The Little Bible

In light of this being Black History Month, I thought I would share this amazing story with you about something I found several years ago. It takes a bit to get to the relevant part, but I assure you the stuff before it is necessary and it will be completely relevant to the month!

Growing up, (and still to this day), my parents and I love going to swap-meets, flea markets, and antique stores. This is part of where my love for history comes from. My parents LOVE collecting antiques, as my dad (who is amazingly artistic, creative, and talented) will buy something beat up, that no one else wants, and clean it up, refabricate it and turn it into something that suddenly everyone wants. Well, being their daughter I got bit by the antique bug, and I, too, enjoy antiques and collectables. Several years ago I got into antique books. None of the super fancy-shmancy, expensive antique books from the 1600’s for thousands of dollars…but nice classic books from the early to mid 1900’s, or an interesting book from the late 1800’s if the price is right. Well, this is the story of how I found the most interesting book I have ever purchased, and the story I discovered about that book . . .

I believe it was about 2016 (or earlier) and my parents and I went to a big swap-meet down in Long Beach. We hadn’t been there long, when I was browsing one of the tables and came across an small, worn, sort-of beat-up book. Normally this would be something I would have passed over, but something prompted me to pick it up. So I did and saw that it was a Bible. I opened it up to the first pages (the ones that are usually blank, or have the Bible information on it) and saw that not only was it published in 1846, but a name written inside in old handwriting. I quickly shut it and got excited. See, I love doing genealogy research and this was a perfect opportunity for researching something unique. I didn’t bother looking at anything else and told my mom about my find. She got pretty excited too and we asked the seller how much he wanted for it. He responded with the price of $25, which isn’t bad, but since we had just gotten there I wanted to browse a little more first before slapping my money down. Well, to make a long story not as long as it already is, I found nothing else at the swap-meet, and when I went back to the table the Bible was still there. I bought it and began hungrily looking through it. The Bible itself was printed in 1843, and belonged to a man named John Fletcher Haslett. As I continued to stand there and look, to my shock I found something absolutely unbelievable. I found everything. Almost everything there would be to know about the man who originally owned the bible and his family was there. Birth dates, death dates, marriage date, his wife’s MAIDEN NAME (if you’ve done any genealogy at all you know how hard it can be to find the wife’s maiden name!), his childrens first AND middle names, father’s name, where they lived . . . EVERYTHING. My mom and I were completely over the moon. This was a history and genealogy lovers dream come true. Of course when we got home, I sat myself down, opened up ancestry, and was basically plastered there researching for the next several days. What I found was one of the most amazing stories I’ve heard, and the sad part was I was my family and I were only one who knew about it.

Next is a historical timeline of events based on all of the evidence I found. I know this way may seem a bit boring, but I did it to make everything as clear as possible and to show how much we can glean from just a few documents.

1835 – on the 22nd of October, John Fletcher Haslett is born to a John H. Haslett, and his wife Sidney Haslett (nee Hurdle), on a plantation in North Carolina.
Also born this same year was a slave whose name was Joseph. This is very significant throughout the timeline.
Sources – the Haslett Bible (the date is written multiple times)
Various Census Records

1850 (age: 14) – the date “June 10th, 1850” is written inside the bible, directly underneath the words, “John F. Haslett’s Book, Price 25”. It is theorized that this is the date that he recieved or purchased the bible.

1855 (age: 20) – on 21st of November, his father, John H., passes away at the age of 60 (causes unknown). In his will, it states that he left almost everything to his son, John F., including his plantation, lands, money, a horse, buggy and riding equipment . . . also 12 slaves. One of these being the young man mentioned earlier, Joseph.
Sources – John H. Haslett’s last will and testament.

1858 (age 23) – on the 28th of December, John F. marries Katherine E. Leonard. She is the daughter of a Jacob and Elizabeth Leonard, born on the 25th of August, 1834 in Massachusetts.
Sources – North Carolina Marriage Records/Index
the Haslett Bible

1861 (age: 26) – the Civil War begins on the 12th of April, at Fort Sumter, South Carolina.

