Saturday, June 25, 2011

More James Forgey 1802 bible analysis


The page with my likely ancestors entries is a puzzle. It does look like Andrew Forgey's birth info was added after his death info? So everything in that column was more than likely added after the death date of  3 Aug 1809. We can probably surmise this because someone accidentally wrote his death info on the birth side then crossed it out and recopied it in the correct column. 
How, when and by whom all of this was written is a mystery. Was Nancy and Sally's info added before Andrew's? Or were all three added the same day?  It is possible that Andrew's death was recorded around 1809. Margaret's death entry is phrased differently and the handwriting is different. The other death entries have the latin phrase anidomini  and "departed this life". The 1828 death entry is more straight forward and says died.  The 1833 entry for her grand daughter appears to have been added later. It would appear that the last two entries on the page were entered around their times of death. So the impression is that the entries on this page were made between 1809 or a few years before, for Nancy and Sally, and the last entry was recorded in 1833.
The 1833 entry marked the end of the page and the death entries were continued on another page. The second page of deaths appear to be recorded in chronological order as they happened. Entries were recorded in several hand writings, apparently by several people. The phrasings for death ranged from died, departed this life, and deceased.



Apparently someone wanted to clarify the jumbled and partially illegible info from the page with Andrew & Margaret and son James info and recorded this:

Could be the same person who recorded the previous entry? They seem to phrase the entries the same. Also they both misspelled February as Fabruary. 
More thoughts on the bible. It appears that the style of writing most often used in the bible is called copperplate mixed with round hand style.. It was very popular in the 18th century. I was also thinking that maybe a minister recorded the marriage entry for Margaret Forgey in the bible? I don't know whether this may have been customary?  
Also noted an entry for Margaret Forgey mother of James included the abbreviation for senior? Not often used for women.
There is a lot of handwriting to compare in this bible, and a lot to think about as far as word usage and phrasing. Maybe someone with more experience analyzing this sort of thing would be able to nail down the entry dates better.





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