Davis Family Bible

I attended the Family History Fair today sponsored by the NC Archives. Wonderful event!  There I learned of a project underway to collect family Bible  records. It's a great project and I intend to contribute. 

Speaking of which...here's a transcription of what's in the Davis Family Bible transcribed exactly as originally written:

  

Marriages

Ernest Davis and Evie Allan was married the 30^th of December 1913

Rolin Davis and Louie Davis was married the 14^th of the September 1918

James Mitchell and Francis Davis was married June 1946

Births

Meona Davis was born April 24, 1888

Earnest Davis was born September 11, 1890

Othea Davis was born July 14, 1892

Henry Davis was born December 23, 1894

Rowland Davis was born February 15, 1897

Mary Davis was born June 9, 1899

Beered Davis was born October 14, 1901

Cora Davis was born May 25, 1905

Ethel Davis was born December 27, 1906

Bruce Davis was born October 5, 1908

Oddse Sidney Davis was born April 28, 1911

Vera Magnolia Davis was born 21 of September 1915

Louisa Davis October 5, 1917

R. O. Davis was born September 23, 1921

Deaths

Mrs. C. D. Davis

Mr. Othea Davis

Mr. Henry Davis

Mr. Beered Davis

Miss Ovie Davis died June 28, 1929

Ora Mae Davis

Baby Davis

Charlie Roland Davis died June 6, 1956

Earnest F. Davis died September 28, 1955

Otis Davis died

Names 

Meona Davis	Ovie Davis
Earnest Davis	Beered Davis
Othea Davis	Cora Davis
Henry Davis	Ethel Davis
Rowland Davis	Bruce Davis
Mary Davis	Otis Davis

(Blank page without header)

Lucindy Hall was born 1844 March 29^th and died 1922 July the 12^th.

Med Davis was born 1864 December the 27.

Charles Roland Davis born February 10, 1897

Louie Davis was born July 29, 1903

Roy V. Davis was born Sept. 23, 1921

Louise Davis born November 3, 1924

Nathanial Davis born June 3, 1924

Ora Mae Davis born March 3, 1930

Eula Francis Davis born July 3, 1931

C. R. Davis born November 11, 1933

Claud Everette Davis June 10, 1937

Matilda Ann Davis March 29, 1940

Judy Linda Davis born May 10, 1947

 The Bible is covered in a red fabric and is in poor condition. Many of the pages are loose and have been re-inserted incorrectly. The binding and glue on the spine of the Bible has disintegrated. These handwritten entries are on pages in the center of the Bible. Most are on pages with headers (Marriages, Births, Deaths, Names) and elaborate artwork. Only one page was originally a blank page, but it was used to record family births and deaths.

                                                       

Even if its written in stone, it might be wrong

This belongs on the ever growing list of things that surprise me, but shouldn't. I can be a bit naive. Or maybe I'm just slow. But I'm consistently surprised when I discover dates are actually engraved on a gravestone are wrong.  

Case in point

My great great grandmother, Lucinda DAVIS HALL, died in a house fire in 1922. Her gravestone says she was born in 1844 and she died in 1923. HOWEVER, her death certificate indicates she was born in 1839 and died in 1922. 

Lucinda Davis Hall Death Certificate

The 1880, 1900 and 1920 census also lists her birth year as 1839. 

1800 Federal US Census

Family members are adamant the gravestone is correct. I'm sorry to tell them this, but in my world, hard documentation like a death certificate trumps a stone cutter who got incorrect information from grieving family members at a time in history when no one really cared if the dates of birth or death were right on the money.

Even if the date of birth on the death certificate was fudged (cause after all, it was given by one of those grieving family members mentioned above) the date of death is surely accurate, assuming the government official completing the certificate knew how to look at a calendar. Which, I admit, might be a stretch.

Lucinda Davis Hall Gravestone
Good Hope Baptist Church, Youngsville, NC

Gravestones are often not placed at a grave site until well after the fact. So even though "Grandma Cindy" died in July of 1922, it's very likely her stone was not placed until 1923...which kinda sorta explains why it shows the year of death as 1923 instead of 1922.

The moral of this story is question everything and assume nothing. That's true in all aspects of life, not just in genealogy.