Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Bible of Albion Berry and Mercy Ann (Wescott) Berry of Gray, Maine, and Windham, Maine


Small Bible that belonged to Albion Berry of South Gray, Maine, before his 1871 marriage to Mercy Ann (Wescott) Berry of East Windham, Maine.

Albion was the son of Wilson Page Berry and Mary A. (Wilbur) Berry of South Gray, Maine.

The Bible measures a bit more than 6-3/4" by 4-1/4" by 1-1/2".  It was Albion, presumably, who wrote on both sides of the first and last end papers.  The inside front cover bears the handwritten name of Fred Johnson of Boston, Massachusetts, although I'm not sure of the surname, nor the date, which appears to be November 8, 1860.  Fred was presumably the original owner of the Bible.

The front of the first end paper has Albion's name and address of South Gray, Maine, as well as what I presume was the date he inscribed the page, March 3, 1865, perhaps the day he acquired the Bible, and "I was born in the year 1847 the 17 day of October."


The back of the first end paper has Albion's name again, as well as the date April 5, 1865.  The Bible was published by the American Bible Society at New York, New York, in 1860.


Between the Testaments are 4 pages of Family Records, but some of the information is repeated.  The first set of facing pages has the following, as shown below:
  • East Windham, Albion Berry Married To Miss Mercy Ann Wescott of East Windham by Mr. Seward Baker.  January 30 in the year of our Lord 1871
  • Norman Thompson, born August 29, 1909 [Norman William Thompson, presumably related to George L. Thompson, who married Louisa Berry, daughter of Charles Berry and Eunice (Newcomb) Berry
  • Albion Berry, Esq., born in the year 1847, October 17
  • Anna M. Berry, presumably Mercy Ann (Wescott) Berry, born in the year 1847, January 14
  • Lizzie Berry, perhaps Albion's younger sister, born in the year 1865, August 8
  • Mr. Charles Berry, died January 27, 1873, aged 67 years  [Albion's paternal grandfather]


The middle two Family Record pages have the following, as shown below:
  • February the 22, 1806, Charles Berry 1806 [The birth date of Albion's paternal grandfather]
  • October the 17 1847, Albion Berry, 1847
  • April the 16, 1798, Hannah Berry 1798 [possibly Charles Berry's sister and, thus, Albion's great aunt]
  • May the 15, 1824, Willson P. Berry [Albion's father Willson or Wilson Page Berry]
  • January the 29, 1838, Lousia Berry [birth date of Albion's paternal aunt, Louisa Berry, who married George L. Thompson]
  • Eunice Berry October the 17, 1800 [birth date of Eunice (Newcomb) Berry, Albion paternal grandmother - the day is hard to read here and could be confused with 14, but the information is repeated on another page, where the 17 is clearer]
  • May the 20 [not sure of day], 1863, Spinney Berry
  • The right page repeats information but also has what appears to be the name Small Cobb in handwriting in the lower half, along with computations of the ages of people mentioned above


The last of the Family Records pages also repeats information previously mentioned and contains more age calculations.


The back end papers contain more handwriting, written upside down, including Biblical verses and Albion's name and address.



If you have information to share on the Berry, Wescott, Thompson and Newcomb families, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

5 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Where would I find the Berry Group?

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    2. If Melissa doesn't see your question and you don't see a reply posted, you can reach her through a Facebook group she administers called New England Family Genealogy and History (one of my favorites)

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    3. Thank you so much!

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