Here we are again with a new week and a new “bible”. Okay, so technically this week isn’t a bible. It is very connected to it though, so it fits with my theme from last week. This book is called Four Thousand Questions & Answers.
The copyright is from 1898, so for a book over a hundred years old, it’s in great condition. As you can tell from the title page, this book was for Students and Sunday-School Teachers. This wasn’t a surprise to me, because Llewellyn and her family were very involved with the church. I believe Llewellyn even taught Sunday School herself if her Diary is any indication. Before taking the pictures for this blog post, I just assumed this book was my Grandfathers since I have so much documentation from his early years.
I thought that until I actually read through the whole inscription.
Presented to William Moore by his S.S. teacher for his punctual attendance 51 Sundays. Xmas 1913
Well, that is definitely not Grandpa’s book because he was born in 1930. This must be his father’s book! To have such an old memento from the Moore family is very rare. In the first place, there aren’t a lot of people around that can identify any Moores in pictures. Secondly, for a few generations the mothers died early on and the children were working from a young age, leaving little time for many mementos. That’s what makes this one so special.
Great-Grandpa would have just turned 12 when he got this book from his teacher. In just a few years he will have started working for numerous companies as a bookkeeper. His mother could already have passed away. I haven’t found her death certificate yet, but it happened between 1910 and 1915. Within 10 years the whole family dynamic will change. They’ll move from their decades long residence in Brooklyn and move to Caldwell, New Jersey to live with his grandfather and aunt. There he meets his future wife, probably at church. His father and grandfather will pass away in 1925 and 1928. In 1925 he’ll go to work for AT&T as a bookkeeper and he’ll stay there until he retires over 35 years later. In 1926 he’ll marry Llewellyn and they’ll have one son and 5 grandchildren.
I never met William L. Moore, my great-grandfather, but from the records and memories he’s left behind I can tell you a lot about his personality. He came from a family who experienced a lot of hardships and instability. Even though the family was struggling, he still made it to Sunday School for 51 Sundays. He still graduated from night school. He got the education to work as a bookkeeper. From Llewellyn’s diary when they were dating, he worked a lot of overtime but still made sure to meet her at the train everyday. Amidst all that chaos and change, he became one of the most dependable men I think I’ll ever know about. Even through all the hardships they went through the decades they were married, to this day everyone remembers William and Llewellyn as being rocks of the community. They were there when people needed them and everyone speaks so kindly of them. It’s enough to make me sad I was born too late to know them.
Man, who knew I’d get so emotional about a little book, right?
