A22-Lmcast«f Fanning, Saturday, November 24,1984
New Jersey’s McKelveys find their way back home
EVJACKHUBLEY
HOLTWOOD It was the
middle of the 19th century when
three young brothers by the name
of McKelvey left their native
Ireland to make a new life for
themselves on American soil.
The trio chose a “matched set”
of Anderson sisters for their wives,
and brothers John and Charles
selected southern Lancaster
County’s Martic Township as their
home. Purchasing 192 acres of
woodland in partnership, the
McKelveys cleared much of the
virgin forest and settled into a log
cabin and a fieldstone house, the
two dwellings already on the
property.
Those early years on the
McKelvey farm were far from
luxurious, but John and his wife.
jis fieldstone farmhouse near Holtwood has been home to generations of the
McKelvey family since 1865. Owners Tom and Elaine McKelvey sold their New Jersey oil
business to come “home" to Lancaster County in 1979.
Mary Snyder unlocks door to Century Farm’s history
BY JACK RUBLEY
MOUNT JOY - If Christian
Snyder were alive today, he would
to doubt shake his head in disbelief
when his great grandson Glenn
told him how much his farm’s
value has appreciated since 1868.
On March 31, of that year it was
Christian who paid $16,315.44 for
the 176-acre farm between
Manheim and Mount Joy that
would still be farmed by his
descendants 116 years later.
The elder Snyder owned the
farm for only four years, passing it
on to his son John G. Snyder in
1872. One of John’s six children,
Levi E. Snyder, was next in line,
purchasing the farm in 1908. After
37 years of ownership, Snyder sold
Located near Mount Joy, Nature Glenn Farm is currently home to the fourth and fifth
generations of Snyders. The farm has been in the Snyder family since 1868.
Mary Anderson, along with
Charles and his wife, Lizzie An
derson, persevered, earning a
modest living from their yearly
crop of barley.
In 1911 John’s son Joseph S.
McKelvey assumed ownership of
the farm, moving from his parent’s
log cabin home to the property’s
fieldstone home originally oc
cupied by his uncle Charles.
Joseph continued to farm until
his death in 1957, and in 1966, the
late McKelvey’s wife Anna
transferred ownership to their son
Joseph McKelvey, Jr.
Joseph, Jr. continued to farm
steers, tobacco and corn, until 1979
when health problems prompted
him to sell the farm to Ids second
cousin Thomas McKelvey and his
wife Elaine.
the farm to his son, Levi B. Snyder,
in 1945.
Farm life was quite different
during the middle of the century
when young Glenn Snyder, the
farm’s current owner, farmed with
his father, Levi. Along with dairy
cattle, steers and chickens, the
Snyders grew a variety of crops
including wheat, barley, com,
tobacco, tomatoes and potatoes.
“We’d just go from one to the
other-tomatoes, potatoes,
tobacco-and I was really glad
when fall came,” recounts Snyder.
“Dad had a tractor shortly after I
was bom, but he still liked working
with horses,” he says, recalling
many days of field work spent
behind a team.
“In the beginning my cousin Joe
had suggested a partnership, but
because of his health, he finally
decided to sell,” says T6m, who
eagerly gave up his New Jersey oil
business for a more leisurely
country lifestyle. “I’ve always
loved the area, and when I first got
married I wanted to come here,”
Tom recalls.
His wife Elaine, however, ad
mits to some initial doubts
regarding the move. She was
particularly concerned about the
relative isolation of farm life when
compared to life in her home town
of Camden, N. J.
“But now I love it here,” she
bubbles. “The slower pace of life is
nice, and the people here are so
polite and friendly.”
But life can get a bit too “slow”
Levi Snyder was also in the
chicken business, gathering the
eggs from his 300 hens that his wife
would clean one at a time.
Glenn purchased the farm from
his father in 1972, and has
remained in the egg business,
although his 40,000-bird layer
house stands in sharp contrast to
his father’s old wooden chicken
house behind the family’s home.
The dairy cows have been gone
since 1954, and hogs have replaced
the steers that, up until three years
ago, populated the barn.
With the help of his son Nate,
Glenn finishes about 400 hogs a
year, in addition to planting the
farm’s 93 acres in corn and barley.
One of three of the Si ter off
Elaine and Tom jKelvey pause with their daughter Joyce
during an inspection of the original McKelvey log cabin
located a few hundred feet from their home.
for comfort if a farmer can’t make
a living from his land, and Tom
knew that he would have to develop
a reliable source of income if
country life were to be a reality.
With Joe acting as his advisor,
Tom entered the egg business in
Seated behind Brian and Christine are Nate and parents
Mary and Glenn Snyder.
spring still living at home, Nate
works part-time in Landisville,
and hopes to continue the family’s
farming tradition in the poultry
and pork businesses. And Nate’s
roll in the farm’s operation has
taken on added importance since
his father lost his right arm in a
PTO accident three years ago.
But a lifetime of farm work has
given Snyder the determination to
rise above his handicap. “It’s a
miracle the way I’ve come through
it,” he observes, admitting that
some left-handed chores, such as
writing, will still require a bit more
practice.
And his wife, Mary, agrees, noting
that her husband now, “writes like
a doctor.”
Nate’s sister Kristine, age 18,
and brother Brian, 12, round out
the fifth Snyder generation still
living at home. Two other
daughters, Lou Ann Gehman, and
Julia Zimmerman are married
1983, building an 81,000-bird layer
house and entering into contract
with Wenger Feeds.
Expansion followed in 1984, with
a new 108,000-bird house bring the
(Turn to Page A 27)
and reside in Adamstown and
Columbia, respectively.
A native of Elizabethtown, Mary
was a stranger to farm life until
marrying Glenn. Nevertheless, she
recalls that farming, “was always
something I wanted to do.”
And one of her most rewarding
projects in recent months has been
trying to reconstruct the branches
on the Snyder family tree. One
mystery that continues to elude
her concerns the inscription “1817”
barely visible on the front door of
the family’s brick home. Though
she suspects that this may be when
the house was constructed, more
detective work will be necessary to
test her theory.
So as farm work begins to slow
down with the approach of winter,
Nature Glenn Farm’s resident
historian may uncover another
chapter or two in the history of one
of Lancaster County’s Century
Farms.