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Ancestors of Levi Bender Snyder

Generation No. 1

1. Levi Bender Snyder, born July 8, 1898 in Mount Joy, PA; died March 8, 1983 in Lancaster, PA. He was the son of 2. Levi Eby Snyder and 3. Sue R. Bender. He married (1) Hettie Helen Mumma November 29, 1923 in Manheim, PA. She was born March 24, 1901 in Mount Joy, PA, and died September 18, 1984 in Lancaster, PA. She was the daughter of Jonas N. Mumma and Elida C. Engle.

Notes for Levi Bender Snyder:

"My father, LEVI BENDER SNYDER, was born July 8, 1898 on a farm at Mount Joy, Route 2. He lived on that farm until 1955 when my parents moved to their retirement home on School Lane, Mount Joy. My father continued to go to the farm almost daily for another 20 years after they moved to School Lane. My grandparents [Levi E. & Sue (Bender) Snyder] moved off that farm around 1921 or 1922 because Uncle Irvin [my father's brother] got married and wanted to farm. Irvin and his wife Mabel only stayed there for one year, then they bought a farm along the Fruitville Pike, close to Mabel's family. So that one year my father lived in Mount Joy with his parents. By the time Irvin moved, Dad and Mother were getting married, so they moved to the home farm on Route 2. My parents often told how there was a snowstorm the week they moved, April 1, so that they could not get all their furniture right away. They sat around on apple crates for chairs. My parents were married Thanksgiving Day 1923. I think my father still drove horse and buggy in the early 1920s but probably had a car by the time they got married. My father said that, a few times when the roads were closed from a snowstorm, he walked across the fields to John Brubaker's for a date with Mother. One of my father's interests was going to farm sales. I don't remember that he ever bought much. He just liked to stand around and talk to people. My father did go out at hunting season for small game - rabbits or ring-neck pheasant. Both were good eating. This time of year we would see some of our relatives. Mother's brother Engle and his sons loved to hunt. When Mother knew they were coming she got to baking pies. Snitz pie was the most popular. My parents tried to keep the farm buildings in good shape. The Keller Brothers, who were in and out of our farm a lot to buy and sell cattle, said Levi had one of the cleanest cow barns around. He kept the manure off the forebay so that when they walked around they didn't get dirty shoes. My parents did a lot of visiting neighbors, and we had the greatest neighbors - the Mussers, the Herrs, the Nissleys, and Jonas & Fannie Brubaker. We visited on Sunday evening if there was no church service. We'd sit on the porch swing or on rockers and catch up on the latest news." (Written by Thelma (Snyder) Kraybill, October 1998.)

Notes for Hettie Helen Mumma:

"My mother, HETTIE HELEN MUMMA, was born west of Mount Joy, close to Kraybill Mennonite Church, on March 24, 1901. Her father Jonas died in 1906. Mother said she didn't remember her father. Grandma Mumma went to work after she was a widow. She spent time in homes after a new baby arrived - they called it 'taking baby cases'. When Grandma talked about things on the farm while Jonas was still living, she just had to have a little cry. She usually tried to sober up quickly, but life was hard for her in those days. I think the 3 older children were married by this time. Aunt Rhoda married John Brubaker. I'm not sure how it happened, but it was decided that my mother would live with them. This put Mother about 2 farms away from the Snyder farm, and she began attending Erisman Mennonite Church where the Snyders attended. Mother's great love was her flowers, indoors and outdoors. We had wide window sills and she filled them up with ferns, African violets, geraniums and gloxinia. The flower beds in the yard were always colorful. Mother's other interest was going to sewing circle at the church. It met on a Tuesday once a month. Of course, if she was away she had to be sure there was something ready for the men to eat at home. From my parents I learned honesty, promptness, fairness, and the importance of helping others in need - all without complaining. During Mother's illness Dad sat by her side most every day until he got sick. When things looked discouraging, he would say, 'We have it good'. Mother's favorite saying in those days, as long as she could talk, was 'There's my good man'." (Written by Thelma (Snyder) Kraybill, October 1998.)

Recipe for Hettie's dried snitz pie:

2 cups dried tart apples
2/3 cup sugar
1.5 cups water
1/4 teaspoon powdered cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pastry for 2 (9-inch) crusts

Soak apples in 1.5 cups warm water
Cook apples in water in which they were soaked
When soft, put apples through a colander
Add sugar and spices
Put mixture in an unbaked pie shell
Cover pie with a top crust and fasten at edges
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes and
reduce temperature to 375 degrees for another 30 minutes

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