Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

a business man with large interests. He
married Elizabeth Witmer, born August
J 9» l &33> a lineal descendant of Peter
Witmer, and in the maternal line a direct
descendant of Hans Hier, the founder of
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Among
their children was Elias Hershey, of
whom further.
(V) Professor Elias Hershey Sneath,
son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Witmer)
Sneath, was born in Mountville, Lancas-
ter county, Pennsylvania, August 7,
1857. He received his early education in
the elementary schools of Mountville,
and later, in preparation for college,
attended Wyoming Seminary at Kings-
ton, Pennsylvania. Upon his graduation
from that institution he became a student
in Lebanon Valley College, Pennsyl-
vania, from which he was graduated in
1881 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
He next entered Yale Divinity School,
receiving the degree of Bachelor of Di-
vinity in 1884. The academic year of
1884 to 1885 he devoted to graduate work
in theology and philosophy at Yale. He
had already studied extensively in the
field of philosophy, and, upon completing
his studies in the Divinity School, he was
appointed Instructor in Philosophy in
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Con-
necticut (1885-1888). For the following
two years he taught Psychology and
Ethics in Miss Porter's School at Farm-
ington, Connecticut. During the years
spent at Wesleyan and Miss Porter's
school, Professor Sneath pursued studies
in philosophy in the Graduate School of
Yale University, receiving the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy in 1890. In 1889
he became a member of the faculty of
Yale, as Lecturer in Philosophy in the
Graduate School. In 1891 he was ap-
pointed Instructor in Philosophy at the
same institution. In 1893 he was elected
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
196
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, and
in 1898 became Professor of Philosophy
at Yale.
Professor Sneath's writings on philo-
sophic subjects show a wide field of
research and unusual literary ability.
His works are : "Modern Philosophers
Series," 8 vols.; "Ethical Series," 3 vols.;
"The Ethics of Hobbes ;" "The Philosophy
of Reid;" "Philosophy and Petry ;"
"The Mind of Tennyson ;" "Wordsworth,
Poet of Nature and Poet of Man ;" and
he is co-editor of a series of books for
the purpose of teaching morals through
the medium of history, literature and
biography, and of similar series designed
for the teaching of religion, a unique
effort in these fields of educational literature.
He is also co-author of two
teachers' manuals in moral and religious
education. Professor Sneath was Professor
of the Theory and Practice of Education
in Yale College in 1904-06, and
director of the Summer School of Arts
and Sciences during the same period of
time. He is a fellow of the American
Association for the Advancement of Sci-
ence, the Connecticut Academy of Arts
and Sciences, the American Philosophical
Association, the National Religious Educational
Association, the New Haven
Historical Society r and the American
Theological Association.
Professor Sneath married, June 19,
1890, Anna Sheldon Camp, daughter of
John and Sarah Gould (Williams) Camp,
of Middletown, Connecticut, and a de-
scendant on the paternal side of Nicholas
Camp, one of the founders of Milford,
Connecticut, and on the maternal side of
Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Stocking,
original settlers of Middletown, Connecticut.
The children of Professor Sneath
and Mrs. Sneath are: Herbert Camp,
Katherine Williams, and Richard Shel-
don.