The Gandys were a well-known, long established family, craftsmen and traders and with appropriate status. Isaac was a member of an extended family tied together by a common trade followed over many generations, extensive intermarriage and the name Gandy in itself. The Gandys produced shoes and boots on a large scale for export via Liverpool to the United States. To the Gandy’s, the United States was not just a dream but a trading partner, which may have encouraged Isaac to seek his fortune there. The Gandys had established trade contacts via the export of footwear and possibly also made business trips across the Atlantic. Family lore has it that Peter Gandy (see right) made several trips to California, and took younger family members with him. His daughter Martha (see notes) born in 1870 in Widnes settled down in California after one such trip.

According to the 1900 US Census, Isaac arrived in the United States in 1843 when he would have been 8 years old, probably with an older relative, possibly brother Peter who would then have been 16 years old. Apparently Isaac had dreamed of travelling to America ever since he was a very small boy. He followed his dream and worked his way over by boat, according to his wife Harriet. 

The nature of the journey across the Atlantic at this time is captured in this letter from another traveller, courtesy Jane of Old Mersey Times. 

I am still trying to find details of Isaac’s journey across the Atlantic. His probable port of departure was Liverpool and port of arrival New York.