Wesley Snowden was born enslaved in Maryland in June 1838 (though records of his birth year differ). In 1854 a man named Allen Dodge purchased Snowden from William C. Ogle for $800. Although Dodge lived in Georgetown, he owned a farm in Jackson City and parts of Holmes Island—areas that make up present-day Crystal City, now known as National Landing. The enslaved people held by Dodge, including Snowden, may have spent time in Georgetown, but it is clear from their skills that they worked on his farm. One document describes Wesley Snowden as accustomed to farming and planting work and says he was “also an excellent ostler” (groom or stableman).

Snowden was with Dodge until 1862, when he was emancipated by an act of Congress. Dodge made a petition to be compensated for seven enslaved people who were freed. Besides Snowden, his petition mentions

Anthony Washington, accustomed to farming and planting work
Thomas Brown, ditto, a first-rate teamster
Robert Brown, ditto, a good ox driver
Wesley Brown, an excellent house servant and invaluable
Frank Brown, accustomed to farm work, chopping wood, and working garden
Rosa Brown, excellent cook, washer

As part of his petition, Dodge had to declare “that he bears true and faithful allegiance to the Government of the United States, and that he has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given or comfort thereto.”

During the Civil War, Snowden appears in an 1863 list of Washington, D.C., men, both Black and White, “subject to do military duty.” In the draft registration list, Snowden’s residence is given as Kendall Green, which was near present-day Gallaudet University. The list describes him as a laborer and mentions that he is married. Did he actually fight in the Civil War? There are no further records of this one way or the other.

After the war, he continued to make his life in Washington. An 1865 directory shows Wesley Snowden listed as a “coachman” and living in Kendall Green. Sometime in the next six years, he and his family moved to Capitol Hill. In an 1871 directory he was listed as a laborer and living at 218 16^th Street, SE. Snowden appears in the 1880 census living right around the corner, at 1600 Massachusetts Avenue, SE. His age is given as 36 (raising questions about his date of birth). His wife, Eliza, age 26, is described as “keeping house.” The couple had a son, Royal, age 10, and a daughter, Theresa, age 8. A few years later, an 1886 directory shows him working as a laborer and living on 16^th Street near Massachusetts Avenue, SE.

By the time of the 1900 census, Snowden and his family had moved a few blocks away, to 108 14th Street, SE, and Snowden was working as a junk dealer. In 1900, the census shows, he and Eliza had been married for 30 years. And they still had a young child in the house: their son Wesley, born in 1893, was six years old.