Hey There, Delilah!

"Hey there Delilah here's to you
This one's for you"

Oh, it's what you do to me...squealing and jumping up and down, and getting all misty. OK, that's not part of the song. But we've all imagined a moment of discovery that gives us chills and reveals a piece of history previously lost. I had this moment a couple of months ago....in a dusty old basement...pulling back the sheet and staring into the face of an ancestor I had never met...neither physically nor photographically. So, without further ado, I have the honor of revealing the photo of a long lost ancestor: Delilah Estle Daniels!

Delilah Estle Daniels

The discovery was made when I encountered a pile of very large photographs, all framed in different ways, covered by sheets. Three of the images were children - and images I had seen before, only smaller: My grandfather, Charles, as a baby, and his infant siblings who had died before the age of 4 - Richard & Garnet.

But then I saw her. She was staring up at me, right in the eye....rather knowing...and piercing. I knew I had never seen her before. In all the scanned photo albums I had poured over for decades, she was new. She was unknown, but she was obviously important if she had been kept secure all these years.

Below her portrait was an older gentleman. Again, no one that I knew. Followed by another, much younger gentleman. This man's identity I was pretty certain of as I had seen several of him as an old man. His big clues of giveaway: he was sporting the same beard and hairline in his old age as he was in this picture: Madison Daniels.

Madison Daniels

All three images were chalk portraits. You know the kind, large beautiful images that are a tad softer around the edges, bearing a chalk-like appearance. These images are usually created as enlargements of smaller images, but I had never seen the smaller originals.

I searched in vain for a label of identification....their frames were all different....and freshly sealed with paper tape. After identifying the young man as Madison, one of my Aunts declared the older woman had to be his wife, Mary. Keep in mind that all three portraits were very similar in construct. Madison's paper looked a bit more yellow, but if these were created around the same time, the age difference was possibly a big clue that the woman was not his wife. But at this point, that is just conjecture. Funny thing about Madison's portrait - even though I knew who he was, I thought, "Wow, a pic of John Hunt Morgan!" With the family story about John Hunt Morgan and the family clock, it was just an internal ancestral joke....you know, the kind no one would understand if you said it out-loud. The similarity in hair and beard with JHM is pretty cool.

I had seen so many images of Madison's wife, Mary Hill, that I knew immediately this was NOT Mary. This declaration fell on deaf ears....and so I had no choice but to go in for dissection. Dissecting the frame is a hard call in cases such as these, but I was also not the owner of these portraits, and only had a few hours in their presence. Since there was a good chance I would never see them again, and since I had my really good camera with me (Thank God) I took a more drastic measure.

In order to get a clear image of the older couple, the glass had to come off. I was not in an area of good lighting and had to use flash. I dug into the man's frame, took him out, but found no label. Cue sound of heart breaking. Funny note about his photo. There was a piece of masking tape on the glass, exactly like the pieces attached to the glass of the three children's portraits. Each of those pieces of tape had my grandfather's handwriting, identifying each child: Charles, Garnet, Richard. He had clearly meant to write on the label of the gentleman's portrait, but failed to do so. Does this mean he knew him and just forgot that step after freshly securing the back? Possibly.

Then I dug into the woman's frame. Cue the ancestral angels singing: There was writing on the back of her portrait!!! Her name was truncated due to a possible family nickname: "Lila Estel Daniels, wife of John Daniels. Their children: James, Madison, John, Abraham, Silas, Janie." That brought on the squeals and happy dances. I could not believe I was looking into the face of a woman I had long known by name.

I first learned of Delilah Estle Daniels from the pages of the family Bible record given to my father years ago by Aunt Mattie Townsend. I wrote about this Bible record previously, and it became a wonderful piece of proof during my DAR application process. In fact, I submitted a copy which will forever be in the DAR application records. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1804, the daughter of Silas and Sarah Estle. This means she was the granddaughter of my Patriot, Daniel Estle! So many feels!

I also have a couple of other artifacts related to Delilah: Her obituary, handwritten by someone in the family. And a signed verse from Church in 1841. I'm assuming the later has to do with the membership process, but it is signed by Delilah and has been a special piece of our heritage for several years.

