On a visit to Europe some years ago, our oldest daughter Katie
befriended "El," a woman who is a jazz musician and former
bookstore owner. Thanks to Facebook, El and I (Ann) also became
friends. I sent El one of our books, and in it she read a piece we
had written about an old family Bible.* Here is some of what we
wrote:
Many years ago, our son Jim rescued an old family Bible he found
on a dusty shelf in a used bookstore in Lafayette, Indiana. Knowing
I love old books, he passed this along to us. Printed in 1857, the
pages between the Old and New Testament captured our attention.
Here in a bold, clear script someone had made a list of family
births, weddings and deaths.
As we studied these dates, a story emerged. William Nagle was
born December 7, 1808. His wife Elizabeth first saw the light of
day April 3, 1811. At age 17, Elizabeth married William and by the
time she was 45 she had given birth to six sons and six daughters,
including a set of twins. Their second son, Charles, died just
before his fifth birthday. Another son, John, died at the age of
nineteen in May of 1864. This would have been during the Civil War
and I couldn't help but wonder if John had lost his life in this
conflict. William passed away at the age of 79 in 1888, but sturdy
Elizabeth lived until 1897. The hand that wrote these dates signed
his initials J.M.N. These are the initials of the youngest son,
James M. Nagle. Young Jim had enough faith to make certain his
family would be remembered as long as this book survived.
On a water-stained page at the back of the Bible someone listed
a scripture reference from Job. I turn to the passage and read:Man
that is born of a woman is of a few days and full of trouble.I
think of all the struggling imperfect families that have gone
before us. Sometimes family members left clues like small whispers
echoing for generations beyond:We were here.I wonder if these worn
pages gave comfort to a mother or father late at night while a son
fought in the Civil War, or in a trench in Germany or slept on a
ship in the South Pacific or slogged through rice fields in Korea
or Vietnam. Since time began, struggling families have written
stories with their brief, imperfect lives. Trusting in prayer and
faith, generation after generation of parents kept vigil with an
open Bible. Through war and famine, wealth and poverty, life and
death, the Word survives.
*Now, about our friend El across the ocean in Holland. After
reading our story, she went online and located the graves of
William and Elizabeth Nagle, complete with photographs.That she
could locate specific graves in Indiana from Holland still boggles
my mind.
El sent us links for these and soon I will begin a search for
descendants of William and Elizabeth Nagle. Wouldn't it be amazing
if, after all this time, this Bible could be returned to its
rightful family?
