More Photos of North Creek, Beaver, Utah USA

More News about the Merchants in Beaver/North Creek Utah

1) Old Anvil near the Merchant Home (turn sideways) 2) Merchant mailbox in front of home 3) Merchant Family name sign on front porch

Last weekend, we finally arranged a trip together to the Beaver, Utah area. We stopped by the DUP Museum first as it holds so much promise for information about the Merchants. It didn't open until 11 am so we headed for the North Creek area where the Merchants settled in the late 1850's.

Not much had changed since last year when Jayne discovered the area...or so we thought. We got brave and stopped at a home, hoping to meet someone who could answer our questions. The only thing we met at first was a barking wiener dog. J., the brave sister, wanted to approach the dog and said the wagging tail was a sign that he liked us. Me, the cowardly sister, thought only of the dog piercing my leg with his teeth. I noticed a neighbor across the street checking his mail. We quickly walked in that direction.

We asked if he knew of any Merchants living in the area. He nodded and said "Darrell Merchant lived over by the pine tree there but he died 3 months ago." J.and I both sighed. Darrell was about 91 years old. It would have been nice to have met him.

We went over to his place which had been moved in the 1930's from near the river to higher ground. We took a bunch of pictures and then headed back into town. The DUP museum was now open and we asked questions about Darrell. The hostess told us her husband interviewed Darrell last year and they will try to transcribe the tape and send it on to us. We again felt encouraged that our attempts to find out more about Elizabeth will continue and someday be successful. Enjoy the photos of North Creek!

New Information From Australia

We receive some exciting new information from Australia recently. Dennis Overton and his wife Denise recently went into the area where Elizabeth and Richard Merchant lived at Campsie, between Gresford and Vacy. They obtained a history of the Merchant Family from the Gresford Historical Society. It contains a great deal of information about the family and their role in the settlement. It also contains names and dates of family members and is quite interesting. They sent a CD full of photos of the area which looks very beautiful with green hills and farms. Also on the CD are photos of headstones of some of the Merchants. Thanks to Dennis and Denise for their kindness and genealogical expertise!

A Unique Christmas Gift

For a Christmas gift to my parents this year, I created a unique sort of gift. As I have been studying the life of Elizabeth Barnes and the time period in which she lived, I realized that my paternal great-great-great Grandfather, Henry E. Day, had several similarities with Elizabeth. In recognizing this, I decided to create a timeline of both lives and the events/places we know about in these two ancestors. I had it printed on clear sheets, one for Elizabeth and one for Henry. As you lay them on top of each other, you can see where their life events could have overlapped. Then I took the historical data that I have found in the last 6 months and created a looseleaf of the data according to the places where they lived. I even found pictures of women who lived in San Bernardino when Elizabeth lived there. It was such fun. I think my parents liked it also. Not sure what to focus on next...it's hard to stop thinking about them.