James Harvey Fulbright's Family Bible
"Heaven for men and hound dogs and hell for women and oxen." So succinctly one of the early Fulbright women described Greene County, Missouri to her Tennessee friends. Aptly explaining why, although it was settled several years earlier, it wasn't until June 1832 that the very first white male, my great great grandfather, Captain James Harvey Fulbright, was born in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri.
Recently, I learned that James Harvey Fulbright's Bible had been bequeathed to me, and over the Christmas holiday I first saw it It is highly impressive! Huge to be exact, and just shy of ten pounds. It is bound in leather, and richly illustrated with scenes in the lives of the prophets and Jesus. Five pages between the old and new testaments record the dates of my 19th century forbearers.
The Bible may well have been a wedding present to James Harvey: The first of the family history pages is devoted to the marriage ceremony. It is the only page in the entire Bible which is richly illustrated in brilliant color. With several blank lines designed to be customized with the date and names of those present-which included James Henry's in-laws, whose home was the site of the wedding. I was reminded of my own traditional Quaker wedding certificate, which includes my wife's and mine own vows, as well as the signatures of those who attended our wedding two years ago at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, our alma mater.
If the Bible was in fact a wedding gift it is now 140 plus years old. James Harvey was married in 1852, when Millard Fillmore was President. This family book has existed through three "great" wars, 30 U.S. Presidents, and no doubt the baptism and spiritual education of many ancestors. Awe inspiring!
James Harvey was living with his father, John William, Jr. (1795-1862) on land granted to his father for service in the War of 1812, when the Civil War broke out. James Harvey served for the Confederacy as a purchasing agent and commissary at various times in Arkansas, Texas and Missouri, attaining the rank of Captain
In the 1880's James Harvey served for two years as a county judge, and later was appointed to the State Board of Agriculture. He died on February 24, 1912 aged 79.
It was a lot of fun for me to do the simple research for this article, starting with asking David Fulbright for his advise and the thrill of learning that David and I share a common grandfather in John William Fulbright Sr., (1757-1820). I also thank Mr. Edward Stout whose Fulbright genealogy chart was most instructive.
Lastly at 140 plus years, Captain James Harvey 's Bible is beginning to fall apart and decompose, and I would be most grateful for advice on how it may be conserved.