Hello Cayuga Listers, I am the listowner of the BEARDSLEY mailing list, and this morning I posted to my list that I had discovered a BEARDSLEY family bible, published in 1839, for sale on eBay. I have no financial interest in this bible, and am not connected with eBay or the seller....my only interest is that the bible be united with one of the descendants of the family that owned it. The family that owned the bible resided in Auburn, NY, and the bible includes a history of that family back to the immigrant, William Beardsley, who was born ca 1605, and was one of the founders of Stratford, CT. Inside the bible, along with the usual family entries, are scraps of paper from the 1800s with family data written on them, and clippings of newspaper obituaries. Some of the most "recent" entries are for the surnames of BEARDSLEY, HILLS, NOBLE and BUTLER. To see pictures of the bible, and to read the full description, click on the following URL: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=274476412 One of the subscribers to the BEARDSLEY list, Jeff Birdsley, studied the pictures at the above URL, and determined that the bible belonged to Nelson BEARDSLEY of Auburn, NY With Jeff's permission, I am posting his interesting message about this family: Re: the Beardsley family bible on ebay, I closely examined the photos they posted and reached the conclusion that this is the family bible of Nelson (7) Beardsley (John 6, Eliakim 5, Samuel 4, John 3, Samuel 2, William 1). The portrait shown is that of Nelson Beardsley (it is also in the I.H. Beardsley book, p. 306) and the deaths listed in the bible are those of his children and their spouses. According to IHB, Nelson, son of John Beardsley and Alice Booth, lived 1807-1894 and was an extremely successful businessman and banker in Auburn, NY. "In a personal letter once he said: 'They say I am worth $6,000,000 but I am not.' He without doubt was the wealthiest man of the name (Beardsley)" (IHB p. 307). Incidentally, I once came across Nelson Beardsley's personal copy of Levi Beardsley's "Reminiscences", now owned by Michigan State University's library. Someone, presumably Nelson, had written in pencil, in the front of the book, the above descent from William to Nelson. There was also some info. on his mother (dau. of Abel Booth and _?_ Curtis) and on his father and grandfather. Presumably this family bible also describes his descent from William (b. 1605). Jeff Birdsley If any of the subscribers to the Cayuga list are descended from this family, I know that you will be interested in checking out the bible. It would be fantastic if the bible could be back in the hands of the family! I have corresponded with the seller of the bible, and he has offered to copy the entries, so when I receive them from him I will post them to the list. Regards, Joann Jameson Listowner: BEARDSLEY-L@rootsweb.com BAGSHAW-L@rootsweb.com TRASTER-L@rootsweb.com