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White 1902:278, discusses a family bible in the possession of Abba B. Creel Walker:
Commentary: The Rutherford Bible, as it is commonly know, still survives, and is in the possession of one of the sons of David Creel Walker. (See Rutherford Genforum). The current (2005) owner describes the information content of the bible as follows:
A transcription of the remaining legible page is given as
This death record appears to be the transmission chain for this work, and matches the information given by White 1902, with the addition of subsequent owners of the bible. The information contained on the illegible page referred to by the current owner, may in fact be recoverable with modern techniques, but it is unlikely that such techniques would be applied to this particular problem. The possibility also exists that additional information is contained in the bible, but that for unknown reason was not included in the transcription of the letter cited above. The transmission chain for the bible begins with James Rutherford, brother of Katherine Rutherford. This is somewhat puzzling as White tells us that John Walker II brought the book from Scotland to Ireland, and later to America. Yet neither his name, nor that of Katherine, appears in the transmission chain. It may be that the Bible was not used to record family information until it came into the possession of James Rutherford, presumably about 1738 when Katherine died. On the otherhand, the notation concerning John McKnight "b. 1627" is perhaps consistent with the bible being in the family of John Walker II. This John McKnight is thought by some to be the father of Jane McKnight, wife of John Walker I. Thus, in this interpretation, the Bible may have been owned originally by John McKnight, who passed it to his daughter Jane, who gave it to her son John Walker II. James Rutherford is thought to have come to America in 1738, coincident with the death of his sister Katherine. Perhaps John II's children gave it to their uncle after Katherine's death. In any case, the available information about the Bible does not provide us with any clear information about the ancestry of either James or Katherine Rutherford, or about the ancestry of John II. Perhaps further information may become available at a future date. |