ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) — It was a different era altogether when Grabill’s beloved “hobo,” Otto Snyder, lived in a small shack on the east side of the railroad tracks.
Born in 1882 in Ohio, Snyder arrived on a freight train in the 1940s, but didn’t permanently set down his knapsack until later, preferring to disappear every now and then.
It may be hard to imagine now, but Snyder became part of the fabric of this small town so much so that parents would send their kids down to play checkers with “Ott,” said Joanna Sauder who knew Snyder and shared her recollections with WANE.
In the winter, “Ott” taught the kids to skate on the small ponds in the area. They were amazed he could skate backwards.
-
Margaret Schrock (left) and Joanne Sauder -
New headstone arranged by the Grabill Historical Society -
East side of the Grabill railroad intersection where the Hobo’s shack was
He kept warm in the winter with a woodburning stove the town gave him along with “a pittance” for street work.
“He was frequently seen here in town, pushing his little wooden cart and always had a scoop shovel in the cart and he was trudging down the streets, sweeping the streets, cleaning catch basins. In the winter, he would be moving snow off the sidewalks,” Sauder recalled. “He was just part of this little village in those years.”