When Snapp reached adulthood, he moved to Joliet and studied law under E. C. fellows & S. W. Randall.

[1] Snapp was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1868 and served one two-year term.

There, he lobbied to have the Illinois State Capitol constructed with Joliet limestone.

He was re-elected to this position, but resigned from office so that he could be nominated as the Republican candidate to the United States House of Representatives.

Snapp was elected to the Forty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Burton C. Cook.