New Bible Record Database

     The Daughters of the American Revolution just published a new database online, filled with over 40,000 Bible Records.  You can read the DAR's announcement here, and start searching the database here.  This collection was created by the scanning and indexing of books created by DAR members over the years, many of which recorded Bible records.  As this collection of books has been indexed, the Bible records where tagged for this special database.

     The search function for this database is very simple.  Type in a search term, ideally a name, then choose your search type: normal, exact phrase and begins with.  Wildcard functions do not appear to work with this database.

     The results are displayed in a list, as you can see in this image:

    There's a lot going on here: the main surname featured in the Bible; the Source, which is something like a dewy decimal code for the database system and which identifies the state that the book was created in; the page number that the Bible is on in the book; the Bible Description identifies the main couple that the Bible belonged to; the Book Title expands on the Source field and gives a bit more information on the source of the Bible.

     If it's not immediately obvious if this is the person or couple that you're looking for, click on the page number.  This will show you a list of other names that appear on the page.  Make sure to see if there's a "Next [#]" button at the bottom of the page for more results.

     Once you've found a Bible record that you'd like to view (and you're not at the DAR library in DC), you'll need to send a Photocopy Service request, which is $15 for non-DAR members.   You'll need all of the information from the search results screen to fill out the G.R.C. request section on the form.  Based on past experience, the turn around time for these requests is very quick.

     Happy hunting!

What Do I Do With This Bible?

     I was talking with a group of genealogists at the Family History Expo, exchanging research advice.  One of the ladies said that she had recently purchased a bible at a garage sale and found a family record inside. She was wondering how she could get this information to someone who could use it.  I recommended a few things then and have added to it here:

1. Make copies and transcribe the information. Scan or photograph the pages and type up all of the data on each page: names, dates, locations, etc. Page through the entire Bible and see if there are any random notes on blank pages.
2. Try and research the family to find living descendants. If you have a birth and date death for someone, start with them. If you have a list of folks, search the census for families with those names and ages. Search Google for genealogy websites that list those individuals. Search rootsweb family trees, ancestry trees, wikitree, etc for matching individuals. Try to contact the owners to share the information, perhaps offer to ship the Bible to them.
3. If you came up with a location for the individuals recorded in the Bible, post the images and transcriptions on USGenWeb.  I like to locate the County level location on the USGenWeb Archives and upload it there.
4. Again if you know the location: see if there's a local genealogical society. Mail them a copy to add to their files.
5. Mail a copy to the National Genealogical Society to add to their Bible Collection and upload a copy to websites like Bible Records Online.
6. If you didn't come up with a location (or even if you did) go to message boards at ancestry/rootsweb and Genforum and post information about the bible in the surname forums.

    The key is to share the information with not just one descendant, but with as many as possible. You might mail the Bible to one descendant, but you're published the information online in multiple places for others to find. Who knows, this Bible might contain the information that someone's been waiting decades to find.

Amanuensis Monday - Grandaddy's Bible

My Grandaddy, Roy Albea, was given a bible in November of 1991 by two of his sons. He recorded his knowledge of his family's genealogy in this bible. Here's a transcription of the information:

___________________________________

This Holy Bible 

Presented to

Roy Vernon Albea Sr

By

Lloyd Milton Albea Sr

Larry Dean Albea

Date 

21st Day of November

1991 A.D.

___________________________________

This Certifies That

Roy Vernon Albea Sr

and

Betty Dolores Huyler

were wedded in

Holy Matrimony

on the First day of February

in the year of our Lord 1947

at Greenville, SC

by Rev Sparks

Witness Ruby Lee Waters "Mother"

Witness Lola Mae Buckner "Friend"

___________________________________

Births

Name         Dates

All my children

Roy Vernon Albea Jr 8-28-49

June Elizabeth Albea 6-26-51

Charles Lee Albea 7-3-52

Ruby Louise Albea 8-26-54

Lloyd Milton albea 8-5-55

Larry Dean Albea 9-9-56

___________________________________

Wife's

Family Tree

Wife Betty Dolores Huyler

Brothers and Sisters [Blank]

Mother Ruby Lee Waters	Father Vary Americus Huyler
Brothers and Sisters Mrs Ethel W Bouchillon	Brothers and Sisters [Blank]
Mrs. Alma W. Underwood
Mr. L. C. Waters
Mr. Milton Waters
Mr. Jack Waters

___________________________________

Husband's

Family Tree

Husband Roy Vernon Albea Sear

Brothers and Sisters 
Charles Ray Albea Twin Brother Deceased at 9 mos
Mrs. Frances Ninola A. Clary
Mrs. June Marie A. Wingard
Mrs. Pansy Cammellia A. Chandler

