Who has come across a family Bible and thought, “Could this be THE family Bible!?” The one that answers all my questions and lists birth dates, death dates, marriages, and maiden names going back to the beginning of time? Only to open the cover and see the name of the known owner, maybe a date, and nothing else? Unfortunately, this is an all too common occurrence. For the number of Bibles that are printed and purchased in the world very few end up holding the family records. I have felt this disappointment so many times. My mother has numerous Bibles in her collection from what seems to be all the family tree branches. But none held the answers we sought. Or at least that is what we thought.

As a newbie family history researcher I thought the records would be in the front cover pages, or maybe in the back. It never occurred to me they would be recorded anywhere else. Then one day I came across a blog that mentioned the family pages that were often printed INSIDE the Bibles. These were blank pages inserted between the Old and New Testaments and were intended to be the family record. Lightning bolt! I had missed the MIDDLE of the Bibles! I race back to the most promising of the Bibles and behold, there in the middle are birth records dating back to 1827! I busted out my genealogy happy dance! But now, take a breath, and check the front cover. This Bible was published in 1850, so while the births of George W. Denton and Nancy J. Denton are in the 1820s, and their marriage recorded in 1847, it is highly unlikely these were written at the time of the events. Does that make it any less exciting and significant? No. But, you also can’t assume those dates were written at the time the birth or marriage occurred. Is it likely that George or Nancy acquired the Bible after their marriage and recorded their birth dates and marriage date in it? Absolutely. But there is no guarantee. In fact, the notes in the column next to the marriage appear to be tally marks, trying to determine the exact date based on recollections.

The first marriage listed in 1847 predates the Bible’s publication. Penciled notes on the side appear to be calculations.

Other clues to look for, are different handwriting or writing instruments used between entries. The first eight birth entries all appear to be written with the same type of pen and in the same handwriting. Then there is a break and the following two are clearly a different color ink and handwriting. The deaths page has three different writing styles, and again notes in the second column. These notes appear to be added to the entries in pencil, perhaps by another ancestor researching the family. There are notations on where, and how long a person lived on a certain farm. And subtraction trying to determine the number of years between two dates or someone’s age when they died. While determining the purpose of these calculations might be tough with just the Bible, add other records to the puzzle and you will likely discover who that unknown person was trying to research.

Different pen ink and handwriting indicate some dates written at different times.

Notes on the side in pencil are likely from a prior family member researching the family members in the Bible.

After discovering this treasure trove of information, I hoped my luck would hold and the other Bible (this one from a tree with a solid brick wall) would also hold records in the middle. The records that I already knew (births in the early 1900s) were listed on the front page, but there was the chance that an older generation had used the middle pages. Unfortunately, these were blank, and I had to content myself with the first discovery.

Fast forward many years…

A cousin recently came across a Bible that had belonged to a third great grandmother and her brother, who died at a young age and without any family. The publication date was 1847 on this Bible and is one of the only items of my third great grandmother that has survived. It is also incredibly well used and fragile. But as I was celebrating the find with my cousin, I made sure to remind him to “check the middle pages.” Nothing was written there, but my reminder inspired my mother to return to her cache of Bibles…

And the one that I had hoped so fervently would give all the dates to bust through my Irish brick wall, well, it still didn’t have the dates and names. But it did have something else.

Not in the middle but in other locations of the Bible, my mother found hair. And a fair amount of it.

Darker, longer hair kept in the Bible.

Shorter locks, of various blond shades.

Two sections of hair, (one in Judges, and one in Deuteronomy). Both are very different colors, and no identification. One is shorter, blonder and could be from different people given the size and shades of the locks. The other is longer, darker, and coarser. The couple who owned the Bible both died with very gray hair (we know from pictures) and none of their children died young.

It is not uncommon for people to have made jewelry or ornaments out of a loved one’s hair during this time (assuming this was the couple who had been the ones to use this Bible). And this isn’t the first time hair has been found in an old Bible. Bibles were often used to store valuable information or papers. Instead of the fireproof satchel or hard drive, you would grab the Bible if you had to leave in an emergency. I discovered all this while Googling, “hair in Bibles.”

I do know that the Bible’s owner had a sister who died young, not far from where the owner lived. My current hypothesis is the darker hair belonged to the owner’s sister, and some was cut and distributed to her siblings at her death. The family was very close, and she was the only one to die at a relatively young age. From all the accounts, the siblings deeply mourned her loss. Perhaps the owner planned to have a mourning broach made with the hair later, but never got around to it. Or she thought the Bible was a safe and appropriate place for her beloved sister’s hair.

Will we ever know whose hair was kept in this Bible? No. But the discovery raises questions, and as we pursue hypotheses to answer those questions we add to the story of our ancestor. No matter whose hair was kept in the Bible, the owner obviously had a sentimental side – perhaps one that is missed in the formal records or even the recollections of family members. So often those from an “older generation,” in this case a first generation American born in the last quarter of the 19th century, didn’t reveal their emotions in their writing or everyday actions. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t feel just as much as we do today. Losing a younger sister to Brights Disease would have been an emotional blow to a close-knit family. And if the blonder locks are her children’s first haircuts, that reveals a mother’s sentimentality towards her children that may not have been expressed in the family’s daily routine. Stepping into the family member’s shoes and thinking about his or her motivations for what they kept or did will help build the picture of their character. Sometimes more so than what they would have even let on to their family members at the time.

Please remember to always check the middle (and all the other pages) of those family Bibles we inherit as the keepers of our family history. You may have a piece of your story lurking between those pages that you don’t even know about…yet.