Grandma Eckman's Bible

I am in possession of my Great-Grandmother Leta’s Bible—the King James translation. She received it in what appears to be the late 1940s-early 1950s. My estimate is based entirely on a page in the book – the marriage page, in which she has acknowledged her marriage to Claud Bassett in 1948. However, his name is partially whited-out, since the marriage ended so badly, and on a blank page, she signed her name: “Leta M. Eckman,” which was her final married name.

Leta (left) to church in FL.

She also has a bookmark with a verse from Deuteronomy (28:12): “The Lord shall open unto thee His good treasure.” On the back, she wrote: “From sister Mabel Feb. 54 in St. Petersburg Fla.” Mabel lived in British Columbia, Canada, so the two did not see each other very often.

I am particularly pleased to possess this family heirloom, not just because of my study of my Great-Grandmother, but also because of the way it connects me to her. It is old more than worn. She has recorded several interesting notes and family listings in it, although a couple are inaccurate (including my own birth year, believe it or not). Yet it was hers.

Most significantly, this Bible reminds me that she was a person of faith. Even today that a person whose life-style was as loose as hers could be a devout Christian is remarkable. Yet there she was—a church-going, Bible-reading, faithful woman.

While today we consider the King James to be a conservative, arguably questionable translation (albeit with beautiful language), back when she received it and through most of her life, this translation was the only one available. I wonder if she were alive today, would she have a more scholarly and accurate translation, such as the New Revised Standard Version or, as she converted to Catholicism later in life, the New American Bible. Perhaps, she would have preferred the simple, somewhat paraphrasey Good News Bible, or maybe even the gender neutral New International Version. Most current translations were released initially beginning in the 1970s when new and additional authenticated historic texts were verified, whereas the King James has basically remained the same, using less authentic texts and its stilted language.

In any case, I sometimes picture her reading the Bible, using it for Bible study, writing in it the details of her parents’ marriage and the births of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and carrying it to church and Bible study.

I see her during one of these meetings (or going out for a drink afterward) and while talking to her friends about this and that, learning a home remedy for wart removal or some other tidbit. Having no paper at hand, but a pen with her checkbook, she would quite write down the info in the Bible.

Perhaps in her mind this would be the “family Bible.” And maybe, since I have it, three generations later, it is, at minimum an heirloom that I treasure and intend to treasure for the rest of my life.