I can only add an "Amen" to seeing the original - or, in the case of a web site, asking these questions of the person who posted the information. Maybe they provide copies of the original pages?
I have only the marriage/birth/death pages from my maternal grandmother's Bible. The rest could not be kept (too damaged by insects from poor storage in the 20+ years between her death and my receiving the Bible), but these pages were in the middle and thus the least damaged. Many of the entries are in a similar hand (left-handed writer) and in pencil. The last name is spelled "Rains" and "Raines" on the same page. Some of the entries are in a childish hand - I can see a child either filling in what she thought she knew or quizzing an available adult: "Grandma, when was xxxx born?" "When did yyyy get married?". Some of the more mature writing is in the death dates, with notations such as "66 years, 3 months, 4 days". Obviously, I need other supporting data for the entries in the childish hand and there are some that I may never have verification on: "Halice - May 1, 1881 - Sep 3, 1881". John > I would also inquire as to the date that the Bible was published and any > variations in handwriting and/or ink to help determine in what > generation those records were written. If it was published in, say > 1850, then info was probably copied from another source (perhaps another > family Bible). The data may be 100% accurate, but it may not. It may > also have been summarized just for the owner/recipient of the Bible and > therefore be based on the best recollections of folks at the time. If > no print date is available, then analyze the handwriting and ink to see > if they are too similar. If so, they were not likely to have been > recorded near the time of the event. > > Dawn > Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
