May, and Matt, twins, were born July 14, 1872 in Graves County, Kentucky, and were the first of ten children born to Macinda Belle Cook and Wilson Howard.. They were very young when the family removed with their five children to Arkansas. The other five children were born in Indian Territory Chickasaw Nation after the family settled there. Not a lot is known of the twin girl's youth, but it has been told that they did most of the cooking in the household while another sister did all the sewing as the family grew. In the 1900 Indian Territory Census, the twins were married and with their husbands were living next door to each other. May married John Henry Snellings October 2, 1889.

Five children were born to the couple:
1) Minnie Dora Snellings,was born May 7, 1890. She died February 28, 1891. A remembrance written by May was the only document left that acknowledges the existence of this child. Nothing else is known.

2) Maude B. Snellings, was born June 13, 1891. Maude married Young Ewell Hildreth about 1909. Maude died November 16, 1980 in Ponpano Beach, Broward County, Florida.

3) Robert Snellings,was born 1895; died January 28, 1896. He is buried in Ryan, Oklahoma, near his brother.

4) Ona Snellings, was born March 15, 1897; listed in the 1900 census, but died November of that year; buried in Ryan, near his brother.

5) Aleetha "Letha" Louise Snellings, was born May 30, 1900 in Indian Territory, Oklahoma. When her mother died, she was sent by her step-father to live with uncles in the Snellings family. She married William Earl Jones December 12, 1920 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Letha died April 13, 1969 in McAlester, Oklahoma and was buried in Holdenville, Oklahoma.

When John Henry Snellings died, May was left with two girls, Maude and Aleetha. In 1904, the widow May Howard Snellings married Pickens Taylor Hammond.

Four children were born to that union.
1) Walter Lee Hammond, first child of Pickens and May, was born February 7, 1906. Walter Lee Hammond died Feb 12, 1966 and is buried in the Ft. Bliss, Texas National Cemetery section D, site 1839 .

2)Opal Hammond, second child was born 1907. Opal, was burned badly in a barn fire in 1914, and died that night.

3) Mildred E. Hammond, third child was born January 14, 1912. When Mildred was only four years of age, her Mother died. In 1930 Mildred Hammond Howard was living with her uncle, however, late that year she married Albert E. Smith. Mildred celebrated her 98th birthday in 2010 at home in California.

4) Juanita May Hammond, fourth child was born December 7, 1914. Juanita married Andy Jones and they had one child, Rex M. Jones. Juanita died September 16, 1987, and is buried in Abilene, Texas

May Mary Howard Snellings Hammond died October 16, 1916; she is buried in Albert, Oklahoma.