Do you have Bible records buried in your files that don’t belong to your direct ancestral line? Today’s Friday Find is one such record.

The record is from an Oliver family Bible and contains information about Martha Jane Crawford Oliver and her family. While Martha is not one of my ancestors, she was the daughter of Harvey Harrison Crawford and the granddaughter of James Crawford and Martha Knight.

Anyone who has followed my Crawford research knows that there were multiple men named James Crawford living in Kentucky and Ohio during the same time period. My ancestor was James Crawford who married Sally Smith, while Martha’s grandfather was the “other” James Crawford—the James Crawford who married Martha Knight. Because the lives of these two men intersect in many records, I have spent considerable time researching both families.

In 2003, I received photocopies of several pages from this Bible from Mrs. Shirley Oliver. Included with the images was a note explaining the Bible’s history:

These are some pages from a Bible which was presented to Rachel Williams Oliver by her mother 8 Sept. 1853.

The note further states that Rachel Williams Oliver was the second wife of John S. Oliver.

Although the photocopies are faded and difficult to read in places, modern tools helped make the record more accessible. With the assistance of ChatGPT, I was able to create an initial transcription of the pages and then review and correct the results. The Bible preserves births, marriages, and deaths for members of the Williams, Oliver, Crawford and related families.

Since Bible records are often difficult for researchers to access, I am including the complete transcription below in hopes that it may help descendants of these families.

Family Record — Deaths

Catherine Garder
died Aprial the 12 AD 1880

---

Martha J. Oliver died
November the 2, 1860

Mary E. Oliver, daughter
of J& MJ Oliver, died
Nov. the 10, 1860

John S. Oliver died
November the 2, 1899

Rachel Oliver died
January the 6, 1911

Rachel Oliver the wife of

John S Oliver

Family Record

Births

John S. Oliver was born
June the 24, 1824

Martha J. Oliver was
born Oct. the 23 1835

Mary E. Oliver, first
daughter of J S and M J
Oliver was born Apr
the 28th A D 1853

Nancy R. Oliver, sec
daughter of J S & M J Oliver
was born May 25, 1855

Harvey D. Oliver,
first son was born
March the 16, 1857

Francis M. Oliver,
second son was born
Dec. the [2]6, 1858

Rufus E. Oliver,
was born May th 26
A.D. 1865, son
of J Sand Rachel Oliver

John Blackford
was borned Jan.
the 25, A.D. 1793

Hannah Halsey
was born Aug.
the 12, 1793

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Deaths

A – illegible line

Elizabeth [Freeman] died
August 16, 1847

JuliannWilliams died
in June [11], 1829

Mary Bloomfield died
March the 23, 1837, aged
eight years

John B. Williams
departed this life in
November the 26, 1851

Rachel Williams
departed this life in
September the 21, 1853

Susanah S Litch[iser]
departed this life on
July the 30 185[3]

John Blackstone
died Oct. the [6 1866]

Hannah Black[tone]
died June the 22, 1871

Family Record

Marriages

Left Column

John B. Williams and
Rachel Halsey was
married Feby 13, 1808

Juliann Williams and
Isaac Bloomfield was
married May. 6th, 1827

David R Clevenger and
Catharine Williams was
married Sept. 1[6]th, 1829

Apelton Garry and
Susanna S Williams was
married August 1[0]th, 1834

Abraham P. Baldwin and
Mary E. Williams was
married Oct 28th, 1838

William [P] Hazeltine and
Lydia Williams was
married Feby 18 1849

---

Right Column

Samuel H. [Jekinson] and
Hannah b. Williams was
married Feby 15, 1845

John S. Williams and
Susanah [Letchiser] was
married 18 August 1852

Thomas D[ox]ey and
Maria R. Williams
was married July
the 1, 1855

John S. Oliver and
Martha J. Crawford
was married April the 14 1852

J S Oliver and Rachel Williams
his second wife was
married Aug. the 19, 1863

Harvey D. Oliver and
Elizabeth Putman
was married Sept
the second A.D. 1880

[F]. M. Oliver and
[Lettie?] Snedley
was married Feb.
the 26 18[9]4

While this Bible record contains only a small amount of information about Martha Jane Crawford Oliver, it may provide an important clue for identifying the family of John S. Oliver’s second wife, Rachel Williams [G3P3-2RQ].

The marriages page includes several Williams family marriages, including that of John B. Williams [K2MS-WYB]. When I located Rachel Williams in the FamilySearch Family Tree, I found that she was not connected to parents or siblings. The presence of multiple Williams entries in a Bible that was reportedly presented to Rachel Williams Oliver by her mother suggests that many of the individuals named in the record may belong to her extended family.

Although I was unable to confidently connect all of the people named in the Bible to individuals in the FamilySearch Family Tree, I attached the images and transcription to the profiles of Martha Jane Crawford Oliver, Rachel Williams, and John B. Williams. Perhaps another researcher familiar with the Williams family will recognize the relationships that I could not.

That is one of the rewards of preserving and sharing family records. A document that sat quietly in my files for more than twenty years may contain the missing clue another researcher needs to extend their family tree. By making this Bible record available, I hope it will help descendants of the Oliver, Williams, Crawford, and related families uncover more of their story.