The Ebys of Lititz
When I was doing research about Moses Springer, I came across some information that made me even more interested in his wife and my gg-grandmother, Barbara Shantz. It turns out that her mother's side of the family--several generations earlier--had also immigrated to Canada from none other than Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which is where I live. I find that really amazing!
I learned that my gggggg-grandfather, Christian Eby, built a house in 1754 on Hammer Creek, about three miles north of Lititz. The house is still there and on it is its original plaque, which reads: "Christian Ebi-Elizabetha." Christian also built a grain mill across from his house. The original mill is no longer standing; the present grain mill was built by his grandson. Hammer Creek Cemetery, the family graveyard, is on a hill behind the house.
Christian Eby was born in 1698 in Switzerland and immigrated with his father, Theodorus Eby, to America in the early 1700s. His wife, Elizabeth Mayer, was born in 1708. When Christian died, the 249-acre property went to his eldest son. That son, also named Christian (b. 1734), was the first deacon in the newly-organized Hammer Creek Mennonite congregation, and is often referred to as "Bishop" Eby. Christian "Bishop" Eby married Catherine Bricker and they also lived in this house.
Their daughter, Barbara Eby (b. 1774) and her husband, Joseph Schneider (b. 1772), were part of the group of Mennonites from Lancaster County who immigrated to Canada in 1807. The Schneiders were Barbara Shantz's grandparents. (There's more about them here.)