Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > I found a bible!
 
  • Locked thread
Earwicker
Jan 6, 2003

Mystic Mongol posted:

While this pile of loose pages is of nearly no monetary value, it really feels like it's a family treasure that some family doesn't know they have. Edward and Theresa may be without progeniture, but surely some branch of the family remains that would value the bible.


Any ideas on how to find them?

Look up the church that there is a newspaper clipping about. Most likely, the family attended that church and someone working there may have some more records to check out.

* # ¿ Feb 4, 2016 07:55
  • Quote
Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 16, 2024 18:52
  • Quote
Earwicker
Jan 6, 2003

Mystic Mongol posted:

St Elizabeth's Parish House? I'll make some calls tomorrow, but I want to make sure I have the right one, as I'm not really sure the name hasn't changed in the past century. Presumably it's in Sea Cliff, but it's possible the owner of the bible moved at some point between the founding of the church and the death of Mr. Mathews.

There's no date on the newspaper clipping, but the back was somewhat helpful.



That's an excerpt from, "A Mysterious Disappearance," a 1905 mystery. I know that back in the day they'd publish mysteries in serial in the newspaper, and that's chapter 23 of 31, so the newspaper is from 1904 or 1905. Before I start calling random Parish Houses and asking if anyone there had an ancestor who owned a bible, is it possible to find out specifically what date this chapter would have been published?

Do you know what newspaper it is? The newspaper's office might have an archive and can tell you, or you might even be able to find old copies of that paper on microfilm at a local library.

Also when you call the church, you aren't asking if anyone currently working or even attending there had an ancestor who owned the bible - rather, you should ask if the family that owned the bible shows up in the church's records of weddings, births, or funerals.

Earwicker fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Feb 4, 2016

* # ¿ Feb 4, 2016 23:38
  • Quote
Earwicker
Jan 6, 2003

 Actually looking at this stuff again I completely missed something. There is a different, older church listed on the marriage certificate. Presbyterian of Oyster Bay. It's still around and services are still performed there.

So I would start by talking to that church and see if they have any records of weddings, births, or funerals of people related to this couple that were married there in 1846.

* # ¿ Feb 4, 2016 23:46
  • Quote
Earwicker
Jan 6, 2003

Mystic Mongol posted:

If I wanted to look up a wedding from 1846, who would I talk to? The town, New York state?

I would start with the town government or maybe a local historian and ask them where a couple in their area would most likely have gone for a marriage certificate in 1846. Oyster Bay is one of those towns made from a bunch of smaller towns glommed together so it was probably a different situation back then.

* # ¿ Feb 5, 2016 00:22
  • Quote
  • Locked thread
The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > I found a bible!