As for the other gentleman, I'm seriously thinking this may be Madison's father, John Daniels. With the similarities in photo production, his hair style and clothing, the odds are in his favor. I cannot be completely sure, but I also know that it would fit into the overall story of how these pictures would have been obtained. From what I have heard, the family went down to the family farm, in Porter Ohio, after the last inhabitant passed away (probably Uncle Jess - died 1964.) They took home items that were left in the old farmhouse. Since they came away with Delilah, and Madison, it makes sense that John came along as well. With grandpa about to place a name on the masking tape, I'm assuming he knew the identity. Uggghh, if only he would have written on the tape!! But regardless, we are overjoyed to have a few ancestors returned to the family collective.

John Daniels?

Since I do not want to be the only person with the photo - I am placing a copy of Delilah's photograph on Findagrave for family members to find her and download a copy. I will place John there as well, with a note, asking if anyone has the original smaller version out there. If someone else in the family has the smaller version labeled, we could get confirmation!

**Note that her name is spelled "Delila" on her tombstone. In every other written document - the Bible, her Church token, and her obituary - there is an 'h' at the end of her name.

Welcome home, grandma Delilah! "Girl, you look so pretty!"

The Homeward Bound Bible

A.K.A. Family Bibles in Crisis....

About a year ago my Aunt contacted me concerning a recent trip she had made to Columbus Ohio. She had been visiting with a cousin of ours from my Grandfather's side of the family. This was one of those "many times removed" types of cousins as they were from one of my Great Grandfather's siblings' branches - you know, one that makes you cross your eyes when you try to figure out the relational designation. Despite the relatively distant nature, this cousin had remained close to my Grandfather over the years, and therefore somewhat close to our family. While visiting with this cousin, they informed her that the Family Bible in their possession needed to find a new home as their closer family members did not express any interest in maintaining this family gem. So, Aunt Becky was glad to take it, knowing she had a family history nut (niece) in our branch, or as they like to call me, keeper of the family stuff.

To make the transfer of this newly acquired hot family contraband, we chose an inconspicuous place, where no one would suspect transfer of valuable family heirlooms: The Graeter's Ice Cream parlor on Colerain Ave! It was quite the scene, as all of us were very excited about the ice cream, and yet I was trying not to get excited about the Bible until everyone was finished with the creamy sugary goodness on their hands. There was another reason I was excited.....

I had been told that this was Madison Daniels' Bible. He happened to be my Great Great Grandfather and Civil War Veteran from Gallia County Ohio. Under normal circumstances, this would excite any history buff, but this Bible had been "missing" from the family ranks for years. In fact, my Father had been given the Family entries or pages from a similar Family Bible, also from the Madison Daniels branch, many years ago. You can see this previous post to read the pages given to us from another side branch as represented by Great Aunt Mattie Daniels Townsend.

The pages passed to my father consisted of 4 pages of Family entries - beginning with Madison's parents -  plus the title pages and publication information from a large Bible - published in 1879. When I was about to receive "Madison's" Bible at Graeter's, I was intrigued, thinking it impossible for this to be the Bible that the loose pages came from. I was thinking it might have been a smaller personal Bible that came from Madison later in life as I had seen that occur with both sets of my Grandparents.

To my surprise, the Bible brought to me that night in Graeter's was the correct size to be the missing Bible. Appropriately, it was missing its Family record pages and its publication pages - this had to be it! To confirm this theory, there was one hand written entry in a leftover blank page at the front that read "Madison Daniels & Family, May 1st, 1879, compliments of N.B. Sisson." To have that entry with the date of receipt that matched the date of publication meant a slam dunk......

......and then I started reviewing the entries from the family pages. While the publication pages fit perfectly within the binding, the family pages seemed shorter and of a different paper consistency. I also noticed that the family entries only covered Madison's family, from his parents, grandparents and siblings. Since Madison had been married for over ten years by the time he had received the Bible, it was odd that the entries did not include his new family unit. I finally came to the conclusion that the four Bible pages that detailed the family history of one side of the family, had come from an entirely different and still "missing" Bible.

