The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 8 A portrait of Hon. Henry J. Snively appears in this publication. HON. HENRY JOSEPH SNIVELY. Hon. Henry Joseph Snively is a distinguished member of the Yakima bar and one of the recognized leaders of the democratic party in the state. In fact, through his political activity and his incumbency in office he has done much to shape the affairs of the state, his influence always being on the side of progress, development and improvement. What he has accomplished represents the fit utilization of the innate powers and talents with which nature endowed him. He has recognized and readily utilized the opportunities which have come his way and his popularity as a man and the faith reposed in him by his fellow townsmen have been indicated by the fact that on various occasions he has been the only nominee on the democratic ticket elected to office. Mr. Snively is a native of Virginia. He was born on the 17th of August, 1856, and is a son of Ambrose and Elizabeth (Harritt) Snively. The father is a native of Germany but came to the United States with his parents when but six weeks old. Reared to manhood in Virginia, he there engaged in contracting and building, which he followed at various places in the Old Dominion. He now makes his home in Grafton, West Virginia. Reared in the south, Hon. Henry Joseph Snively of this review was graduated from the University of West Virginia with the class of 1877 and then entered upon his law course at the University of Virginia where he took the degree of Bachelor of Law in 1879. He afterward practiced law in West Virginia for seven years and in 1886 he arrived in North Yakima, where he has since followed his profession. He is recognized as one of the distinguished and eminent members of the bar of central Washington. As a lawyer he is sound, clear-minded and well trained, felicitous and clear in argument, thoroughly in earnest, full of the vigor of conviction, never abusive of his adversaries and imbued with the highest courtesy and yet a foe worthy of the steel of the most able opponent. He has other interests outside of his profession, for in 1912 he established and now owns the Kennewick flouring mill and his investments include large stock ranches in Yakima and Benton counties. In all business affairs he has displayed sound judgment and keen discrimination, carrying forward to successful completion whatever he has undertaken. In politics Mr. Snively has been a most active democrat, one of the party leaders in the state. He was nominated for the office of district attorney for the district comprising Yakima and Kittitas counties in 1886 and was elected by a large majority against the Hon. C. B. Graves, who was later judge of the district court. In 1888 Mr. Snively was reelected over Walter M. Milroy and on each occasion was the only successful democratic nominee on the ticket. While serving as district attorney he was appointed by Governor Semple a member of the code commission to formulate a code for the laws of the territory and did active and valuable work in that connection. This code was later revised by W. Lair Hill and is known as the Hill code. In 1890 Mr. Snively was the democratic candidate for attorney general of Washington, but with the others of his ticket was defeated. In 1891 he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature, being the only democrat to receive a majority at that election. In 1892 he was elected a delegate to the national democratic convention held at Chicago and at the request of the national campaign manager seconded the nomination of Grover Cleveland for the presidency. In August, 1892, his party made him its standard bearer in the state election and as candidate for governor of Washington he ran five thousand votes ahead of his ticket but was defeated by a few hundred votes by the republican candidate, John H. McGraw. In 1897 Mr. Snively was appointed by Governor John R. Rogers a member of the state board of control, having the management of all the state institutions except the University and the Agricultural College, in which capacity he served for four years. Since 1900 he has concentrated his efforts and attention upon the practice of law, but does not cease to feel the deepest concern in those questions of public import which affect the welfare, the sociological and the economic development, of the state. Mr. Snively was married in 1881 to Miss Elizabeth H. Martin, of Grafton, West Virginia, a daughter of Luther and Anna M. (Harrison) Martin. The father, who was a lumberman, was born in West Virginia, while the mother's birth occurred in the District of Columbia. She was a descendant of the James River Harrisons. Mrs. Snively was born in Virginia in 1858 and was graduated from the Pittsburgh Female College. To Mr. and Mrs. Snively have been born three children, Janie M., born in Grafton, West Virginia, January 22, 1883, is the wife of Dr. Edmond S. West, of Yakima; Jessie H., born in Grafton, July 30, 1885, is the wife of Dr. A. F. Campbell, of Yakima, and has two children, W. F. and Henry J. Henry J. Snively, Jr., the youngest of the family, was born in North Yakima, January 25, 1900, and is now manager of his father's stock farm. The family attend the Episcopal church and in social circles of the city occupy a very prominent position. The family residence was built in 1888 by Colonel Howlett and later was remodeled, being one of the finest homes of the state. Mrs. Snively takes a very prominent interest in church work and in the leading social movements of the city and both Mr. and Mrs. Snively exert much influence over public thought and he has left the impress of his individuality upon many movements and measures which have had to do with shaping the policy and progress of the commonwealth. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.