| Quantity: | 3 boxes (1.0 cubic ft.) |
|---|---|
| Access: | Open to research |
| Acquisition: | Gift: Albert E. Hurd, Bellaire, Mich., January 2016 |
| Processed By: | Fred Basset, Senior Librarian, Manuscripts & Special Collections, February 2016 |
Oliver Case Ganiard was born April 30, 1860, near Rochester, (Monroe County), New York, the son of Henry O. Ganiard (1830-1911) and Martha Deyo Ganiard (1831-1908). Other members of the family were: Henry Enos Ganiard (1859-1929), Clara G. Ganiard (1862-1945), and Julia C. Ganiard (1865-1948). By 1880 the family had moved from the Rochester area to Bergen in Genesee County. Oliver Ganiard became a farmer and acquired 140 acres of land along Lake Road near the village. The farm was sold to Miron and Anna Olexyn [Oleksyn] on February 10, 1931.
Oliver Ganiard married Edith E. Akin (1865-1908) in 1898 and they had one child, Hazel May Ganiard (1901-1994). He was married again on March 19, 1918 to Minnie R. Lane (1869-1943) of Flint, Michigan. The couple had no children, but raised Minnie's step-grandson, Edward Hubert Hurd (1914-1999), who came to live with them during the 1920s. Oliver Ganiard passed away at his home in Bergen, January 23, 1936.
These papers consist primarily of an almost complete run of diaries kept by Oliver C. Ganiard, from 1896 to 1936. Although the daily entries tend to be brief, the information recorded provides a good depiction of farm and rural life in upstate New York during that time. Weather conditions are a recurrent theme as are details of farm chores at a time when increasing mechanization was transforming farm operations. Tilling fields, planting seeds, harvesting crops, milking cows, making deliveries to the creamery, taking grain to the mill, selling produce, raising and trading livestock are typical chores that were meticulously noted year after year in his diaries. The diaries also provide information about financial transactions as well as notes about attending church, grange meetings, and other social activities, and news about births, deaths, and marriages.
One of the diaries appears to have been kept by Minnie Ganiard sporadically from 1928 to 1933. She had also continued recording information in the diary for 1936 after the passing of her husband.
Ancillary papers include the contract of sale of the farm from Ganiard to Miron Olexyn [Oleksyn] in February 1931. This document includes an attached schedule of farm equipment and livestock that was involved in the execution of this contract. The papers also include letters, invoices, receipts, and newspaper clippings of the obituary of Oliver C. Ganiard. Much of this material was originally tipped-in to the diaries.
| Box | Folder / Volume | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Biographical and historical materials:
|
| 1 | 2 | Invoices and receipts, 1894-1897 (7 items) |
| 1 | 3 | Account blotters, ca. 1896-1903 (19 items) |
| 1 | 4 | Invoices and receipts, ca. 1903-1917 – Miller Bros. & Co. (16 items) |
| 1 | 5 | Invoices and receipts, 1906-1917 – Genesee Valley Milling Co. (10 items) |
| 1 | 6 | Weigh receipts, 1911 – Buffalo Scales Co. (7 items) |
| 1 | 7 | Invoices and receipts, 1911-1917 (5 items) |
| 1 | 8 | Letters, invoices, receipts, etc., 1931-1935 (13 items) |
| 1 | 9 | Miscellaneous items
|
| 2 | Diaries, 1896-1936 (arranged chronologically and numbered consecutively) | |
| 2 | 1 | Diary, 1896 (ca. 200 p.; 13 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 2 | Diary, 1897 (ca. 375 p.; 10 x 8 cm.) |
| - | - | Diary, 1898 [unavailable – not included with the donation] |
| 2 | 3 | Diary, 1899 (ca. 150 p.; 13 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 4 | Diary, 1900 (ca. 100 p.; 15 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 5 | Diary, 1901 (ca. 200 p.; 15 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 6 | Diary, 1902 (ca. 200 p.; 13 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 7 | Diary, 1903 (ca. 200 p.; 13 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 8 | Diary, 1904 (ca. 200 p.; 13 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 9 | Diary, 1905 (ca. 200 p.; 13 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 10 | Diary, 1906 (ca. 200 p.; 13 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 11 | Diary, 1907 (ca. 200 p.; 13 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 12 | Diary, 1908 (ca. 150 p.; 15 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 13 | Diary, 1909 (ca. 150 p.; 15 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 14 | Diary, 1910 (ca. 150 p.; 15 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 15 | Diary, 1911 (ca. 150 p.; 15 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 16 | Diary, 1912 (ca. 150 p.; 15 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 17 | Diary, 1913 (365 p.; 18 x 11 cm.) |
| 2 | 18 | Diary, 1914 (ca, 400 p.; 13 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 19 | Diary, 1915 (ca. 150 p.; 15 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 20 | Diary, 1916 (ca. 200 p.; 13 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 21 | Diary, 1917 (ca. 200 p.; 17 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 22 | Diary, 1918 (ca. 150 p.; 17 x 7 cm.) |
| 2 | 23 | Diary, 1919 (ca. 200 p.; 13 x 8 cm.) |
| 2 | 24 | Diary, 1920 (ca. 200 p.; 13 x 8 cm.) |
| 3 | 25 | Diary, 1921 (365 p.; 17.5 x 10 cm.) |
| 3 | 26 | Diary, 1922 (ca. 400 p.; 12.5 x 7.5 cm.) |
| 3 | 27 | Diary, 1923 (365 p.; 17.5 x 11 cm.) |
| 3 | 28 | Diary, 1924 (365 p.; 17.5 x 11 cm.) |
| 3 | 29 | Diary, 1925 (365 p.; 17.5 x 11 cm.) |
| 3 | 30 | Diary, 1926 (365 p.; 17.5 x 11 cm.) |
| 3 | 31 | Diary, 1927 (365 p.; 15 x 10 cm.) |
| 3 | 32 | Diary, 1928 (365 p.; 15 x 10 cm.) |
| 3 | 33 | Diary, 1929 (365 p.; 15 x 10 cm.) |
| 3 | 34 | Diary, 1930 (365 p.; 15 x 10 cm.) |
| 3 | 35 | Diary, 1931 (365 p.; 15 x 10 cm.) |
| 3 | 36 | Diary, 1932 (365 p.; 15 x 10 cm.) |
| 3 | 37 | Diary, 1933 (365 p.; 15 x 10 cm.) |
| 3 | 38 | Diary, 1934 (365 p.; 15 x 10 cm.) |
| 3 | 39 | Diary, 1935 (365 p.; 15 x 10 cm.) |
| 3 | 40 | Diary, 1936 (365 p.; 15 x 10 cm.) |
| 3 | 41 | Diary, 1928-1933 (kept by Minnie Ganiard) (223 p.; 18 x 12.5 cm.) |