The pages outlining family members' births, deaths, and marriages included events as early as 1804 and concluded with the death of one of the ten children born to John and Delilah Daniels in 1845. There were no entries near the 1879 date of the full Bible I received. Sadly, this tells me that there is still a "missing", and perhaps "lost" Family Bible that had been owned by John and Delilah (Estle) Daniels.

Not an Uncommon Occurrence:

Sadly, this is not a unique story. There are many Family Bibles in precarious or discarded states. Just think about how many of these Bibles are for sale within antique stores or online. With all of the many family heirlooms passed down, it seems as though the Family Bible does not rank among the most valuable of items when viewing things in comparison. Why would this trend take hold within families? I have a couple of theories.

First: The size of many of these Bibles is just not practical. The large, Victorian style Bibles were meant to be a focal point somewhere in the house. They were not only central displays of a family's connection to religion and Church membership (many were presented as gifts to members on a special occasion, or from a local Church neighbor/friend.), but they also became a place to openly preserve precious pieces of family ephemera. (The Bible I received at Graeter's that night also included locks of hair and little sentimental paper tidbits from Madison, his children and even his parents) Our 20th/21st century families have changed considerably. This tradition of prominently displaying a giant Bible full of precious family mementos has faded to almost non-existence. Plus, the rate of family ephemera production has increased a thousand fold - which requires we file or box things away - too numerous for the pages of a Bible.

Second: While many of us are still faithful Church goers, or dedicated to a religious walk, many of us are not. The family unit has continued some traditions, and discarded others. As the faith of America has declined over the years, so too has our value of those family heirlooms that reflect or represent the deep faithful history of our ancestors. For many who have decided that religion is not something they want to incorporate into their own lives, they can sometimes fall into the trap of losing respect for those things that held religious importance in the lives of their ancestors.

This is a trend that I think has become a great tragedy. Despite any current personal believe system or perceived "evolution" from the pitfalls of religious belief, these belief systems were highly important to our ancestors and should be valued as a part of their existence. I am very opposed to religiously censoring our ancestors or historical figures. Despite what we may think today, we must include their religious beliefs in our Family Histories, or we cannot truly understand the motivation behind many life decisions that shaped their history.

Then there is the combination of both theories into the biggest reason behind the Family Bibles in crisis: APATHY. The darned things are so big and cumbersome, almost impossible to store or easily pass on to future descendants. Which has meant an influx of donations to local historical societies or archives. While the intent behind such a donation is admirable, just think about what happens when those institutions try to store these precious, but giant, family heirlooms. Despite the overall impressions, institutions are strapped for space as well. You think it's hard to find a space in your house for your Family Bible - try housing hundreds of them. To compensate for this storage issue, many institutions are removing the family specific pages/entries and storing those in files, only to destroy or give back the Bible itself due to space crunches. (Of course there are exceptions if the Bible itself is a historically significant one based on publication specifics or dispersal of information throughout)

Solution to this problem? Please reconsider the value of the Family Bible - yes, the awkward giant one. These giant reminders of a giant faith are getting older and older with each decade that passes. Some are even getting ready to pass into the 200 year age range. So, how does one keep it and preserve it properly? Easy peasy, just get one half cubic foot archival storage box, wrap the Bible in acid free/archival tissue paper and place it in the box, spine side down. The box can then be stored standing up or lying down in a part of the house that has even temperatures - no attics or basements. In the grand scheme of household storage and our thousands of chotchkies we always seem to make room for, please make a little room for a priceless family heirloom that will someday speak volumes about the religious freedom enjoyed by Americans - both early and later generations.

BTW, this post does not just apply to Family Bibles. Any religious artifact handed down in the family should be revered and properly stored for future generations - even if it only plays the role of a multi-generational conversation starter! Don't forget - the printed book is fading as we download more and more titles. Just think about the impact on younger generations 30 years from now when you go to the closet and pull out a GIANT printed Bible! History hooks at work!
Vaya con Dios, folks!
C