#1 McKinstry and Leathers family Bible

2006-04-09T23:44:00.000-07:00

This is a family who loved the out of doors and had a gene in its DNA which loved adventure. You can sense it in the choice of photos.

David Charles McKinstry is also mentioned in the IGI record- born 12 AUG 1778 in the area of our Native Indians which is now Ypsilanti, Washtenaw, Michigan and died 9 Sept. 1856. His father was Charles McKinstry and his mother Tabitha Patterson. But I cannot determine their relationship to the family in this Bible other than them having the same name "David" McKinstry. If the 1778 Charles David McKinstry had anything to do with the family, his parents were an example of that sense of adventure which I see in these photos. The older by 21 years David McKinstry was born in Indian Territry at a time when few white men were seen or dared to venture. Were his parents related to David's father?

A later David McKinstry acquired this Bible probably about 35 years after he was married. The Bible came out in 1836 and he may have taken notes from other family Bibles when he bought it.>

Click on the Photos to make them bigger. Some of the photos can then be clicked on a second time to make them even bigger.

This 1836 Bible was acquired by David McKinstry born 3 March 1797 and his wife Mary Clemons born 29 April 1780 at Charlton, Worcester, Massachusetts They married 3 APR 1815 Charlton, Worcester, Mass..

Information from Donna Basinger donnagene52@hotmail.com -David's father was James Morse McKinstry b. 23 DEC 1751 MA and mother Lois Dix b. 24 SEP 1751 in Leicester, Worcester Co. MA. Information from IGI about the family reveals that James and Lois had many children- including a daughter Lois 1 MAY 1779 Sturbridge, Worcester Co, a son Daniel 4 MAY 1788, William 3 MAY 1782, Benjamin 25 OCT 1783, a daughter Nancy 13 MAY 1785, David 3 MAR 1787, Martha 1 JUN 1790. Usually women have children for no more than 25 years so Martha may have been Mary's last.

The Bible was picked up on the street at-----
sold to -----in town -------state

Apparently the branch of the McKinstry family through which this Bible descended was, by 1881, living in the town of Charlton, County of Worcester, MA. There is also some additional information on the Leathers family of New Jersey and Virginia, apparently prepared sometime in the mid 20th century for a Daughters of the American Revolution function and, I think, related to the McKinstrys by a 20th century marriage. (The Leathers family also goes back to the 1700s, including a John Leathers who was appointed "Overseer of Roads" of Orange County, VA in 1776 and, the note says, "aided American Independence" in this capacity.) The Bible itself has numerous pages for records (pages for births, marriages, deaths), all of which bear McKinstry information. The oldest entries seem to be for David and Mary McKinstry, born 1787 and 1780 respectively, listed here as "parents." There is also a Moses (1818), a Polly (1809), and a Sylvanus (1847), father of Edward McKinstry, and on Edward (born 1881) we have nothing short of an actual birth certificate. The dozens of photos include a metal tintype, a cabinet card portrait, some kind of slide or negative, and many snapshots. I hope some members of the McKinstry family may be out there yet...as all this clearly belongs with the family and might be a treasure trove for those looking for ancestors. Maybe relatives can even be identified by the photos, everything from a snapshot of a soldier in World War I to c. 1930s - 1950s family gatherings, also the family house (a nice house, in the woods by a lake), and one unusual picture of a sweet little girl holding a rifle (!), dated 1916 - 1917 and with a lot of barely legible writing on the back. There is also a hand embroidered silk ribbon bookmark reading Holy Bible. Certainly this is a history worth preserving and, by now, this Bible and its accompanying material may be the only record left of certain members of the McKinstry family. Descendants of David and Mary, are you out there??

Philadelphia Bible Project

#1 McKinstry and Leathers family Bible