Generations ago families would meticulously record births, deaths, marriages in the family bible. That is actually how I first found out about family record keeping. Looking through my grandma's bible.
That would be a good place to start - if you are young, ask your grandmother if they have a family bible. Many "family bibles" are passed down through the families as a keepsake and for genealogy purposes. Back then, many bibles were sold door-to-door, or through mail-order catalogs - Even non-religious families may have owned a family Bible. Many immigrants, brought these family bibles with them. They can be a wealth of information.
I found this website Biblerecords.com - Bible Records Online is a site dedicated to transcribing and digitizing the contents of family records that were written inside family Bibles and in other important documents from as early as the 1500s through today. Often, these were the only written records of births, marriages, and deaths of a family, and these remain solid components to proving a family genealogy. The website was last updated in 2/16 so I don't know how much longer, those photos and information will be available. Go check it out.
Bible records can be used as a substitute for vital records if the publication or printing date of the Bible was prior to the date of the event. If the entries are all in the same penmanship and ink or writing tool, that is an indication they were probably copied from another source and written at a later date. Those entries are an indirect source and may include clues to locate the vital records. Sometimes they are the only record available.
Most Bibles contain more than one surname, especially in the marriage records section. Bible records will often be the key to that elusive maiden name or a clue to locate the birth date and place of an ancestor. Some Bibles may also include baptismal information and/or names of godparents.
Here is a list of other websites, that may have your family's bible data listed online.
ANCESTOR HUNT
ANCESTORS AT REST
FAMILY BIBLES ON ROOTSWEB
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I don't have any family Bibles to look back on, but I love the idea of each child being entered into the family book. It's such a lovely way of keeping a record of everyone.
ReplyDeleteCait @ Click's Clan
Let it begin with you.
DeleteBibles can be very useful and it is great when cousins who inherited the family bible share the information they contain.
ReplyDeleteB is for Borneo
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Anne Young
Anne's family history
Very true
DeleteI have never saw a big family bible at my grandparents when I was young. It would have been so nice to see ancestors names. I will look at at the biblesearch site for family names. You never know. Might find something.
ReplyDeleteI keep looking for other branches of my family
DeleteApparently the big family Bible was burnt in a fire a hundred years ago but my interest in genealogy started while reading the back of my grandmother's Bible where she had written the names of all our family who had emigrated to Australia and their descendants.
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