David and Jennie Dean Family Bible

I blogged previously about the serendipitous events that brought the Philip and Catherine Welsheimer Family Bible into my life. For Christmas, I received another priceless gift: the family Bible of David Philip Dean and his wife Sara "Jennie" Brattain Dean. They would be my great-great grandparents. David was the grandson of Philip and Catherine Welsheimer. Their Bible was found among my grandmother's things. I assume it was sent to her by my great-aunt, Lillian Huffstetler.

I wanted to share some pictures and items from the Bible so other family members can see it.

Outside cover

Inside cover. The text reads:
Family Bible of David P. Dean and Sarah Jane Brattain-Dean who were married August 22, 1876
DesMoines, Iowa The above names were written by Eva D. Trowbridge July 14, 1961 at the home of
Manie Dean Edmundson 3227 Wright Ave Bremerton, Wash
[Eva and Manie were daughters of David and Sarah]

Frontpiece of the Bible. It dates to 1863. I don't know
if the Bible belonged to one of them prior to marriage
or if it was purchased for their family from an older printing.
Note the pages pinned on the side. I removed the
pins to prevent rusting and damage to the pages

This is what was written on the back of the tract pinned to the opposite page of the Bible's frontpiece. On the top is the name "Ann Dean" in very faint letters. Ann was David's mother, Anna Welsheimer Dean, who died in 1905, which means she is not the person who wrote the rest of the page. I suspect it was David Dean who did so:

This tract was given to D.P. Dean , about the year 1860 or 61. He was walking along the road on his way to his Uncle Jim Finch's [David's paternal aunt, Sara, had married James Finch], when two men on passing by in a one-horse buggy handed him this tract and one other. This circumstance is very vivid in my mind at this time, Feb 16, 1920, 69-70 years ago. This piece of road was what is now Court Avenue between 20th and 30th sts, DesMoines, Iowa.

The second tract has the same story written on the back, but it was written in March 1916

A number of newspaper clippings were stored in the Bible, including this one from January 30, 1907, describing the wedding of David and Sarah's daughter, Madge, to Herbert Swenson, in Altoona, Iowa. (Clicking on the picture should give you a larger version to read)

Here is a sadder clipping. This is an obituary for David and Sarah's son, Ralph, who died at 18 in June of 1918. From the newspaper account it sounds like he had suffered from illness for much of his life. A number of clippings related to Ralph were in the Bible. He was obviously much missed.

An interesting clipping that showed how David and Sarah kept in touch with their extended family. The article is from a Middletown, Indiana, newspaper and about the wedding of L.K. Wisehart in 1908 or 1909. I don't know who L.K. was, but the article mentions he was the son of Richmond Wisehart. Richmond was Sarah Brattain Dean's maternal uncle, the brother of her mother, Louisa Wisehart.

Here's a fun clip! Apparently in 1936 David Dean grew a 2lb tomato and a 7lb potato! 

This advertisement answered a question I had long had: when, exactly, did the Dean family move to Washington? The answer, apparently, is sometime soon after Dec 7, 1910, when they sold their farm and equipment in Altoona, Iowa

Lillian Dean's wedding to Raymond Stiles in November 1911, Whidbey Island, Washington

The church bulletin announcing Sarah Brattain Dean's death. April 6, 1919

The pages before the New Testament have family records. This is the marriages page. It appears there are two different hands that wrote here. Below, I put the notes by that second hand in {}. That second hand seems to take over entirely after 1907, but perhaps earlier. Although the first hand could be Sarah and the later David, I have an alternative theory: the first hand is Anne Welsheimer Dean's. After her death in 1905 (or perhaps when she was incapacitated earlier), either Sarah or David took over adding to the Bible. That theory is based on a) the fact that the hand seems to disappear before 1905 (I think, some entries are hard to tell); b) the writing has an archaic look to me; and c) the handwriting reminds me somewhat of the Welsheimer family Bible, which was written by one of Anne's parents.

