Over the years, bibles belonging to Sandusky County and Northwest Ohio families have been donated to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. The bibles are gathered together in a single collection known as the Family Bible Collection.

The family bible was often the most precious possession of the nineteenth-century American household. In addition to spiritual inspiration, religious instruction, and the means by which many children learned to read, the bible served as the repository of a family’s vital records. Family bibles were often handed down from one generation to another. Each succeeding generation recorded its family’s birth, death, marriage, and baptismal dates and places. Precious photographs, documents, and keepsakes were stored in the family bible as well.

The families of Sandusky County and Northwest Ohio have donated over 100 bibles to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. Spanning the years from 1800 to 1936, the bibles frequently contain vital records of the owners’ families. Photocopies of pages containing family data and items found in each bible are filed in the Hayes Presidential Center’s Biographical File under the family name. Family data are filed on individual index cards in the library’s reading room as well. Arranged alphabetically, the inventory provides the family name given each bible and the date of publication.

FAMILY BIBLE COLLECTION

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