Today in Johnson City History, Thursday, February 13, 2025

Mountain City murder, Erwin or Ervin, ETSU and SHHS

Tuesday, February 13, 1900: One hundred and twenty-five years ago today, The Knoxville Sentinel reported news with a dateline from Mountain City and a date from February 12. Readers were informed that “M. J. Snider was arrested near Bristol yesterday, and brought to this place, on the charge of having been implicated in the robbery of Jesse Snider and wife, some time ago. The young man arrested is a nephew of the aged couple.

“It will be remembered that the robbery created considerable excitement at the time it was committed. The old people’s home in the mountains was invaded by two masked men, and they were driven out at the point of pistols, three shots being fired at them. They went to a neighbor’s house, and when they returned the robbers had secured a bag containing $600, which Snider had in hiding in his cabin.