The writing is as follows:
Aug 22nd 1876 Mr. David Philip Dean to Miss Sarah Jane Brattain
{Ceremony took place at residence of J. Wisehart SE Corner 12th and Court Ave. DesMoines, Iowa}

Miss Mary Louanna Dean to Mr. Will Edmundson Dec 29 1897 {At home near Altoona NW4 NW4 12.79.23}

Ethel Gertrude Dean to William Casebeer Dec. 25, 1900 last Christmas of the 19th century {at same house as above described}

[note: not clear if this entry is in the first or second hand]: Madge Estella Dean to Mr. Herbert L. Swenson Jan. 30th, 1907 {at same house as above described}

{Aura Dean to Karl E. Hodges at the house of her uncle Ro E. Fulton 915 Queen Anne Ave. Seattle Washington, Sept. 7, 1910.

Lillian Dean to Raymond C. Stiles. Wesley M.C. NE Corner East 11? Des Moines St. DesMoines Iowa Nov 8, 1911

Eva Dean to Robert W. Trowbridge at M.E.C. in Coupeville Washington Nov. 15th 1911.

Carl Dean to Vera Hancock Sept 1916

Merl to Irene Cotte in Chicago June 1919


Another mystery solved! I have often wondered how David and Sarah met, since she was from Indiana and he was from Iowa. I wondered if he'd visited some of his mother's kin who lived not far from Sarah's family. However, based on this entry, it appears that Sarah was actually in Iowa visiting her mother's Wisehart kin, although I'm not sure who.

The second page of Family Records includes the births. Most of this page is written in the original handwritting from the first page, perhaps Sarah's. There are some notes of deaths, but I think those come from Eva and Marnie, as noted on the inside cover of the Bible. I've put their notes in {} below.

Mary Louanna Dean July 26, 1877
Madge Estella Dean, Sept 14, 1878 {D- April 12 '66}
Ethel Gertrude Dean, Oct. 29, 1879
Daisy Dean, May 8, 1881.
Harvey Edwin Dean, April 18, 1883
Aura Dean, Sept. 10, 1884 {D - Aug 5 '64}
Eva Dean, Aug. 31, 1886
Edna Dean, Oct. 10, 1887
Jimmie [Jimmie is crossed out and James written in} Dean, Feb. 16, 1889
Infant Son, Aug. 10, 1890.
Lillian Dean, July 21, 1891 {D - May 9 '62}
David Merlin Dean, Feb. 24, 1894.
Carl Phillip Dean, Dec. 14, 1895.
Ralph Hiram Dean, June 18, 1899.

I suppose it's good they stopped having kids, as they'd completely run out of room on the page! I will note that this is 14 children in a span of 22 years

The final page of the Family Records is the saddest, the list of deaths. The first five names are in the same hand. The next two may be in the same hand that wrote the comments and later entries on the marriage page. The final deaths, those of Sarah and David themselves, appear to have been written by Eva and Marnie in the 1960s.

First hand:
Harvey Edwin Dean, Feb. 7, 1885.
Daisy Dean, Feb. 8, 1885.
Edna Dean, Feb. 5, 1890.
Jimmie Dean, Feb. 9, 1890.
Infant Son, Aug. 10, 1890.

Second Hand:
Ethel Gertrude Dean, Feb. 11, 1901.
Ralph Hiram Dean, June 12, 1918

Eva and Marnie:
Sarah Jane (Brattain) Dean, B. Nov 7, 1854, D. 1919
David Philip Dean, B. Feb 16 1852, D. Apr 16 1941

The deaths page is particularly heartbreaking. Six of their fourteen children died young. Harvey and Daisy died on subsequent days in 1885. Perhaps there was some disease that went through the family? Harvey would have been six and Daisy three. Something similar happened five years later, in February of 1890, when two children died within days of each other. Edna would have been two and Jimmie just shy of his first birthday. Later that year, the unnamed son was likely a stillbirth. And, as discussed above, their youngest child died at eighteen. We forget, sometimes, how lucky we are to live in this age of medical miracles.