The Sisley Family Bible

In May of 1986 my mother and I went on a research trip to Ohio and Pennsylvania. One of our stops was Fayette County, Pennsylvania. All I knew at that time was that my 4th great grandmother, Indiana Sisley, had been born in Fayette County and had married Conrad Stem. It was in the Land Records that I found the names of her parents and siblings. Her father, Lewis Sisley passed away in 1826 and in 1834 the eldest son, John, purchased his father's land. Lewis' wife Margaret was named, as were all ten of the children, and their spouses if they were married, including "Conrad Stein and Indianee".

Fast forward to 1999 and the wonders of the Internet! There I found the Sisley Family website and the reproduction of a history compiled and published in 1974 by Paul and Edith (Sisley) Bongiorno. I contributed the information I had on my "Western Branch" as they called it. Then, as often happens when one connection is made, another comes along. In June .. I was contacted by Marge, a descendant of Amberson Sisley, the youngest child of Lewis and Margaret.

Emails flew back and forth. It was an exciting time, even more so when I learned that they lived less than three hours away, on the south side of Indianapolis! And that Marge had family pictures and documents, including the pages from the family bible! Less than three weeks later we met, spent the day together, got to know each other a little, exchanged information, and I had my first scanfest ;-) The bible pages were fragile but we all decided it would be a good thing to go ahead and scan them.

I was, and still am, amazed and thankful that the bible pages survived at all. And I will forever be indebted to Marge for allowing me to touch them, to feel the texture of the paper, to hold something in my hands that my ancestors had held 175+ years before.

Births [First Column]
Lewis Sisley son of Jacob and Jane Sisley was born July 22. 1765.
Margaret Ellis daughter of Nathan and Mary Ellis, and wife of the said Lewis Sisley was born Dec. 13th 1773.

Births [Second Column]
Births. Of the Children of Lewis Sisley and Margaret his wife
Mary Ann was born December 31st 1789.
Nancy was born May 11th 1792.
Hetty was born Dec. 21st 1795.
Eleanor was born October 4th, 1797.
John Ellis was born April 13th 1800.
Louisa was born April 9th 1803.
Ruhama was born September 19th, 1805
Indiana was born May 18th, 1809.

Births.
Wilson Smith was born Dec. 3. 1811.
Amberson Evans was born Dec. 18th 1814.

Deaths.
Louisa Nutt departed this life August 12th 1823.
Lewis Sisley departed this life February 14th 1826 aged 60 years 6 months and 25 days

[Note: all of the entries up to this point have been in the same handwriting]

Eleanor Lyons died March 15th 1861.
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Amberson E Sisley died Feb 16th 1862
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Margaret Ellis Sisley died February 13th 1870


Marriages. [first column]
Lewis Sisley and Margaret Ellis were joined in marriage November 4th 1788.
Mary Ann Sisley was joined in marriage with Samuel Shelpler January 3d. 1809.
Nancy Sisley was joined in marriage with Morgan Morgan Jany 18th 1809.
Hetty Sisley was joined in marriage with James M'Crory July 25th 1812.

Marriages. [second column]
Eleanor Sisley was joined in marriage with Robert Lyon September 4th 1819.
Louisa Sisley was joined in marriage with Samuel Nutt Dec. 28th
Ruhama Sisley was joined in marriage with Samuel Nutt July 29th 1824

Note: Louisa Sisley and Samuel Nutt were married on December 28, 1822. She died on August 12, 1823. Samuel then married Louisa's sister Ruhama.

Another Note: At this point is where the marriage of Indiana and Conrad Stem should have been recorded! Was the family bible "put away" after the death of Lewis Sisley, which occurred in 1826? The recording continues in a different handwriting.

Wilson Sisley was joined in marriage with [crossed out and started over]
Wilson Sisley was joined in marriage with Nancy Wells September 11th 1836.

This post was contributed to the 55th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: Show and Tell
See also Indiana Sisley Stem :: Show and Tell