Van Meter, Edgar Snowden

Edgar Snowden Van Meter was born on August 1, 1850, in Morefield, Hardy County, Virginia. Descended from an early Knickerbocker family, he traveled to Illinois as an infant before returning to Virginia following his father’s death. He attended school in a local brick church, taught at age seventeen, and later read law in Piatt County, Illinois, where he was admitted to the bar at Springfield on January 1, 1877.

After serving as city clerk and district attorney in De Witt County, Illinois, Edgar relocated to Fresno, California, in 1888 to build a lucrative legal practice. He served as deputy district attorney under W. D. Tupper in 1890 and was appointed city attorney of Fresno by Mayor William F. Toomey in May 1917. First married to Carrie Summers, who bore him six children, he later married San Diego native Cora B. Reynolds and remained a prominent Mason, civic leader, and property owner in Fresno.