Rose:

If, as often happens when someone dies, the bible was thrown out along with
other treasured family papers and photos, the cause is, of course, hopeless.

Sometimes, however, such treasures will have been rescued by a relative
with a sense of family. Finding that person requires a careful search for
all the descendants, if any, and collateral relatives of the person who had
the things, followed by inquiries to them, starting with those most likely
to have been present at or near the time of her death.

Without a family record >from the bible, the search for Aunt Jessie's
relatives will be more difficult, but can be pursued using family
recollections, city and telephone directories, vital records, 1920 and
earlier US censuses (1930 beginning next April), wills and deeds, and
similar modern records, many of which are available in large cpublic
libraries, and also through local Mormon Family History Centers. This is
how I eventually located four family bibles, one of which was given to me
along with portraits of some of my great-grandparents, and I obtained
photocopies or transcripts >from the other bibles.

In copying bible records, always get a copy also of the title and copyright
pages. This helps determine the earliest date at which the family record
was entered, helping separate entries made at the time an event took place
(usually very reliable) >from those copied >from an earlier record (and
therefore subject to errors in interpretation or copying).

Donn Devine
Wilmington Delaware

Being housebound should not stop someone >from locating information they
require about their family . . . you can easily become an armchair
genealogist!!!

Try the following:

1. Contact your Aunt Jessie's children or grandchildren, if she had any.
They would be the ones who would probably have her bible.

2. If she had no children, I would determine what happened to her husband
and then what happened to his effects when he passed away.

3. If she had no husband, I would find out who was the executor of her
estate, perhaps one of her siblings or a niece or nephew. You would
probably get an indication of this by who is listed on her death
certificate. They or their children could then direct you to the
whereabouts of her belongings, if they still exist. You can also get a
copy of your Aunt's will if she had one and this will give the disposition
of her belongings.

If all this fails to bring forth the elusive bible, consider it lost.
However, your quest to locate the information contained in the bible is not
finished. You can reconstruct that information by making contacts via
e-mail, telephone, or mail.

The first thing you should do is sign up for the JGFF on JewishGen and then
speak to all of your oldest living relatives. Determine where the family
originated in Europe. Follow this up by obtaining all the records you can
obtain >from State and local jurisdictions where your family lived in
America. Contact information can be easily found on the Internet or by
calling the appropriate agencies.

InfoFiles on doing research are to be found on JewishGen and you can always
contact your locale library for assistance. Many libraries are now on-line
and actual records are on-line too for free such as the Ellis Island
Database, some as subscriptions such as the 1900 U.S. Census, and a number
of them such as the 1910 U.S. Census can be obtained on CD-ROM or
microfiche >from various sources. This means that researchers are no longer
restricted by lack of access to information located in places far >from
their home.

Arrange to go to a Jewish Genealogical Society meeting in your area.
Usually, you can gain insight into doing your research >from other members
and take advantage of the JGS's library. Perhaps one of the members can
pick you up and take you to the meeting. If this is not possible, there
are special taxis in many parts of the U.S. to help handicapped individuals
go to their appointments.

So, as you see, your situation should not limit your research capabilities.

Good luck!

Ann Rabinowitz
annrab@...

My aunt jessie Rosenstein had a bible in which she wrote in. At that
time I was not interested in genealogy and did not think about it until
tonight. I believe that she died abt 25 years ago. I would like to find
that bible now. I suspect that it is sort of late to get it back but I
am hoping that some one might be so kind as to find it for me or tell me
how to go abt searching for it. She lived in Chatham A south side district
of Chicago, Illinois. I am lame now and do not have a car.

Rose Hoffman