Lecture presents new information about Dayton pioneer

Nevada State Archivist Guy Rocha and Associated Press writer Martin Griffith and his wife, Carole Griffith, will give a lecture on a central figure of early Nevada history at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center.

In their talk in the Douglas County Historical Society's free lecture series, "The Search for Andrew Spofford Hall: How Nevada History is Built," the three will discuss the research that went into finding out about Andrew Spofford Hall, a trader at Gold Canyon in present-day Dayton in the early 1850s.

Previously, the only known information on Hall was contained in a brief mention in Thompson and West's 1881 "History of Nevada."

Through the use of U.S. census records, archives, newspaper records and information from immigrant diaries, Rocha and the Griffiths were able to piece together details about Hall's life before and after he was in Gold Canyon. They learned the correct spelling of Hall's name and will present the only known photo of the trader at Thursday's lecture.

"We connected the dots and know more about Gold Canyon," said Rocha. "We begin to know who did the mining. This work captures more about the early history of Nevada.

"The story of the settlement of Carson Valley is well documented while the Gold Canyon history wasn't told because people moved on. Now we know more about the life of an early pioneer. The story needs to be told."

Rocha has been state archivist at the State Library and Archives for 27 years. He manages Nevada's archives, records management, micrographics and imaging programs.

Martin Griffith worked for newspapers in California, Oregon and Nevada before joining the Associated Press in Reno in 1985. He has written numerous articles on Nevada history for AP and Nevada magazine.

Carole Griffith is a librarian at the University of Nevada Medical School in Reno. Her research on Hall involved the use of ancestry.com and provides lessons for those pursuing family history information.

-- R-C People Editor Sharlene Irete contributed to this article.