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OGDEN — About five years ago, Joe Kerry was at a yard sale when he came across an old book.
It turned out to be an old Bible from the 1800s. When it started to rain at the yard sale, Kerry thought it would be a shame if the book, with all its history, got ruined from getting wet, so he bought it.
That was the start of Kerry’s non-profit foundation Bible Rescue, which acquires old Bibles and attempts to reunite them with surviving descendants of the original owners.
“Our true goal is to rescue these Bibles and reunite them with the family to bring the human family closer together,” Kerry said. “I think that by bringing these Bibles back, it helps bring us closer together to each other.”
The group will host its inaugural open house Saturday at 238 25th St. in Ogden, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The group has gone through about 1,000 Bibles since it began. Currently, they have a collection of about 500 that they are trying to reconnect with families, according to Kerry.
Volunteers go through the Bibles and pull out any relevant genealogical information, such as names and dates, that might help connect the books to living family members. Then they post the information on family history websites, chat rooms and discussion boards, Kerry said.
Bible Rescue also puts out an email newsletter that contains information about Bibles, and books are often reunited with families of the original owners through the newsletter, Kerry said.
Several rare Bibles on loan from the Brent and Charlene Ashworth collection will be on display at the open house, including a Bible that belonged to Joseph Smith, former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife, Emma, Kerry said.
“Which is stunning,” he said. “I never knew that Joseph Smith had such beautiful handwriting.”
Joseph Smith family Bible goes on sale
A one-of-a-kind family Bible is going on sale in Salt Lake City at an asking price of $1.5 million. That's because its original owner was evidently Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.People will also be able to see a Bible owned by William Bradford that was transported on the Mayflower when America was first colonized. The Ashworths are also loaning a page of a Gutenberg Bible, which was among the first batch of books to be printed using movable type.
Also on display will be a Braille Bible owned by Helen Keller, as well as a Bible that was given to Jack Ruby when he was on trial for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Kerry also hopes that people will come and look through Bible Rescue’s current collection to see if there is a family Bible that was owned by one of their ancestors. He’ll also be looking to recruit some volunteers who want to help sort through the group’s collection.
“I have 500 Bibles now, but my goal is one day to have people walk in and say ‘where are all the Bibles?” Kerry said. “We’re not here to collect them — we’re here to reunite them, so the more people that know about it the better.”
