Family Bibles are often treasured heirlooms and can be a treasure trove for genealogists.
So when a Tennessee man found a family Bible at an Oak Ridge thrift shop, he was determined to return it to the family to which it belongs, WATE reported.
Leo York said the Bible contains an inscription of a family tree that goes back five generations, the television station reported. Details of her family members are meticulously listed on the pages of the book.
"Baptisms, the deaths, the funerals and the weddings," York said.
York believes it is a Martin family Bible and it originally belonged to Ada Virginia Sharrett Martin, WATE reported.
Ada Martin was born in Bristol, Tennessee, in 1900 and died in October 1987, according to the Social Security Applications and Claims Index found on Ancestry.com. According to Findagrave.com, Martin died in Johnson City and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Knoxville, next to her spouse, Edward Lillard Martin, who died in 1947.
York bought the Bible after his sister spotted it a KARM thrift store in Oak Ridge, WATE reported.
"I sort of treat it like gold. I'm very careful with it. I keep it in its box,” York told the television station. “I've cleaned and polished the box, wiped down the cover of the book of the Bible, and actually put a little beeswax on it to help protect it.”
York said the Bible is nearly a century old, as the last copyright printing date was 1926. The family names York found in the bible had deep roots in eastern Tennessee.
"Johnson City, Knoxville. This is very local, so I really need to find these people," York told WATE. "I know that if somebody had a Bible like that, that had my family information in it, I don't know, I would probably ball. I would cry. I mean I would be so excited to see that."
Two of Ada Martin's children have died. Jack Edward Martin died in 2016 in Knoxville, while Helen Virginia Martin Watts died in 1992 in Pinellas County, Florida.
York said anyone with information about the Bible’s owners can contact him at k9luv.ly@gmail.com.
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