For decades, a hermit in Arizona hoarded a trove of things that had belonged to Father Pietro Bandini, a Catholic priest who led 40 families out of the malaria-infested Delta to establish an Italian enclave in the Ozark Mountains. As a young scholar, the man had worked on his doctoral dissertation and somehow accumulated glass negatives, maps and original documents about the founding of Tontitown in 1898.

In 2012, Jan McQuade, a genealogist with Tontitown roots, went to Tucson, Ariz., hoping to get a copy of the man's dissertation. Instead, she was surprised when he gave her two boxes of Tontitown treasures, including Father Bandini's photo album and negatives. One of the boxes was postmarked 1968.

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Source: http://m.arkansasonline.com/