GEORGE BANDY (1758-1838)
Kenneth’s great-great grandfather, GEORGE BANDY was born in Virginia about the year 1758. He was of German descent. He was married to DRUCILLER MEADOWS about the year 1778 or 1780. His wife was of Scottish descent. He was a farmer by occupation. They moved from Virginia to Kentucky in the year 1815. Mr. Bandy enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary War of 1776-7. He died about the year 1838.
RHEUBEN BANDY (1785-1861)
Kenneth’s great grandfather, RHEUBEN BANDY, was born in Botetourt County, Virginia, his occupation being that of farming. In 1810 he was married to Miss SIBBY ATKINSON and during this same year they moved from Virginia to Kentucky. The trip was made with pack-horses, a distance of 500 miles across the Cumberland Mountains, there being no railroads in this section of the country at that time. A small iron kettle which was used for cooking purposes on this journey is kept and preserved at this time [1900] by one of their children, Mr. George Bandy, of Galesburg, Illinois, who may well feel proud of his keepsake, as it must be almost, if not fully, 100 years old.
PASCHAL BANDY (1821-1900)
Kenneth’s grandfather, PASCHAL BANDY, was born in the state of Kentucky, of Irish descent. His occupation was that of farming.
Paschal Bandy was baptized and confirmed a member of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1839 by Jehiel Savage. He later affiliated with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by attending the Lamoni, Iowa Branch and the Cainesville, Missouri Branch. (“Early LDS Membership Data” from the LDS Collectors Library, Infobases, 1995).
At the age of 21 years he married Miss LOVICA HOLLAND (1824-1906) on March 10th, 1842 in Tazewell County, Illinois.
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| Paschal Bandy and Lovica Holland |
In the year 1857 Paschal moved with his family from Illinois to Missouri, traveling across the country in a wagon. He bought a few acres of land (I think from the government) in Harrison County about six miles S.E. of Eagleville and 2-1/2 miles South of what is now Blythedale, though there was no town there at that time. Upon this land he built a home where he spent the remainder of his life, except the last three or four years. Here each of his children grew up to be men and women and were married, most of them at the old homestead.
At the time he moved to Harrison County he found this section of the country practically unsettled, most of the land belonging to the government, which could be purchased for $1.25 per acre. The wild open prairie country afforded an abundance of good pasture which made stock growing a very profitable industry for those who had sufficient money to engage in it. Mr. Bandy saw this opportunity and took advantage of it. He was soon in possession of a large farm of good tillable land. Adjoining this was plenty of nice timber land which he also purchased.
Wild game was abundant there at that time, including deer, antelope, buffalo and wild turkey. He was very fond of hunting, and during the long severe winters while the ground was covered with snow he killed a great many deer and turkeys. His favorite fire-arm was a long barreled muzzle-loading rifle with which he became an expert marksman. Two faithful companions, “Old Charley” his saddle horse, and “Tige” his dog, always accompanied him on these hunting expeditions; and they too seemed to enjoy the sport fully as much as did their master. The scent of gunpowder to “Old Charley” was better than clover, and that of a deer trail to old “Tige” better than a warm breakfast. Mr. Bandy has told us that many times when there was plenty of snow or ice on the ground he has dragged a deer home ten or twelve miles on a bush or branch of a tree attached to “Old Charley's” tail.
[Elzumer Scott, Kenneth’s father, told the following to Kenneth when he visited Elzumer in San Jose, California, in 1959, a year before Elzumer’s death.
“Paschal Bandy, grandmother Aneliza Bandy Scott's father, lived about two and a half miles south of Blythedale, Missouri. He was a good farmer and an expert shot with a heavy, long-barreled muzzle loading rifle. During his lifetime, he killed seventy-eight deer for meat. (He wanted to make an even 100, but didn't.) He would drag them in, tied to a limb, tied to the tail of his horse. There were lots of wild turkeys in the county. Grandpa Bandy was such an expert shot, that he was always barred from participating in the annual turkey shoot when turkeys were given to the best shots.
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| Male Eastern Wild turkey. Courtesy of www.KenThomas.us |
He was a powerful man. He would hold his gun as steady as if it were in a vise. The old gun, which was kept in perfect condition by him, was kept by his son, Henry Bandy, for many years. One of Henry's daughters, Lily Bandy, threw it out of the upstairs window one day. The stock broke out and the gun was thrown on the junk pile where it rotted away. Paschal Bandy's family came from Kent Township, Illinois, and from Illinois to Harrison County, Missouri.”]
With the advance of years a flood of immigration scattered over the West, making pioneer life a thing of the past; during which time Paschal Bandy was planning and laying out what afterwards became one of the best equipped farms in the county. Success followed in his footsteps, as it always did with the sturdy advance agents of civilization. He lived to see his eight children grow up, marry and prosper, and prior to his death could point with pride to his four living generations.
