Thursday, March 11, 2010

Treasure Chest Thursday: John William Stevenson Bible, La.




Stevenson family Bible, originally owned by John William Stevenson, now owned by his granddaughter M. Hall, La. Digital photos by Liz Hall Morgan,
Jan. 2007.



John William and Maggie Elizabeth (McCoy) Stevenson were my great-grandparents and my mom's paternal grandparents, who lived in Athens, Louisiana.  The family record pages were taken out of the Bible sometime in the past, possibly by one of my great-aunts who inherited the Bible.  The page above reads: "Parents' Names.  Husband: J.W. Stevenson Born: July the ninth 1871.  Wife: M.E. Stevenson Born August sixteenth 1876  Married: Nov. the 30 1893."




This page reads: "Children's Names.  Ethel Gertrude Stevenson was born Oct. the fifth 1894.  Alvin Stevenson was born Feb. the first 1897.  John T. Stevenson was born Sept. the twelfth 1901.  Vera Mae Stevenson was born Nov. the sixteenth 1907[?]"  I'm not sure whose handwriting it is, but I believe the dates are correct.  However, I do remember my grandfather Alvin celebrating his birthday on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, but after finding this I have discovered that his headstone and Social Security record also read Feb. 1.  Huh??!!

Photos/text copyright 2010 Liz Hall Morgan

5 comments:

  1. You have me beat on this one....how I wish I had one of my family Bibles. I have seen mention of them in various documents....an old will had a mention of my Ferguson Bible and two were destroyed by fire in Morgantown, WV.

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  2. Hi Linda -- We're very lucky that my mom owns the bibles of her grandparents (I'll post the Pate one some Treasure Chest Thursday). However--that luck is certainly tempered by a relative on each side of my tree who innocently burned or threw out family letters (& possibly photos & other memorabilia) because they didn't realize their value to others! (Hmm... I have a blog post idea brewing now... :) )

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  3. My grandfather always celebrated his birthday one day before the date on his Cambridge, Massachusetts birth record. The clerk in Cambridge told me that the doctor probably filed the record the next day. All his other records, including his death have the previous day.

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  4. Great to see the family bible is still in existance, great momentum and treasure. Interesetd to read about the burnt family letters, indeed a great idea for a blog post

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  5. Interesting, Heather! Will have to consult Mom about all this.

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