodge 2085 and Auxiliary visited the Vineland Veterans Home recently and distributed individual gifts consisting of socks, wool hats, tissues, stationery, pens, fruit and surprise items.
Snow is among the lodge members, volunteers, and vets shown in the photo features, appearing in the photo on the upper left. That photo caption reads:
Showing off some of the gifts that were distributed are (from left): Denise Pikolycky, recreation supervisor; Edward DeBosky, Veterans Committee chairman; Robin Spaulding, volunteer service assistant; and Ken Snow Jr., chief executive officer.
The holiday cheer was spread through the Vet Memorial Home by gifts distributed by Santa, the singing of Christmas carols, and an obvious caring spirit.
During his Vietnam tour of duty Snow worked to improve living conditions of orphans in DaNang, Vietnam. He received the Legion of Merit Medal.
Stay tuned for more on Snow’s amazing life and his Marblehead, Massachusetts, kin.
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Note on the header image: “Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor,” by William Halsall, 1882. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
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Love the history!