Novia Zembia Snell (1860-1927)

Portrait from "Nebraskans: 1904-1914".

    One can only wonder how a space-age sounding name like Novia Zembia was viewed in 19th and early 20th century Nebraska, and hiding behind that unusual name is a man who had fleeting political involvement in Nebraska's capital city. Novia Zembia Snell was a native Missourian who, following removal to the Cornhusker State, became a leading lawyer in the city of Lincoln. After retiring from practice in the early 20th century Snell changed career paths and achieved further distinction in the insurance industry, being the founder of the Midwest Life Insurance Company of Lincoln. Snell earns placement here on the site due to his service as County Attorney of Lancaster County, a post he held for one term.

  Descended from pioneer Missouri settlers, Novia Zembia Snell was born in Harrison County on August 23, 1860, the son of James Harrison and Annliza (Dunkerson) Snell. The origins behind his fascinating name remain unknown, and his full name was revealed via the Genealogies of Virginia Families, published in 1981. The name Novia Zembia may, in fact, be a corrupted spelling of the Slavonic/Russian phrase "Nova Zembla", which translates to "New Land." All in all, a unique name to give a child!

  The Snell family removed from Missouri in 1865 and resettled in Ashland, Saunders County, Nebraska.  Young Novia was a student in the public schools of that town and enrolled at the University of Nebraska in 1878. Graduating with his bachelor of science degree in 1882, Snell would spend the remainder of that year working his father's hardware store before turning his attention to law studies in 1883.

  After relocating to Lincoln in Lancaster County, Snell began reading law in the offices of Lamb, Ricketts & Wilson, and in the following year was admitted to the Nebraska bar. By 1884 he had entered into a partnership with future Lincoln mayor Andrew Sawyer in the firm of Sawyer and Snell. Their partnership extended until 1903 and later added attorney Lincoln Frost to the firm. In September 1885 Snell married Flora Evelyn Frost (1859-1957), and the couple's four-decade-long marriage saw the births of four daughters, Hazel (1889-1954), Aline (1894-1895), Eleanor (1900-1993), and Flora (1902-1999). 

  In 1890 Snell made his lone foray into politics with his election as Lancaster County Attorney and served one term in office (1891-93), not being a candidate for re-election in 1892. Following the dissolve of the firm of Sawyer and Snell in 1903, Novia Z. Snell focused his efforts on a new career path: life insurance. Having first become interested in the subject several years prior, Snell became affiliated with the Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of Lincoln, serving as its attorney and treasurer. In 1903 he took on the presidency of that company, continuing in that post until 1906. In that year Snell branched out on his own, becoming the founder and organizer of the Midwest Life Insurance Company of Lincoln. He served as president of that company until his death and brought aboard his old law partner, Andrew Sawyer, as company secretary. 

Portrait from "Nebraskans 1856-1904"

  Novia Z. Snell experienced further prominence in the insurance business in 1913, when following the revision of then-existing Nebraska insurance laws, he and his company boomed the new revisions, and Snell himself took part in the statute revision commission that examined the constitutionality of the new insurance code. He would have a hand in several other business and banking concerns throughout the remainder of his life, including directorship in the First National Bank of Lincoln, the vice-presidency of the American Savings Bank, and the presidency of the Lincoln Overall and  Shirt Co. 

  Snell was also attentive to educational matters in his city, serving from 1915-21 on the Lincoln board of education. He held the presidency of the board for five of those six years,  and in 1915 began a one year term as president of the University of Nebraska Alumni Association. Active in other civic and fraternal groups in his region, Snell was a past president of the Charity Organization Society, a member of the Lincoln Commercial Club, and the Lincoln Kiwanis Club. In the year of his death, Snell was elected president of the executive board of the Nebraska State Historical Society.

   Following the death of his old friend and law partner Andrew Sawyer in 1924, Novia Z. Snell was one of a number of philanthropic benefactors that donated funds for the construction of a park in West Lincoln. This park, later to be known as the Sawyer Snell Park, still exists today, and is home to picnic areas, and baseball/softball fields. 

  The last months of Snell's life were marred by ill health, having suffered an attack of ptomaine poisoning following a visit to California in April 1927. After his return to Nebraska Snell's health failed to improve, and he died at his home in Lincoln on August 31, 1927, one week following his 67th birthday. His wife survived her husband by nearly thirty years, and after her death in May 1957 at age 98, she was interred alongside him at the Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln.

From the Lincoln Evening State Journal, August 31, 1927.