a great Christmas present!

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Last week late one night I was doing some research on my family lines, and saw where someone had "lifted" my personal information and placed me in their public family tree.  I was quite annoyed and was prepared to ask them where they had gotten the information about me, some of which was completely wrong.  But then, I noticed a comment someone had written regarding that tree.  And I completely forgot about being miffed.

The note, written by Mr. Rodriguez in California, was asking if anyone reading the note was related to "Jacob B____" and his wife, Elizabeth, and children who included George, Henry, David, Absalom, and several others. Mr. Rodriguez gave his email and asked to be contacted immediately.

Well, from what I could tell, Jacob B______ was my 3rd great uncle.  I sent an email and explained who I was.  Within 5 minutes I had a response.  

Mr. Rodriguez explained that he had a Family Bible with those names in it.  His father, who had been a pastor in California had rescued the Bible in 1964 during the horrendous "Christmas Storm" floods in northern California and the Pacific Northwest.  As a pastor, he had gone out to the surrounding California counties to check if folks needed help.  He entered a flooded apartment house, but it seemed that everyone had fled with whatever belongings they could take with them.  As he went from apartment to apartment, there all alone on a table was a large Family Bible, just inches away from the rising water.  Being a pastor, he couldn't just leave it. Over the years, they had tried to find the right family to return it, but no one seemed to know who it was.  They even went to the Family Heritage Center in Utah, connected to the LDS Church, with no luck.

The son, whose email I responded to, told me that he had been putting messages out onto genealogy sites, hoping to find the right family.

Mr. Rodriguez sent me the Family Bible, which I received two days ago.  It's very large (quarto size), leather bound, and from the entries in the family section, the Bible was probably printed in the early 1830s.  (There's no date, but this particular Bible was printed from 1823-1844, when the picture plates were sold to another company.)  There's quite a bit of water-staining and foxing (where the printing turns areas on the pages brown from the iron that was in the printing plates.)

There's still a mystery, though.  The last we knew, this Bible had been in Iowa.  How it came to be in California, and why it was left all alone on a table in the middle of a flood, we'll probably never know.

It's a great Christmas present for my family!!!

 

[Stan]

I really enjoy these..

[phkrause]

Awesome!!

[Gail]

Serendipity!

[debbym]

17 hours ago, rudywoofs (Pam) said:

Last week late one night I was doing some research on my family lines, and saw where someone had "lifted" my personal information and placed me in their public family tree.  I was quite annoyed and was prepared to ask them where they had gotten the information about me, some of which was completely wrong.  But then, I noticed a comment someone had written regarding that tree.  And I completely forgot about being miffed.

The note, written by Mr. Rodriguez in California, was asking if anyone reading the note was related to "Jacob B____" and his wife, Elizabeth, and children who included George, Henry, David, Absalom, and several others. Mr. Rodriguez gave his email and asked to be contacted immediately.

Well, from what I could tell, Jacob B______ was my 3rd great uncle.  I sent an email and explained who I was.  Within 5 minutes I had a response.  

Mr. Rodriguez explained that he had a Family Bible with those names in it.  His father, who had been a pastor in California had rescued the Bible in 1964 during the horrendous "Christmas Storm" floods in northern California and the Pacific Northwest.  As a pastor, he had gone out to the surrounding California counties to check if folks needed help.  He entered a flooded apartment house, but it seemed that everyone had fled with whatever belongings they could take with them.  As he went from apartment to apartment, there all alone on a table was a large Family Bible, just inches away from the rising water.  Being a pastor, he couldn't just leave it. Over the years, they had tried to find the right family to return it, but no one seemed to know who it was.  They even went to the Family Heritage Center in Utah, connected to the LDS Church, with no luck.

The son, whose email I responded to, told me that he had been putting messages out onto genealogy sites, hoping to find the right family.

Mr. Rodriguez sent me the Family Bible, which I received two days ago.  It's very large (quarto size), leather bound, and from the entries in the family section, the Bible was probably printed in the early 1830s.  (There's no date, but this particular Bible was printed from 1823-1844, when the picture plates were sold to another company.)  There's quite a bit of water-staining and foxing (where the printing turns areas on the pages brown from the iron that was in the printing plates.)

There's still a mystery, though.  The last we knew, this Bible had been in Iowa.  How it came to be in California, and why it was left all alone on a table in the middle of a flood, we'll probably never know.

It's a great Christmas present for my family!!!

I found an old family bible not as old as yours, Ida wrote in her name and birth 1865, and her husband and her children's names. It had a marvelous letter of faith and prayer for the family tucked in the book.  I have been putting out some requests to Standerfer's i found online, but no results.  i wish i could find a Standerfer relative who would appreciate the faith that was deep in their family. Ida Standerfer was the owner, and there is a photo of the spiritual man who gave her the bible  Henry J. Ensely, in 1940, in Yakima Wa, when he was 86 years old, and apparently Ida died 5 years later in 1945.

[debbym]

what a marvelous gift Pam, perhaps i will be a point of contact for family members who do not have faith.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

@debbym, I did an abbreviated tree for Ida.  There doesn't appear to be any Standerfer descendants — the one son doesn't appear to have had children.  Ida's children from her first marriage *do* have descendants, however.   Her oldest daughter has quite a number of descendants, most of whom are still in Washington.  The other children appear to have gone back to Iowa, married, and had children there.  Interestingly, one of Ida's great granddaughters was a member of the Washington State senate for over 30 years.  She probably would have loved to have had that Bible.  Unfortunately, she is now deceased.  She does, however, have children who live in Washington.

I'll send you a PM

 

[CoAspen]

Great story!