[3] He married Louisa Grymes (1814 –1897) and they had eleven children, including Edgar Snowden Jr., a member of the Virginia Senate.
[4][5][6] Snowden was active in local politics in Alexandria, and served on the city's Common Council for five years.
Snowden was pro-slavery and threatened abolitionist publishers William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan with lynching should they visit Alexandria.
[10][7] In 1853, Snowden was the Whig party nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives for Virginia's 7th congressional district, but was defeated by William "Extra-Billy" Smith.
[14] His printing plant was seized by Union officers, property was demolished and looted, and the building was destroyed in a fire and later rebuilt.