It’s not easy making family history interesting for anyone not part of that same history and crafting a book along those lines is doubly difficult. Enter, Nancy Dale Conroy.

Nancy came back to her family roots in the Pontiac on October 21 to introduce her newly penned From Derry to the Pontiac and, if the launch is any indication, she has succeeded in making her family story a compelling one.

On hand at the Little Red Wagon Winery were more than 60 folk including family, friends, enthusiasts, archivists, genealogists and local residents resulting in a completely diverse, dynamic and robust atmosphere where book signings were aplenty and where the topic of conversation in all corners ranged from the book, to the Pontiac, to legacy and beyond. It was electric.

Nancy, self-described as talkative and yet shy, is an energetic bundle of fast-talking joy and her enthusiasm for her roots and her story have not ebbed at publication. If anything, they have reached new heights as interest in her book exceeds expectations.

“I worked in the public service for 20 years and did a lot of analytical work so I’m used to writing – for me it wasn’t work” says Nancy elaborating on how her skillset lent itself to her role as genealogist-cum-author. “I like doing the research – I like doing the writing and I’ll probably keep doing it whether I write a book again or not.”

Lee Ann Eckhardt Smith, who Nancy acknowledges as her editor, suggests at least part of Nancy’s talent lies in . . .

taking tombstone data – traditionally known in these circles as dates of birth, marriage and death – and making it compelling. It was she who suggested that Nancy introduce each chapter as if she were speaking in the voice of her great-great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth – the first of her ancestors to come to the Pontiac. “It’s based on fact, but Nancy has added a bit of fiction with emotion and it really works because she has added environment and context based upon all of her research.”

While Nancy submits that Lee Ann is her editor, she herself suggests she was more a coach and furthers that this is possibly a reason why their working relationship was so successful. As a coach, she was involved with every chapter as it was being written and was able to offer essential feedback at the earliest of stages from the get-go.

In that vein, Nancy is confident that the approach of researching and writing chapter by chapter, with her coach, is what softened some of the daunting and overwhelming nature that writing family history generally entails. “There’s a lot of data!”

Shawville public records were key to the research process with the Pontiac Archives, the Pontiac Historical Society and Museum and over one hundred years of digitized versions of our own THE EQUITY newspaper leading the way. To be sure, Nancy makes note on page 176 that the searchable database of digitized newsprint was essential.

Additionally, Ron Dale, a relative who has leveraged his sister Lynne’s 50 years of work on family history and who has now amassed a repository of some 80,000 individuals, was more than happy to provide access for Nancy to his wealth of information on the Dales going all the way back to the first to arrive from Ireland. Oops – I mean, Northern Ireland – there is a point in the book where this clarity is established, emphasized and made integral to the tale being told! In this spirit, I should also clarify that Ron is Nancy’s “third cousin once removed” – as genealogists speak in these terms more fluently than most and simply referring to him as “a relative” is almost dismissive.

Ron was in attendance at the launch and invites anyone looking to research their 19th century Pontiac roots to contact him – as he may have information of use which he is more than happy to pass along.

“There is a good chance that I am distantly related to a large proportion of Pontiac families,” says Ron. He can be reached at ronaldjdale@netscape.net.

Nancy admits that some sources of information were, regrettably, not leveraged and are no longer available. This, it seems, is a common lament of anyone familiar with genealogical research and acts as a call to action to make haste while there is time if you too are digging into the past and the stories contained therein.

For Nancy’s part, she has enjoyed the road so far and has loved sharing with her husband Peter the challenges and successes that have ensued. Her passion for all things genealogical persists even taking a moment to delve into the beginnings of my own as-yet-unwritten story, “Hartle? Where is that from?”

Congratulations Nancy! If you are looking for your own copy of From Derry to the Pontiac, there are copies available locally at Café 349 and you can also order them online from Nancy’s website at https://fromderrytothepontiac.com.

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