Trail of the Reese Family Bible

  This book was published in 1863 in Chicago.  Adam Reese ran a small store in the village of Reeseville, Wisconsin about 120 miles north of Chicago, Illinois.  The two towns were connected by train.  Adam probably bought his store goods wholesale from the larger city.  When Adam saw the big bible advertised, he must have thought his wife Mary Ann would like to have it.
  All the initial entries, some of which are retroactive, concern Mary Ann's parents (1798), her own birth, her husband's birth, their marriage, and the births of their 4 children.  She records the marriages of her children and one grandchild (1873), but then she stops.
  It seems odd that Mary Ann never entered any information on either of Adam's parents, who she knew very well.  They lived in the same small village.  She also neglected to mention her own 2 brothers, who were back in New York, although a photo of her brother William is inserted into the book.
   It appears that one or more of her 3 daughters took over making the entries.  Perhaps they share the duty.  Whoever is doing it is fair.  All of the 3 sisters children's births are carefully recorded, including the children's subsequent marriages.  It seems Rosetta's wider family is the most thoroughly documented, so I suspect she is the principal.  But her death (1913) is recorded in the book, only a decade after her mother Mary Ann's passing (1902).  Then 18 years after Rosetta, May Bell's death (Aug 1931) is written in the book.  This is the last entry in the book.  Ella, the remaining sister, dies just 2 days after May Bell.  Nobody records her passing in the bible's pages. (I have the Illinois State record as evidence of Ella's death).

   Following May Bell and Ella's deaths, the bible must be inherited by a relative who doesn't do anything with it, besides possibly losing a couple of valuable pages.  Who has the book?  How does it get to the West Coast?  Ella has 3 children, but they don't arouse my interest.  Ella's children continue to live in Wisconsin or Illinois.  Upon her death, May Bell Reese Travis has one living son, Charles Travis, who resides in Northern California.  Did he attend his mother's funeral, take the bible back home as a curiosity, then forgot about it?  When Charles dies (1949), perhaps his son Patrick collects it.  This angle may need more research.

   Previously, I tried to tie the Burgess family into this, and I have communicated with at least one living relative, but they don't fit the timeline.  The Burgess family are direct descendants of the Reese family, but they are spreading out in Washington State and northern California, in the same era that someone is making bible entries with events in Illinois.  Did Charles Travis know his great aunt Almira Reese Burgess' family (his cousins)?
    This really needs some research.

The Wilcox Family

Lately, I've been very busy researching the Wilcox branch of the Reese family descendants.  As mentioned the the Nov. 6th 2011 post, Adam Reese's son William Henry Reese takes his family to Washington State in the 1890s.  William's daughter Ruby Amelia Reese, who was born in Reeseville, Illinois accompanies her parents to Washington.  By the way, Amelia is also the middle name of Adam's sister Ella.  Ruby marries W.W. Wilcox and they raise a large family in South King County, Washington.
  I found a family portrait of Ruby surrounded by her adult children.  The people in the photo were not identified by name, so we didn't know who was who...

.... Until now.  I made contact with Ruby Amelia Reese Wilcox's living granddaughter, June.  I sent June the Photo and she immediately recognizes her mother and grandma, plus a few of her aunts and uncles.  With my research, we fill in the missing names.  The significance of this is that I am now working in the present time with Reese family descendants.
     June was wondering if she had any living relatives.  I try to help.  I find her older half-sister's obituary to answer that question.  The next day, I locate her late uncle's living 92 year old widow.  I give June the phone number and address.  June calls her and they have a nice conversation.  It was a nice feeling of success to reconnect the two ladies.  I try to find another cousin of hers.  I feel sure she is still alive, but I strike out, unable to find her.
    The Reese Bible never had any information on William Henry Reese or his descendants, so I don't think they were ever in possession of the book.  That part of the mystery remains unresolved.