Name/Title
Holy BibleEntry/Object ID
2008.9.2Description
Small black Holy Bible with flower ornamentation on the front and brass corners and a latch. The spine reads "Holy Bible" in a gold script, and the cover has separated from the book. The front interior page includes the name "Julia Martin" above "Julia M [illegible]" and an illegible city name—possibly Cola or Columbia—and "S. C." An inscription on the second page reads: "'Search the Scriptures.' / John 5.39. / With the best wishes of / Grandpa. / Christmas 1882."
Pressed between pages 218 and 219, a lock of blonde hair is tied with a green ribbon.Context
In 1882, this Bible was gifted to Julia A. Martin (1868–1948) by her grandfather and Columbia-based cabinetmaker Milo Hoyt Berry (1819–1907). Julia was raised on agricultural land in unincorporated Fairfield County and married Winnsboro native Hartwell L. Pope (1867–1889) in January 1888. The following year Julia lost her husband and infant son, Robert (1888–1889).
In 1891, she married George Tucker Sims (1868–1899) in a "plain...but exceedingly neat" wedding. After her second husband's untimely death, Julia began working as the post mistress at the historically female Winthrop Normal and Industrial College of South Carolina (now Winthrop University) in Rock Hill. She ultimately served in this position for over forty years before retiring to her family's Fairfield County home in Monticello.
The repeated inclusion of the name "Julia" on the front page of the Bible suggests that Julia Martin Sims may have gifted this Bible to her orphaned niece and namesake, Julia Adelia Martin (1915–1999). In 1937, the younger Julia married Thomas Stevens (1909–1954) of Rock Hill at her aunt's home. Together Julia and Thomas had at least one son, Thomas (b. 1941), and worked at Rock Hill Printing and Publishing Co.—one of the largest textile plants in the nation—for many years.Dimensions
Height
1-1/2 inWidth
3-1/2 inLength
5-1/2 in
