Re: What to do with a Family Bible that is not yours
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In reply to:
What to do with a Family Bible that is not yours
Gayle Thomas 6/20/04
Elizabeth's suggestion is a good one. I have some more. Exactly what you do depends on how much time you want to spend being an Internet angel.
GenForum doesn't have a GOODIER page, but Ancestry does:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=an&p=surnames.goodierhttp://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=an&p=surnames.goodier
You could offer it there, to someone who could prove he/she deserved it.
You could look for the people listed in it on RWWC
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgihttp://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi
and, if you found them, write to the people who have the individuals.
You could transcribe all of the people listed, save those who may still be living (use 1910 as a cut-off birth date) into a small data base/family file, make a GEDCOM and upload it to RWWC (above) and GenCircles:
http://www.gencircles.com/http://www.gencircles.com/
Put the Bible in the Source field and make sure to check the box that says "Include Sources" when you make the GEDCOM. Anyone finding a match withtheir individuals would be sure to see your source, and thus know you had it.
If you do this last one, it opens the door to a swindler who could tell you yes, Henry was his great-great uncle. Said swindler could then "prove" his relationship with dates culled from your transcription, get the Bible, turn around and sell it on e-Bay for cash. So, if you go to that much trouble, it would probably be best to either donate the Bible to the library or to require whoever asks for it to prove their prior interest by showing you their data somehow.
If, for instance, Henry Goodier IV had 3,000 GOODIER individuals on his home web site and in his data base at RWWC or GC, there is a pretty good chance he has been interested in genealogy for a long time.