Mother Mamie Auline Witt Albea (Wilson)	Father Charles Vernon Albea
Brothers and Sisters Mr Wilburn Witt	Brothers and Sisters Paul, Melvin & Coleman
Patricia W. Stroud	Evalina & Mattie
Mr Truman L. Witt
Mrs. Velma W. Cromer
Mrs. Alyce W. Page
Mrs. Gladys W. Fellows
Grandfather William David Witt	Grandfather William A. Albea
Brothers & Sisters [Blank]	Brothers & Sisters [marked out]
Grandmother Mrs Ola Quatterbawm Witt	Grandmother Nina Sprouse Albea
Brothers & Sisters Mae & Ruby sisters	Brothers & Sisters [Blank]
Sam

An Easter Discovery

For Easter, I went to the family dinner at my Aunt June Albea's house. She's recently moved into a small, but very cute, shotgun house in Atlanta and has had to downsize her possession. Those possession she kept but didn't have a place for were sitting out in bins, which she invited us to go through. She pulled out a Bible from among a box of photos and handed it to me, asking if I wanted to look at it. Of course I did!

Opening the cover, I saw that it had been

"presented to my

wife

Mrs Louise Waters

Dec-1945

By-husband L. E. Waters.

------------------------------------

presented to my daughter

Mrs. Alma Underwood

by mother

Mrs. Louise Waters

May-1946"

In the back of the Bible are a few pages for recording family information. The first page lists information for Leverett and Louise (Smith) Waters. Their wedding date is given as Jan 1902 in Atlanta. I actually know this to be incorrect, though somewhat close to the actual Dec 1900 date found on their marriage record. I'm not truly surprised by this error though. The Bible was given to Louise in 1945 - that's 45 years after the event.

The next page in the Bible lists the couple's children. This page is written in at least two different handwritings and with multiple pens. I believe that more of this information was written at the time of each event (after 1945).

One very interesting fact on this page is for Ruby Lee Waters, my Great-Grandmother. Ruby was married three times, twice to the same man. I had a vague idea of when the re-marriage occurred, but now I have a date: 20 Dec 1947. This date is consistent with city directory information.

Also, her birthplace is given as Shawmut, AL. I'd seen her birthplace listed as "Scharmont, AL" on her daughters birth certificate, but had been frustrated because that wasn't a real place. With this new spelling, I've been able to locate the city of her birth: an Alabama / Georgia border town near I-85.

This Bible stands as a great example of how documents like these aren't always correct. Many of the "facts" were written long after the event occurred. On the other hand, there are many facts listed that were likely written at the time of the event (or at least around the same time). I'll have to judge each listing individually to decide on its validity.

Surname Saturday - Lindsey

I'm researching the Lindsey family as part of my (half) brother's line.

Lona C. Lindsey was his Great-Grandmother (also seen as Lonia). She was born on 17 Feb 1883 in Alabama and died on 4 Jul 1969 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She married Charles Marion Freeman on 17 Feb 1899 in Fayette County, Alabama. Their daughter, Lillie Ruth "Bobbie" Freeman was my brother's grandmother.

The Freeman line doesn't go back very far just yet - I haven't spent much time on it. According to a family Bible (sent to me from a descendent of one of Lillie's sisters), Lona's parents were John and Kate Lindsey.

I also found Lona's death certificate in Family Search's Alabama Death's collection. It gives her parents as John Lindsey and Katy Taylor. Based on family trees online, Kate might have also been called Judah.

I need to spend some more time on this family so that I can create a family tree of more than two generations on the Lindsey line. It looks like there are more children in the AL death index with 'John & Kate Lindsey' as their parents - so I'll start there and expand the family. After that, I'll look for them on the census.

If anyone else if researching the Lindsey family near Fayette County, Alabama, I'd love to hear from you!

Why Trust Bibles?

Yesterday on Twitter, this questions was queried:

"Stupid #genealogy ? :Why do those with the "Family Bible" take it as gospel when everything written in it was recorded long after the event!"

Great question! This got me thinking about a few things. Initially, I thought back to my family bible, in which most data was probably recorded late, as a sort of "I'm getting old, I'd better write down what I know about my family." I can only assume this, based on the 80% consistency of the the writing, which is written by the same hand and using the same pen. Obviously, you can't record a birth and death (separated by 50+ years) at the same time and say that this individual's birth was recorded on the day of the event. Also, obviously, if dates jump around and aren't in order, the events were not recorded in order. BUT, this was not so obvious to me when I first has access to the bible (too busy doing my happy dance!). So, my first answer to this questions is: Because the researcher doesn't realize that the events were recorded so long after they happened.

As I continued to think about the issue, I thought back to my paternal Grandmother's birth certificate. It seems that at her birth, she was not issued a birth certificate. But, later in life, she found a need to provide a birth certificate for legal reasons. So, she applied for a Delayed Certificate of Birth. In order to receive this, she needed to prove her identity. One option for this, was to provide a family bible or "family record book" as documentation. So, my second answer to this question is: Because our government accepts it as proof.

And then, continuing the think on the issue, I had one more answer: Because the researcher wants the information to be correct. For many, these bible records are the only documentation that an ancestor left behind. For ancestors who died before mandatory death certificates and whose grave cannot be found, a bible record is the proof that a research dreams for. If we don't have any other records, we really want the bible records to be true.

