“Many Hands Make Light Work!”
This old saying feels very appropriate in describing the contributions that so many people have made to the research that has gone into telling the story of Isaac Gandy. All these contacts have been very rewarding for me in my “journey across the water”, following Isaac’s footsteps, for all the help and information but in particular the generous spirit in which people have contributed their time and work. Thank you all!!
Acts of Genealogical Kindness
Documents, books, web sites, newspapers, librarians, archivists, registrars, museum staff, booksellers, look-uppers, compilers, copiers, story tellers – all enthusiasts.
Typical of all these “acts of genealogical kindness” is that of Vickie Nielsen of Payson, Utah. Vickie runs a web site with photographs of gravestones in Utah. Vickie and her husband Barry made a tiring eleven hour round trip in their pick-up on a hot, dry day to Fillmore, Gandy and Garrison to take many of the photographs that appear on the web site. Fantastic!
Eric Hall volunteered to take photographs of places and buildings associated with Isaac and the Gandy family in Penketh, where he lives. In particular he has documented the demolition and rebuilding of Penketh Methodist Church. Eric is a mine of information about the village, past and present and has also provided me with two DVDs about Penketh Village old and new, produced by the Penketh Heritage Group.
Similar stories can be told of many other contributors. Here is a straightforward list of all those “helping hands” and inspiration, in the order I remember:
Stephen D Robison, Utah, Jerry O’Donnell, Ely, Nevada, Ron Stone, Sacramento look-ups, Donna Frederick, Ely, Nevada, Louise Dove, Sacramento County look-ups, Bill Wiersdorf for kind permission to use material from his website, utahonline, Janet Jares, Janice Moote and the late DeMar Robison for their Snake Valley Stories, Stevie and Robert Quate for Margie Quate’s autobiography, Leonard Olds for his fictional biography of The Olds Brothers, Agnes Matthews, Widnes, England, Margaret Lomax, Widnes, England, Eric Hall, Penketh, England,Vickie Nielsen and husband Barry, Payson, Utah, Anita at the Family History Centre, Sweden, Margaret Wiese, Seattle, Nancy Riley, California census look-ups, Ken Wilson, Widnes, England, Joyce Tunstead, Dublin.
Bill Dearden in Garrison has provided lots of information about Garrison today and been very generous of his time in providing a map and photographs of the many family graves in Garrison Cemetery. The late Gen Richardson for her work in Garrison cemetery, now taken on by Edith Dearden, and for tales about Harriet Gandy. Tony Cowley of Meadow, Utah, has sent many fine photographs from Stella Lake, Wheeler Peak and Fillmore Cemetery, and information about the current residents and natural resources of Snake Valley today.
Christine Craigo, whose great great grandmother was Emma Catherine Parsons, Harriet Gandy’s sister, has sent me a wealth of information about the Parsons and Olds families. She has also tried to help me understand the difference between Carson City and Carson Valley!
Peter Rutherford of Penketh has generously taken photographs of Penketh today and allowed me to link to his fascinating transcript of Benjamin Hobson’s recollections of Penketh.
And thanks also to all the devoted people out there who have transcribed records and made them available for us all!
If I have forgotten anyone, please excuse my poor memory and untidy files. Some of you are out there in cyberspace, so I have no physical location.
Want to read more?
I have found the following books – often published privately – invaluable, informative and fascinating:
“Measuring America ” by Andro Linklater, 2003
“White Pine Lang Syne” by Effie O Read, 1965
“Pioneers of Snake Valley 1865-1935 As Remembered by their Descendants”, by Boyd E Quate, date unknown and revised edition 2006 by Patsy Baker Schlabsz.
“A History of Millard County” by Edward Leo Lyman and Lind King Newell, Utah Centennial County History Series, 1999
“North Snake Valley part I” by Marlene Bates, 1963
“Elias McLellan Smith Diary”, copyright 2007 Russel M. Robison for Gloria J. Robison
“Journey Through the Years” by Margie Quate
“The Olds Brothers and Their Carson Valley, Nevada Story” by Leonard Olds, 2010
Jerry O’Donnell and Donna Frederick, both of Ely, Nevada, helped me obtain copies or photocopies of some of these, for which I am extremely grateful.
Public Officials
Without exception the public officials I have contacted during my research have been very generous and helpful – often well over and above the line of duty, amongst them:
Betty Hendon, Douglas County, Kathryn Bunch, Utah Archives, Carson City, Mitch Ison, Nevada State Library and Archives, Carson City, Carol Ann Swatling, Univerity of Nevada, Las Vegas, Ask a librarian, Michael Quinion, Joyce M Cox, Nevada State Library and Archives, Utah State Archives Research Center, Patron Services Archivist, Penketh and Warrington Public Library, England, Museum Director, Alpine County, California, LDS Family History Center, Västerhaninge, Sweden, John L Skarstad, University Archivist, UC Davis, California, Kristin Elder & Jim Henley, City of Sacramento, Patricia A Scott, who transcribed the 1862 Nevada Territorial Census,
Read more about Utah here:
Copyright etc.
I have not always been able to give credit to my sources, despite efforts to contact authors, owners of photographs etc. If I unwittingly have infringed upon copyright, I apologise and will immediately correct this. Contact me in that case:
egandyzero(at)gmail.com – replace (at) with @