Who should the Family Bible be handed down to?

[jomill]

I noticed you are researching Mangans from Ireland...my direct paternal family line are Mangans from County Clare..Do you know where your Mangans came from? Happy to share infomation with you if it helps.

Joanne (australia)

Hi Joanne!

My great great grandfather was Philip Manning (sometimes referred to as Mangan), born March 1818 in Tipperary. He immigrated to Boston (Charlestown) about 1847, then moved to Gilberts Illinois about 1861.  His mother's maiden name was Cooney, and her sister Judith was the mother of Patrick Augustine Feehan, first Archbishop of Chicago.

I don't know who his siblings were, and the Mangan / Manning references make it more challenging. Supposedly, the name was Mangan in Ireland.

Let me know if any of this fits into any onfo you have. Thanks!

Lynn


Thanks... different counties ... you'll come across many more variations including Mangham, Mannion, as is often the case you need a lot of lateral thinking skills....Joanne

[maryjolam]

Hi, just thought I would throw in my pennyworth and comment even though these posts are quite old.
Through my work I deal with lots of people who have family bibles and other books repaired or fully restored, usually in the last years of their life because they want to pass them on.
Their main consideration in choosing the person to pass it onto is " who will look after it" or if the book requires work then, " Who has interest in it, can afford to get it repaired and who will actually do that" - not necessarily the same person.

My advice to everyone who has access to a family Bible is to record for future generations - in pen and paper - or in a small book, the information in the Bible and store it with your valuables. Make a copy for each of your children.
In my experience there is usually someone every 2 generations or so, who feels this is important and needs to be conserved. They become really interested in the information or in seeking out the family bible and getting work done on it. It is therefore also important to have the information in a form that will be accessible to them.
Modern technology is great but it changes and does not last long. A book, pen and paper will last hundreds of years.
Good luck everyone.

[anne_p]

A family bible passed down through my husband's family ended in the possession of his grandfather.
My husband's grandfather died in 1969 and the bible was left in the care of his wife.
Unfortunately, she developed dementia and before her family realized the extent of her illness, the poor old woman had all but destroyed everything she no longer recognised, including the bible.

My mother in law tried to salvage what she could, but all she could find in the trash was the first page which was torn.
By extreme good fortune, it was the page listing births,and marriages, dating back to about 1800.
I took a photocopy of this, used it  to create the family tree .

[Keith Sherwood]

Good to see this old thread vibrating into life again after lying dormant for nearly 5 years, although judging by the number of times it has now been looked at, it has not been ignored in the meantime!
keith

[Amberella]

In our family, the William Hughes Clark family Bible went to the oldest daughter in each generation, mainly because it seemed as if the women were more interested in the family genealogy & making the notations in the Bible.  The only exception was that my father kept the Bible updated.

After my father's death, my older sister had possession of the family Bible but now that she's in the mid-stages of Alzheimer disease, I, the younger daughter, was given possession of ALL the family artifacts. And trust me, my ancestors were genealogical hoarders!

I, in turn, will pass the Bible down to my older daughter because she's the one interested in the family history.  It's no use giving it to someone who is like Rhett Butler and can't really give a damn about the family history because that is a sure way to make sure the Bible gets lost due to lack-of-interest!

[Keith Sherwood]

Thanks very much for that, Amberella,
The "I don't give a damn" thing regarding family history often applies to the younger generation, who feel they are perhaps immortal, though more recently I've been pleasantly surprised by some quite young (under thirty) members of my family showing a bit of an interest.  Though I'm not quite sure yet who exactly might be entrusted with the legacy of all my mountains of paperwork and research...
Regards, Keith

[Amberella]

Thanks very much for that, Amberella,
The "I don't give a damn" thing regarding family history often applies to the younger generation, who feel they are perhaps immortal, though more recently I've been pleasantly surprised by some quite young (under thirty) members of my family showing a bit of an interest.  Though I'm not quite sure yet who exactly might be entrusted with the legacy of all my mountains of paperwork and research...
Regards, Keith

Sometimes you just have to hope they will maintain the research correctly.  I recently was "gifted" with 10 boxes of family history.  What I've done is built shelving & put each individual into a separate bin with their name on it.  Then, when my daughter takes over it'll all be tidy & easily moved around.