23 January 2015

Bible Entries May Not Be Contemporary

Bible records are a great genealogical source. But researchers should remember that in some cases, the dates of birth, marriage, and death may have been written in years after the events took place--perhaps by someone who was not even present at the original event.  Seeing items in the same color of ink and script is a clue that this was the case.


Clues that the entries were possibly written as the events took place include:

  • slightly different color of ink
  • slightly different handwriting--perhaps changing slightly as the writer gets older
A copyright date in the bible of 1900 would also indicate that entries from the late 1700s were not written in as they took place. 

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