The unpacking of the archives continues. For some strange reason, I always grab a box of loose papers and photographs. Sooner or later I am bound to find boxes of organized files destined for a waiting file cabinet. More about that later.

Early in my research years, I met a wonderful person, Betty Barry Deal (1921-2017). She was a daughter of two pioneer families – Barry and Elledge.. * While they were not hoarders in the typical sense, they kept documents and other historic memorabilia. For years, Betty gave me boxes of records. Many I catalogued, but for some unknown reason, there were two I had not.

Assorting the boxes while tedious, there is a treasure trove. There are letters that gives an insight of behind scenes such as the formation of Standish that we will explore later. Then, some documents I am just plain dumbfounded as in today’s first illustration. In all my years of research I have not ever come across a reference of the Pyramid Salt Company.

Tim

*One of Betty’s first cousins was JoAnn Elledge Uptegrove, who shared a striking family resemblance. I would normally see JoAnn at the grocery store, and I would automatically think of Betty.