He was a model of an industrious and systematic farmer. His land was cultivated as a garden spot, and gave evidence on every hand of being tilled by one who was master of the art. No part of the occupation which goes to make up a model farm was neglected. In springtime his rich gardens, vineyards and orchards were full of flowers and blossoms, and when harvest time came the broad fields of golden grain told their own story. He always raised plenty where others would often fail, and this resulted in his adopting a philanthropic custom of planting more than he needed so that he could aid a needy neighbor, an act for which he was widely known. His watchword was “No success without labor.”
He was a man who had little use for law. Not by way of failing to recognize its usefulness, but strongly opposed its application to settle disputes. He insisted that the law was made for dishonest people, and that neighbors should settle their disputes by arbitrations. Once in his life was he unable to agree with a neighbor who insisted on testing the merits of the case by law. To this he objected, but generously allowed his disputant to select three arbitrators to decide the point at issue. It was unanimously decided in Mr. Bandy's favor.
He looked upon pride as the enemy of mankind, and carefully avoided assuming any attitude that would bring such an accusation upon him. He was a great believer in practical education for children, but was firm in his belief that the coming generation was being given too much theoretical education and not enough practical knowledge. He often expressed regret at the inclination of young men to leave the farm and seek their fortunes in the city.
He took but little interest in newspapers and seldom read one. His lack of faith in the press began some years ago. One day he was looking over a paper and discovered an article, with bold headlines, announcing the painful injury of an alleged neighbor. He carefully read it, anxiously seeking an opportunity to help the afflicted, but suddenly threw down the paper in disgust when he found that the injured person had been promptly cured with St. Jacob's Oil.
A more God fearing man never lived; and his motto was the Golden Rule, the teachings of which always seemed uppermost in his mind when dealing with a fellow man. Early in life he professed Christianity in the belief of the Latter-day Saints, and was a faithful follower until death. [NOTE: Paschal Bandy was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1839 by Jehiel Savage. He and his wife, LOVICA HOLLAND, later affiliated with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by attending the Lamoni, Iowa Branch and the Cainsville, Missouri Branch. Source: LDS Collectors Library, Early LDS Membership Data.]
The Bible he loved best of all books. Many times I have seen him, after a hard day's work, sit down and for hours read aloud from this book. For years the light he read by was produced by home-made tallow candles. His usual hour for rising in the morning was 4 o'clock the year 'round, and during the winter months it was his custom to begin the day's work by reading the Bible an hour before daylight. His patience and studiousness in this respect were rewarded, for the teachings of both the Old and New Testaments were indelibly stamped on his memory.
In 1895 Mr. Bandy decided that he and his wife were getting too old to any longer look after so large a farm and it was sold. They purchased a few acres of well improved land one-half mile south of Blythedale, Harrison County, Missouri, where they might enjoy the remainder of their days with less hard work.
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| Paschal Bandy in later years |
The following year after Mr. Bandy and wife moved to their new home he was stricken with paralysis, partially losing the use of one side of his body. From this time he was obliged to use a cane in walking. Most men would have given up further work entirely when such work on his part was unnecessary to maintain the comforts of life, but it was next to impossible for this man to be idle one day. I remember calling to see him one hot day not long after he had received this paralytic stroke, expecting of course to find him sitting in the shade somewhere about the house, but to my surprise I learned from grandmother that he was out in a hay-field nearby with his team and mowing machine. I found him there running the machine when he was scarcely able to move about on foot with the assistance of his cane.
He continued to look after and cultivate his truck patches and few acres of corn though he was almost without the use of one arm. The next year he had another slight attack of the same dread disease and this time he was left almost helpless. He now realized that further work on his part was out of the question, and would sit for hours in deep meditation. He suffered no physical pain, but we will perhaps never know what the mental suffering of one in this condition whose whole life has been so full of vigor and activity. However, he bore it all with patience and without a murmur, as one who had for years been preparing for that better and brighter home above. Within a few months he was stricken for the third time with paralysis which left him entirely helpless. In this condition he lingered for several weeks until the end came, February 18th, 1900.
How fitting the hour of his death. On the Sabbath day, just as the last rays of the setting sun cast their shadows across the approaching darkness, just as the light of day went out, so vanished the life of this grand old man. He had climbed the heights and left all superstitions below, while on his forehead fell the dawn of a grander day. We can feel that he who sleeps has but gone to receive the reward for which he has been striving all these years. May many such men be born.
Let us state here that every good and noble deed so fittingly bestowed upon Grandfather Bandy, was equally applicable to his helpmate, Grandmother Bandy, who must for a short time wrestle with life's billows alone. She has shared his joys and sorrows all these years, ever carrying her share of the burden, a true, a faithful and loving wife. Their lives have truly been a beautiful illustration of that most sacred obligation between man and wife. Surely the Father in Heaven will meet them with open arms and say “Well done thou good and faithful servants, thou hast earned thy reward.”
