Wednesday, June 15, 2022

The Mystery Man in the Family Bible


It’s a two-line reference in the family Bible, first owned by my great-grandfather. The family records section in Bibles in the 19
th century was generally inserted between the Old and New Testaments, and that’s where our family recordings were. All of the entries were in the same hand, the early ones in the same ink, suggesting they were written down at the same time. A friend estimated the Bible to have been published in the 1870s. 

My great-grandfather Samuel Young was born in in 1845, 1846, or 1848 – the handwriting is not clear. Other records, like those found in online genealogy sites, have 1845 and 1846. The handwriting is clear for the birth date of his wife and my great-grandmother, Octavia Montgomery. That date is 1844. The same handwriting continues after her death in 1887, which tells me it was my great-grandfather making all the entries (and his death in 1920 is not recorded).


To continue reading, please see my post today at Dancing Priest.


No comments: