One was a young bride who lived in an old wagon until her husband built them a home.

Another was a water diviner who once revealed his secrets of finding water to the local Rotary Club.

One family traced their origins to a First Fleeter of 1788 and another to convicts transported to Australia from South Africa.

Henty Tidy Towns Committee and Henty Rotary Club are about to release 120 such stories in a $20 book entitled Footprints of the Pioneers, to be launched by member for Albury Greg Aplin on January 21.

Retired businesswoman Yvonne Booth co-ordinated the book and wrote many of the stories with help from several other residents.

A few family members supplied their stories in their own words.

Mrs Booth said yesterday the book had been six years in the making.

“Edward Dale told me of a project to identify and mark the graves at the cemetery and I volunteered to help him,’’ she said.

That project involving 200 graves was completed in 2008 but the gathering of stories went on and became a huge task.

“We did lots of interviews and read a lot of old papers,’’ Mrs Booth said.

“The book is confined to people buried in the cemetery who must have been born before 1900.

“We’ll definitely have to have a second book.”

Grants from the Royal Australian Historical Society and Greater Hume Council helped reduce the retail cost to $20.

“The society said they had never seen a book like this one, being based on people in one cemetery,” Mrs Booth said.

The launch will be a $25-a-head dinner at the Henty Civic Centre.

People can book through emailing gcydbooth@bigpond.com or PO Box 2, Henty, 2658.