Sunday, November 30, 2014

The Fenity Family Bible

I spoke on the phone with Aunt Shirley today, and got some amazing tidbits I didn't know. She told me that her father was in the National Guard during WWII, which may actually be good news. Aside from managing to avoid active combat and to stay with his family, his records may have survived that fire in the National Personnel Records Center.

The better news is that I got some clarity on these pages of the Fenity family Bible. It absolutely existed. Aunt Shirley saw it, and her mother Callie kept it for some time. Shirley said it was in very poor shape, and they had copies made before it got worse.

Whether the Bible still exists somewhere, I can't confirm. But the fact that I have what are surely some of the only existing copies is not lost on me.



I'm of the opinion that is Pomp's handwriting. His handwriting is not as fluid or tidy as his wife Annie's hand. The capital P and F seem like his. I saw him write the abbreviation of Virginia (Va) in his autograph album enough to say it looks the same presented here. I can't say I'm certain, but I would still present it as my strongest instinct.



I can confirm that this page of marriages is written in Annie Rorer Fenity's hand. I've seen enough of her handwriting to recognize it. The loops in her capital W's, the large initial rounding on her capital A, the double loop on her capital C--these are telltale signs of her writing. I couldn't be more sure of it.



This page presents multiple different hands, none of which are familiar to me. It demonstrates that the Bible was passed around, possibly from sibling to sibling.



What I find to be interesting is that most of this writing appears to be in the same hand, and the last entry was when my great grandmother Callie died in March of 2000. It also suggests that this Bible was still intact and in use as of that time. 

Where is it now? Who wrote in these final entries? Maybe one day I'll find out. But even if I never do, I have all the information there is to know about this family. It was recorded carefully by many, so that not one detail would be lost or forgotten.

Because it is now in my hands, I intend to do the same.

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