Amanda, A Daughter of the Mennonites
By Anna Balmer Myers
The scorching heat of a midsummer day beat mercilessly upon the earth. Travelers on the dusty roads, toilers in the fields, and others exposed to the rays of the sun thought yearningly of cooling winds and running streams. They would have looked with envy upon the scene being enacted in one of the small streams of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. There a little red-haired girl, barefooted, her short gingham skirt tucked up unevenly here and there, was wading in the cool, shallow waters of a creek that was tree-bordered and willow-arched. Her clear, rippling laughter of sheer joy broke through the Sabbatical calm of that quiet spot and echoed up and down the meadow as she splashed about in the brook.
“Ach,” she said aloud, “this here’s the best fun! Abody would hardly know it’s so powerful hot out today. All these trees around the crick make it cool. I like wadin’ and pickin’ up the pebbles, some of ‘em washed round and smooth like little white soup beans—ach, I got to watch me,” she exclaimed, laughing, as she made a quick movement to retain her equilibrium. “The big stones are slippery from bein’ in the water. Next, I know I’ll sit right down in the crick. Then wouldn’t Phil be ready to laugh at me? It wonders me now where he is. I wish he’d come once and we’d have some fun.”
As if in answer to her wish a boyish whistle rang out, followed by a long-drawn “Oo-oh, Manda, where are you?”
“Here. Wadin’ in the crick,” she called. “Come on in.”
She splashed gleefully about as her brother came into sight and walked with mock dignity through the meadow to the stream. He held his red-crowned head high and sang teasingly, “Manda, Manda, red-headed Manda; tee-legged, toe-legged, bow-legged Manda!”
Genre: Romance Books
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Anna Balmer Myers
Anna Balmer Myers was an American author of novels and poetry featuring the local color of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In addition to her writing career Myers spent more than 35 years teaching at a Philadelphia school for physically disabled students.
Early life
Myers was born October 11, 1884, in Manheim, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of John B. and Lizzie Balmer Myers. After graduating from Manheim public schools she attended Drexel University. She taught at the Widener School for Crippled Children (now Widener Memorial School) in Philadelphia.
Writing life
Myers wrote about the Plain people of Lancaster County. Her first three novels were Patchwork: a Story of the Plain People (1920), Amanda: a Daughter of the Mennonites (1921), and The Madonna of the Curb (1922). Her published poetry collections were Rain on the Roof (1931) and Late Harvest. In 1968, when she was 82 years old, Myers’ novel I Lift My Lamp was published. This final novel incorporated Balmer’s family history into the story of Henry William Stiegel and the founding of his glassworks in Manheim.
Personal life
Myers was an expert on glassmaker Henry William Stiegel, and she gave lectures on Stiegel and his period. In 1934 she was a member of the General Committee that helped erect a memorial to Stiegel in Manheim, Pennsylvania.
She was a member of both the National Society Daughters of the American Colonists and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Myers died in Philadelphia on April 7, 1972. She is buried at Fairview Cemetery, Manheim, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Myers was the last member of her immediate family.
Anna Balmer Myers
