Tracking the current location of family bibles can be difficult. Any descendant of the original owner could have the bible and it’s even possible that the descendant of an in-law has it, it’s sitting in an attic of a home where the current owner has no idea it’s even there, it’s in an antique store, molding in a basement, etc.

Pension records are one source that may indicate the existence of a family bible. The problem is that a century or more may have elapsed since the creation of the pension record that mentions the family bible. This 1878 statement made out by William Meads mentions the “family Record” of the Demos and Meads family in his possession. Elsewhere in the pension application it’s made clear that this “family Record” is a part of an old bible.

Of course Meads only references the 9 November 1817 marriage of the War of 1812 widow Jemima Meads and her husband Elisha. That’s all that’s relevant to the case at hand and all that needs mentioning.

But it does tell me that as of the late 1870s the DeMoss-Meads family bible was still in existence and William L. Meads had it.

Note: As of this writing, the War of 1812 pension files are free to use at Fold3.