But, these reasons aren't enough are they? The question is a good one and hopefully got a few folks thinking (like it did for me). Bible records are not the "be all and end all" to prove an ancestor's life. They, like any other record, should be taken with a grain of salt. When researching, it's always best to find multiple records to prove a fact. Bible records can stand as one of those records - now it's time to find the others.

Monday Memories - The Family Bible

I ♥ Bible Records

My favorite record are probably Bible Records.  I'm lucky enough to have access to a family Bible on my direct maternal line.  I was also given a Bible with family information for a family that branches out to touch mine.

Why do I ♥ Bible records? For two reasons: they provide a lot of information but must also be puzzled out.  When you have Bible records, you have a list of names and dates, often jumbled together and lacking relationship information.  You could have a page that lists Grandchildren, Parents, Children, Grandchildren, Nieces, Nephews, Cousins, etc, all on the same page.  Now you have to figure out how these people relate to each other. It's a challenge, which can be both fun and frustrating.  But in the end, I'd much rather have the Bible and not be able to identify some people, than to not have the Bible at all!

I also hope that by deciphering the Bible entries, that the Bible will be helpful to other researchers.  There might be someone else researching the same line, that would find the information extremely valuable.  It's always nice to be able to help someone else!

One thing that I would really love to have happen, is to make a connection to my Smith line, which is partly covered in my maternal line family Bible.  I've yet to connect with anyone who is researching my Smith line - which is brickwalled with Richard T. Smith (1829-1920).  I'm really hoping that putting the family Bible out there will help me connect with fellow researchers.  *fingers crossed*

Family Tree Magazine - Sept issue

I received my September issue of FTM today. On the cover is a note about an article called, "How to Preserve Family Bibles." Since I want to preserve our falling-apart-at-the-seams family Bible, this caught my eye. I quickly flipped to the article - but boy was I disappointed.

The article was about half a page, but with the "fun" text formating and photos, was really less than a quarter of the page - four paragraphs. And the paraphrased content: Don't try to repair it yourself, but hire a pro. Or, just stick it in an archival safe box.

This article is an example of why I'm going to let my subscription run out. Articles about preservation, that could be filled with lots of information about preserving books (they do give links to buy archival safe supplies, but that's it) but it's not. My Bible's in a box. I thought I'd find the "what next" information here and I didn't. I'm just supposed to let the book rot in a box. Great to know. How about tips on how to physically handle the book? What conditions are best for preservation? But no, nothing.... But hey - there's a whole page about vintage shoes!

Randomness

When I read the article "Found! Who gets the Bible," in Ancestry.com's magazine, I was very surprised to see that the bible they featured appears to be the very same Bible edition that was used by my G-G-Grandmother. A quick census check showed that the family of the featured Bible lived only one county over from my G-G-Grandmother's family. I've always been curious about where the Bible came from and how old it might be. There's no publisher information. I emailed the editors with the question: Are there any sources for tracing Bible publishers?

More to Louise's Bible than we thought

I've been meaning to purchase some archival safe products for a while now (gloves, boxes, tissue, etc). I have some boxes and envelopes for old photos, but I'd like to also protect my documents as well. One of the documents that's most important is my great-great grandmother (straight maternal line), Louise Smith Waters, family bible. 

     We have the Bible in an archival safe box, but I'd like to protect the pages with genealogy information by placing acid-free tissue or paper between them (that choice is another topic entirely). So, Mom & I got out the Bible to measure it. The Bible is old and delicate. The bindings are all gone, except for a few strings and a memory of more solid bindings. Heck, all of Genesis is missing. Anyway... tangent - back on topic.

     We were turning some pages, trying to remember where the Family pages belonged before they were moved to the front of the Bible, when I found writing on a page that stated,

" Alma Water + Edward T. Underwood were married Dec_15_1948."

     I was very surprised to find this. We had no idea that there were family dates in the Bible except for what had been recorded on the pages included for this purchase. So, we started at the beginning and flipped through the entire book. In the end we found four pages where extra info had been recorded on blank pages. Now, none of this information is going to break down a brick wall, but it was very surprising and exciting.

My favorite page is probably the one that records dates that relate to World War II. Check the pages out:

I received a Bible from a very helpful woman in Texas, who had recieved a Bible belonging to Heln Windom. Inside the bible she had tucked some papers in that contained family trees for John Franklin Powell's family, which listed some children that I wasn't aware of. It also branched off from there to family trees including Moon, Dixon and Arnold. There were no dates included, but these families were pretty easy to find on the censuses. I've already added the individuals to my family tree. Check out the surname page to find them and check out Helen's Bible to see the pages from the Bible.

New research added on the Powell Family (Wiley -> John F. -> Effie) and Taylor Family (Jesse -> Frances "Emma" -> Effie)

Updated the Louise Smith Bible Records page. I didn't realize that I hadn't posted the Cover Page and the Chapter Index Page. I also added an (*) next to the people who appear in my family tree.