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Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
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Morning Star, April 25, 2004, pg. 2 There is an excellent article about the late Bobby Parker (who passed away on January 24) in the March, 2004 Volume 29 No. 2 issue of Scene Magazine, published in Battle Creek. The article is printed on pages 36-39, and this magazine can usually be found in waiting rooms of physicians and professionals in the Battle Creek area. Get a copy if you can. A former Albionite, we featured Bobby in the June 1, 2003 edition of this column, which is now published on the www.albionmich.com website. Coming up on Sunday, May 2 at 1 p.m. at the Clarence Township Hall just east of Duck Lake will be the genealogy and history Open House sponsored by the Duck Lake area history and genealogy club. This club meets once a month and doesn’t draw boundary lines as to its membership base, so everyone is welcome. There will be displays of old historical photographs, memorabilia and genealogies of area families. There will also be representatives from the Calhoun, Eaton, and Jackson County genealogy societies present who will have their various materials available for purchase. So take a drive out to the Clarence Township Hall on Sunday May 2 for an enjoyable afternoon. Yours truly will be there, too. One of the most remote elementary country school districts that was annexed into the Albion Public Schools in the 1960s was the Snyder School. It was officially known as the Sheridan District No. 7. This one-room schoolhouse was located in Section 4 of Sheridan Township on the north side of J Drive North, three-tenths of a mile east of 26 Mile Road. The district had been formed in 1871 after breaking away from the Davis School district to the north, just south of Prairie Lake. The Snyder schoolhouse was built on land that had been purchased from M. S. Hall for $60. The school was named after Christian Snyder (1825-1883), a well-known nearby Sheridan Township farmer who settled 200 acres of land southwest of the school in 1864. He provided the firewood for the school. His family was one of several German families from Massilon, Ohio which settled north of Albion in the mid-19th century. The original officers of the Snyder district were: Frederick Sebastian, moderator; William W. Williams, director; and Steven White, treasurer. The Snyder district voters approved annexation into the Albion Public Schools on June 28, 1965 by a vote of 22 to 9, and the school was closed. Final teacher was Janice Allen. The former schoolhouse was converted into a family residence. The structure burned to the ground on the morning of January 5, 1991 in an arson/homicide case. From our Historical Notebook this week we present a rare photograph of the Snyder School as it appeared in the 1920s. Notice the rope hanging down from the bell tower. The sign under the roof peak states, “School Dist. No. 7 Organized Nov 5, 1871.” Do any of our readers have photographs of classes or memorabilia from the Snyder School? 
The Snyder School as it appeared in the 1920s All text copyright, 2026 © all rights reserved Frank Passic | Artwork copyright Maggie LaNoue © 2026
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