Bibles were often given to a bride as a wedding gift, and families recorded
in them information about immediate family and close relatives. Bible records
can include birth, marriage, and death dates; parents’ names; and names of
children and their spouses, including maiden names. A person’s age at the time
of death may be given. Many families kept Bible records from 1850 to more recent
times, although few of these records have survived. Some have been donated to
local libraries or societies.
Many Bible records are transcribed in:
Illinois State Genealogical Society, Family Bible Records. 2vols.
Springfield, Ill.: The Society, 1990–94. (FHL book 977.3 V2is; computer number
572704.) A microfilm copy of the original papers of this ongoing project is:
Family Bible Record Copies Collected by the Illinois State Genealogical
Society’s Family Bible Records Project, ca. 1724–1987. Salt Lake City:
Genealogical Society of Utah, 1994. (FHL films 1954965 and 1954966, item1;
computer number 743950.)
Chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Illinois have
also collected some Illinois Bible records over the years. Additional DAR Bible,
cemetery, and family record collections for Illinois are indexed by surname only
in:
Kirkham, E. Kay. An Index to Some of the Bibles and Family Records of the
United States: 45,500 References as Taken from the Microfilm at the Genealogical
Society of Utah. 2vols. Logan, Utah: Everton Publishers, 1984. (FHL book
973 D22kk; fiche 6089184 [set of 4 fiche]; computer number 298346.) Volume 2
includes Illinois.
Many periodicals publish family data from Bible records. These are referenced
in the “Families” section of the PERiodical Source Index (PERSI).