1862 (age: 27) – on the 26th of April, he enlisted in the Confederate Army. He became a part of Cahoon’s Battalion, Infantry (6th Battalion, North Carolina Infantry), and within a few months quickly worked his way up to Corporal.
on the 16th of September, he was transferred from the infantry to the North Carolina 2nd Cavalry (yes its caValry, not caLvary. A caValry is an army on horseback, caLvary is where Jesus Christ died. This has been a PSA), also known as the 19th State Troops.
on the 20th day of September, his first daughter, Mary Kate, was born.
Sources – Fold3.com Military Records, John’s Muster Rolls
the Haslett Bible (Mary’s birthdate is written twice)

1863 (age: 28) – on the 1st of January, the Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect.
in John’s March/April Muster Roll, it is remarked that he was “Entitled 7 months pay for the service of his horse at $12 a month.
on June 9th was the Battle of Brandy Station, one of the largest cavalry battles of the Civil War. John’s company was involved and he became wounded. His medical record says “Vul. selopet”, which stands for vulnus sclopeticum . . . basically a gunshot wound. He was furloughed for 40 days. It is unknown where he was shot, or how severe. He was admitted on June 10th, to C.S.A. General Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia.
in his September/October he is reported to be “absent without leave”. It is unknown why he was absent.
Sources – Fold3.com Military Records, John’s Muster Rolls

1865 (age: 29) – on the 11th of February, his daughter Mary Kate, passes away of unknown causes at one and a half years of age. Because of her birth and death dates overlapping with his service in the military, it is hard to imagine that he ever met, or even saw his daughter.
on the 9th of April, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.
on the 5th of December, his wife gives birth to their son, Alvar Leonard.
Sources – the Haslett Bible
Various Census Records

1868 (age: 32) – on the 21st of April, his daughter Cornelia Root, is born.
Sources – the Haslett Bible

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Ok. This is where it gets super good and this is my absolute favorite part of this whole story.

1870 (age: 34) – the now former slave, Joseph (from earlier), has been freed along with his wife, Grace, and their 4 children, Margaret (14), Henry (11), Charles (10), and Clara (3) (also a cook named Lovey Knight). John gave Joseph his own piece of land right next door, and Joseph adopted the Haslett last name. When you add up everything, from them being the same age, John’s father giving him Joseph in his will, and now this amazing piece of information, you can’t help but assume they had a special bond. As wrong as it was for John to own slaves, the fact that a mere 7 years after the Emancipation one of his former slaves was living next door, a free man, and his whole family free (none sold and separated), with his former owners last name, very much says something about John. Also the tremendous amount of resilience and strength that Joseph had to push through and thrive in such a tough time, is so very inspiring! On the census record is a section that says “Male Citizen of U.S. of 21 years of age and upward”, and you check a box if that’s true. Well, the best feeling I had was looking at Joseph’s name, and seeing that checkmark beside it, knowing that 7 years earlier he wasn’t even considered human, but now he was. A free man.
Sources – Various Census Records

1871 (age: 35) – on the 9th of May, son Alvar Leonard passes away of unknown causes.
on the 22nd of May, daughter Cornelia Root passes away of unknown causes. It is likely that there may have been a sickness that passed to both children and took them both within 12 days of each other.
Sources – the Haslett Bible
Various Census Records

1883 (age: 48) – on the 16th of May, Joseph Haslett is shot and murdered in Vicksburg, Mississippi by an E.G. Cook.
Sources – Newspapers.com

1886 (age: 50) – on the 12th of March, John passes away from unknown causes.
Sources – the Haslett Bible
FindAGrave.com

So, that is a how a little Bible, and few records can tell an entire story. Thanks to Ancestry.com, Fold3, Newspapers.com, and Find-A-Grave for having the records assisting me in this amazing journey! Now, go out there and find your own story! (If you do send me a message I’d love to hear!)