A Bible from 1854 will be back to its original family and it's all because a man from Gig Harbor in Washington persisted to look for its owners.
Zach Smith was helping out his daughter for a school assignment on genealogy when he recalled that he possessed an old Bible that his father gave to him before his death in 2013. Smith's dad bought the said Good Book in a used bookstore in Bellevue and Smith later learned that it was printed in 1854.
With the knowledge that his father always wanted to track down the Bible's origin, Smith embarked on the project himself. The book that's almost 165 years old appeared fragile but all the pages remained intact, readable and without any tears.
In a video to KOMO 1000 FM, Smith showed the Bible's actual condition. The thick book had discolored pages but indeed, everything else was intact.
Inside the Bible, Smith noticed that someone had written names and birth dates, along with other family information. From his deductions, Smith believes that a man named Levi Yant was its original owner, who also wrote down the names of his deceased first wife, his second wife and his children.
Smith tried to track the family's descendants on the Internet and found a relative via Facebook. Smith learned that Yant had a living relative who carried his name and the great-great-great grandson had been attending college in Portand. He and the Yants have connected on social media and have planned to meet up so he can finally return the Bible to where it belongs.
"It's one last thing I can do for my dad, for all the things he did for me in life," Smith told Komo News.
An antique Bible can become family heirloom. Unlike the Bibles produced today, old Bibles can remain in excellent condition despite decades of use because they were made of thick and strong acid-free material similar to cotton bed linens. This type of book can last up to 1,000 years, while its leather cover and spine might last until 300 years.
