accostel4
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A random man from Illinois (we're from MA) contacted my dad to tell him that he had an antique Bible that belonged to my family in the 1800s. He bought it at a yard sale a long time ago because he thought it looked cool. The Bible is also kind of a family record from that time with Birth/Death/Marriage information and old school pictures on metal plates. My dad is pretty into ancestry, so the guy sent it to us.
Given to Mary J. Costello by her mother, also Mary
Some photos on metal plates
Marriage certificate of two of my ancestors who were married about 15 minutes from where we still live
We already knew about some of these people, but some of it is new information and some of it confirms dates that we were just guessing.
Jasperman62
Random man.. Random man.. If he can't do it.. No one can!
accostel4
whoa this is my first post and I didn't check on it for 2 days and came back to this lol. Thanks everyone!
mydearriley
Random man ftw
EdgarAllenPoboy
What an amazing man!
Mohaynow
That is quite rad.
IReallyDuckedThisUp
edgy atheist cousin writes in it.
Sssamalama
Ok, maybe humanity doesn't need to perish
jawscmouse
What an amazing gift!
Isiel89
Cool!!
gigsra
This is awesome! I hope you do something really nice for the man in return :)
accostel4
100%. He only wanted money for shipping costs, an amazing guy!
Elvishasnotleftthebuilding
Wow! Very cool!
biggystigs
Fucking epic stache on that one guy
ceramicpear
Well, you're still a Masshole
flibbertyjibbeting
Fantastic! Pass that shit down!!
TotallySaneScientist
It's cursed.
badalalala
If you hear the Jumangi beat, you're already screwed.
Kswiizzle
- One of your relatives kinda looks like Bill Nye. Cool!
BadBoyBoris
Some heroes don't wear capes
S0ckDrawer
The pictures on metal are commonly called tintypes. Very cool photography method
JustAnotherLinkInTheChain
Did you recently level up? It look like this is a start of quest
SynLovely
What an amazing gift. I love researching genealogy
INeedFakeLove
I instantly think cursed object that traps your soul in a family photo spot when you die. Too much supernatural for me.
MerToo
Nice Thing is Nice.
TheDogEnd
I wonder how your family ended up losing it in the first place
FakeNewsCanBeFun
gave up christianity. (lul stops for a moment to think of how this statement is more edgy in 2017 than 2017 itself is to Christianity.)
Tarzankingofmars
Ended up in the possession of a family member whose immediate line was a dead end is my guess. This stuff shows up at estate sales often.
accostel4
I know lol we're trying to figure out whose belongings ended up in a yard sale when they died
asdfghjklinkin
in a garage sale
TheNASAUnicorn
Wow. Random man proves that people don't absolutely fucking suck....
KyoLookinAss
Why would the man keeping a Bible he purchased because it looked cool make him a shitty person?
JohnnyTitelips
Am cashier. They do.
Porecomesis
B-B-B-B-But what about Random Man...?
JohnnyTitelips
Probably worked in retail at some point.
Patchesthehyena
Alright im here, Whats this i hear about good people?
KyoLookinAss
Ooh, some pretty, shiny trinkets down this deep, dark hole. Don't mind if I do..!
archKtype
That's a sick ass bible
circlebreaker
The original phone book; leaves no marks, but smarts like Hell
DemsDFTBA
That is bloody awesome
OlderWiser
Random man is the hero we all deserve.
daementia
Much better than Florida Man.
ProfessorDumbass
If any story starts with random Florida Man...then open it away from your house.
basball6969
What's it to ya, Irish?
hilhas1
Random acts of genealogical kindness
MrJelle
Every time I go to the sperm bank, basically.
spudpicker
As a guy who's done a lot of genealogy, I'm salivating over this thing. It's a family history goldmine.
hilhas1
Me too! I would love to find a family bible of any branch in my tree. So far, no luck.
accostel4
^That is accurate. Thanks!
AmandaCorinne
This is an amazing heirloom. Congratulations @op
LimitDoesNotExist
Hello Emma.
Wuhu
It makes me so happy. I used to work in a museum and people would bring in their family Bibles to donate them. (1/2)
Wuhu
I would always tell them to save them for the next generation, especially when they had tin types and stories. It made me quite sad.
AngelicOrb
This is why cursive should still be taught. Antiques like this wouldn't be able to be read if nobody knew how.
GeorgeAvalon
You're right. "Hey dude, I h8 to tell u dis, but I found this sik-azz bible wit yo name all up in it" doesn't have the same ring... :)
OSCgal
Yeah. I was transcribing letters my great-grandfather wrote home about his family's life as missionaries in China. The letters were typed 1/
OSCgal
but one had a handwritten note at the end. I couldn't read it b/c it was not only written in German (the typed letter was English) but 2/
OSCgal
he used a form of cursive called Kurrentschrift that I couldn't read. I was VERY fortunate that a friend's Austrian-born mother was able 3/
OSCgal
to read/translate both the handwriting & the language. (Though apparently his German was terrible!) 4/4