Monday's Diggings

The Charles O. Mentzer Family Bible

Do you have a family Bible that has been passed down through the generations? Does it contain handwritten records of births, marriages, and deaths?

Family Bibles can be wonderful sources of genealogical information. However, like any family record, the information they contain needs to be evaluated. Were the entries made at the time of the event, or were they recorded years later? Who recorded the information? And how accurate was that person's memory?

Today's Monday's Diggings features a typed transcription of the family Bible belonging to my great-grandfather, Charles Oliver Mentzer.

The Charles O. Mentzer Bible

According to the transcription, the Bible was a King James Version published by the World Publishing Company of Cleveland. The name Charles Mentzer was engraved on the front.

The transcription also describes a Bible containing the Old and New Testaments, with a self-pronouncing edition that divided and accented proper names to assist with pronunciation.

Unfortunately, the Bible itself was described as being in poor condition and stored in a box. The cover of that box reportedly contained the following information:

"Belong to Pauline Briles 1982"

"C. O. Mentzers Family Bible"

While I do not have the original Bible, I have this typed transcription of its contents.

Charles and Nettie Mentzer

The family register begins with information about Charles O. Mentzer and his wife, Nettie A. Wells.

According to the transcription:

• Charles O. Mentzer was born July 1, 1869.

• Nettie A. Wells was born February 5, 1873.

• They were married October 3, 1893.

The Bible also contains a list of their children:

• Gladys O. Mentzer — born July 9, 1894

• Paul E. Mentzer — born March 28, 1896

• Pauline E. Mentzer — born March 28, 1896

• Leslie G. Mentzer — born August 23, 1898

• Herbert Wells Mentzer — born July 20, 1900

Paul and Pauline were twins, a detail reflected in their identical birth dates.

My grandmother, Pauline Edith Mentzer, was one of those children.

The transcription also includes notes concerning Charles Mentzer, including a calculation of his age in 1938 and several dates in May 1943. These entries are not entirely clear, but they remind us that family Bibles sometimes served as places to record miscellaneous family information in addition to formal vital records.

Pauline Mentzer Briles and Her Family

Although the Bible originally belonged to Charles Mentzer, much of the information recorded in it concerns his daughter, Pauline Edith Mentzer Briles, and her descendants.

One inscription reads:

"Family Register

Pauline E. Briles and Edward Osmond Briles were united in Holy Matrimony on the Oct 29 day of Friday in the year of our Lord 1915 at Christian Church Parsonage Yates Center Kansas"

The Bible also records the births of Pauline and Osmond's children:

• Walter Emery Briles — August 7, 1917

• Kenneth Briles — September 26, 1918

• Letha Marie Briles — September 14, 1924

• Roberta Adell Briles — June 29, 1930

• Barbara Ann Briles — August 22, 1934

Along with the children's birth dates, the Bible contains information about their marriages.

Letha married George Doolittle on November 9, 1944. Walter married Fay Blair on October 11, 1941. Roberta married Eugene Crawford on June 9, 1951, and Barbara married Marvin Thompson on October 16, 1954.

These entries illustrate how a family Bible could become a continuing record of multiple generations rather than simply documenting the family of its original owner.

Deaths Recorded in the Bible

The transcription includes a list of deaths among the Mentzer and Briles families.

Among those recorded are:

• Nettie Wells Mentzer — February 9, 1939

• Charles Oliver Mentzer — August 14, 1955

• Edward Osmond Briles — May 28, 1956

• Herbert Mentzer — March 25, 1977

• Barbara Thompson — May 3, 1982

• Walter Briles — July 14, 1982

Other family members are listed without complete dates, while some entries contain dates that are incorrect.

For example, the typed transcription gives the death date for Gladys Green as July 3, 1974. The correct date is July 9, 1974.

This is an example of why I do not automatically accept every date recorded in a family Bible as accurate.

Recording the Next Generation

The family Bible did not stop with Pauline's children. It also contains a section titled "Great Grandchildren of Pauline Briles."

Among the names recorded are Robert Mayham, Katie Crawford, Brent Chapman, Heather Casey Doolittle, Mathew Crawford, David Briles, Teri Thompson, and Jacqueline Rachelle Thompson.

One entry identifies "Mrs Kathey Dave Crawford" with a birth date of June 28. However, the correct birth date is May 28.

This is another reminder that even information preserved within a family can contain mistakes, whether introduced when the original entry was made or during the transcription process.

The inclusion of these later generations suggests that the Bible continued to serve as a family record long after Charles Mentzer's death.

Pauline's Personal Entries

One of the entries I find particularly interesting is not a birth, marriage, or death.

The transcription includes the statement:

"I joined Christian Church in Emporia March 4-1934 signed Pauline Briles"

This small piece of information provides a glimpse into my grandmother's personal life and religious history.

While dates of birth, marriage, and death are important genealogical facts, entries such as this help tell the story of the person behind those dates.

A Bible Passed Down Through the Family

The transcription includes two inscriptions that help explain the Bible's ownership.

The first indicates that the Holy Bible was presented to Charles O. Mentzer by Pauline.

Another reads:

"For Letha and Geo Doolittle

Love

Mom Briles"

Following Pauline's death, the original Bible was given to her daughter, Letha Briles Doolittle.

It is believed that the Bible was subsequently passed down to Letha's son, Lloyd Doolittle, Pauline's grandson.

Thus, a Bible associated with Charles Mentzer eventually became a family heirloom passed through his daughter Pauline to later generations of the Doolittle family.

Although I have the typed transcription rather than the original Bible, I am thankful that someone took the time to preserve its contents.

Evaluating the Information

As genealogists, we often place considerable value on family Bible records. However, not all Bible entries carry the same evidentiary weight.

A birth recorded by a parent shortly after the event may be particularly valuable. On the other hand, a birth date recorded decades later by a descendant may depend on family memories or information copied from another source.

In this case, some of the entries were made by my grandmother, Pauline Mentzer Briles. As she grew older, her recollection of dates and places was not always accurate.

That makes it especially important to compare the Bible's entries with other records.

The incorrect death date for Gladys Green and the incorrect birth date associated with Kathey Crawford demonstrate the need for such comparisons.

There is also another issue to consider. Since I am working from a typed transcription rather than the original Bible, I cannot always determine whether an error originated with the person making the Bible entry or with the person preparing the transcription.

The transcription itself is valuable, but it is one step removed from the original source.

Why Preserve Family Bible Records?

Despite the occasional errors, I consider this transcription a valuable part of my family history collection.

It documents several generations of the Mentzer and Briles families, preserves family relationships, and includes personal details that might not appear in official records.

It also provides clues for additional research.

Most importantly, it reminds me that my grandmother was interested in preserving family information. By adding information about her children and grandchildren, she continued a record that had begun with her father.

Even though some of her entries may not be accurate, I appreciate her efforts to preserve those family connections.

The lesson?

If you have an old family Bible, take time to examine it carefully. Photograph the pages, record the inscriptions, and document its history of ownership. Even if the information has already been entered into your genealogy database, preserve the original record.

And, of course, verify the information whenever possible.

In my case, I may not have the original Charles O. Mentzer Bible, but thanks to this transcription, I have a record of the family information it contained.

That makes this transcription another treasured item among my Monday's Diggings.