Background
Bertrand was born on December 9, 1870 in Colton, New York, United States, the son of Hollis Snell, a lumberman, and Flora E. Kimball.
Businessman politician statesman
Bertrand was born on December 9, 1870 in Colton, New York, United States, the son of Hollis Snell, a lumberman, and Flora E. Kimball.
Snell graduated from State Normal School in Potsdam, New York, in 1889, and then worked his way through Amherst College, graduating in 1894.
He worked as a lumberjack and bookkeeper for the Racquette River Paper Company (Potsdam, New York), where his father was a camp foreman.
Later, he became secretary and manager of the Racquette River Paper Company, and saved enough money to buy stock in the firm. He then organized the Canton Lumber Company in 1904 and became active as director or president of several pulp and milling operations. He built a power plant, organized the New York State Oil Company, which owned wells in Kansas, and purchased a cheese factory in New York City. He put money into insurance companies, orchards, banks, and a clothing firm. All of these ventures were profitable.
Snell became a member of the New York State Republican Committee in 1914, a post he held until 1945. In 1915 he ran for Congress in the Thirty-first New York district. He won easily, and was reelected to the next eleven Congresses. In 1938, realizing that it would be many years before the Republicans would recapture the House of Representatives, he gave up his dream of becoming Speaker of the House and decided not to run again. On January 3, 1939, he retired from the House of Representatives.
During his long career, Snell became an influential figure in the Congress and in the Republican party. He was a delegate to seven national Republican conventions, and in 1932 and 1936 he served as permanent chairman of these conclaves. During the 1920's, when the Republicans controlled the Congress, Snell chaired the powerful House Rules Committee. Speaker Nicholas Longworth, party whip John Q. Tilson, and Snell formed the triumvirate that "ruled" the House for nearly a decade. When Longworth died, Snell and Tilson fought a bitter six-month battle for the Republican leadership.
Snell finally won, and during the 1930's acted as House minority leader. Snell fought nearly all of the New Deal's programs. Recognizing that he could do little to impede President Franklin D. Roosevelt's early legislative proposals, Snell organized his followers into "truth squads. " Each group would study a particular problem, and during the floor debate, would interrupt Democratic speakers to ask pointed, detailed, and often obscure questions designed to show the ignorance of the majority spokesmen on key issues.
After his retirement from Congress, Snell published the Potsdam Courier-Freeman, which he had purchased in 1934. He was involved in a variety of civic and educational enterprises in upstate New York.
He died on February 2, 1958 in Potsdam.
Bertrand Hollis Snell was the owner of the New York State Oil Company, of Kansas, the publisher of the Potsdam Courier-Freeman. Besides, he was influential Republican in the United States House of Representatives. During his long service in the House, Snell was identified with only one major proposal, he championed the idea of the St. Lawrence Seaway. When its construction was completed, President Dwight D. Eisenhower directed that the seaway lock at Grasse River be named after Snell. Bertrand H. Snell Hall at Clarkson University is named in his honor.
He was a lifelong Republican.
Quotations: "I've got enough to live comfortably, " he said. "But whatever I've got I've earned. I've done more hard labor in my time than most of the members of the House will ever do. "
Snell's intelligence, perseverance, and willingness to work led to success in business.
Snell wore spats and expensive blue and brown suits, smoked good cigars, and rode in a chauffeured limousine. At a time when most congressmen still lived in Washington hotels, he maintained an apartment at 2400 16th Street, one of the most expensive buildings in the city. Despite his affluent style, Snell resented being thought of as a rich man.
On June 3, 1903, he married Sara Louise Merrick; they had two daughters.
