Colonel Josiah Snelling, Jr. (1783-1828) was born in Boston to Josiah and Mary Whitlock Snelling. In 1804 he married Elizabeth Bell who died a few years later. He fought in the western region of the United States during the War of 1812 and then helped settle the upper Mississippi Valley. He helped found Minnesota. Josiah was the father of nine children by his first wife and his second wife, Abigail Hunt. Descendants live throughout the United States.