1877 Trisel Bible Pages

Today, two pages from the 1877 Henry and Elizabeth Trisel Bible, pages that were included in Elizabeth (Feldman) Bahn Trisel’s Widow’s Pension Application.

Elizabeth (Feldman) Bahn married Henry Trisel 23 September 1865 and they raised their family in Black Creek Township, Mercer County, Ohio, about a mile north of Chatt. Henry died 15 February 1896 and, because he was a veteran of the Civil War, his widow Elizabeth was entitled to a widow’s pension. 

To receive her widow’s pension, Elizabeth Trisel needed to provide affidavits and documents to prove she was married to Henry Trisel, when they married, and to show if they had any minor children.

Among the items she sent to the United States Pension Office were two pages from the Henry Trisel family Bible. Elizabeth would have torn these pages from her family Bible to mail them to the U.S. Pension Office. There were no photocopy or fax machines in 1896, so Elizabeth sent the original Bible pages to them. These original Bible pages are part of her Widow’s Pension Application File, stored at the National Archives.

Written in her pension application: As further evidence of the date of her marriage she encloses her family record, being a page taken from her family Bible. That this record was made by a traveling man who came to the house and being a good scribe was allowed to transcribe the family record in this way in German text letters for a small compensation. He was in no way related to the family and was made some 19 years ago. She further states that she has no income whatsoever…

Below, the Family Record page from the Bible shows the birth dates of the Trisel family members. Translations: verheiraty/marriage; kinder/children.

Births, Henry Trisel Bible, 1877.

FAMILY RECORD
Heinrich Trisel-15 Juli 1834
Elisabetha Feldmann-22 Mai 1845
Verheiraty-23 September 1865

KINDER
Johann Fr. Trisel Bahn-31 Marz 1865
Elisabetha Trisel-24 Februar 1867
Margretha Trisel-22 Februar 1869
Jakob Trisel-17 Juli 1871
Eisabetha [?] Trisel-16 Mai 1874
Jakob August Trisel-16 Marz 1877
Frank Otto Trisel-17 Juni 1880
Maria Litha [?] Trisel-21 April 1883

Below is the record of deaths [gestorben] in the Henry Trisel family, stamped U.S. Pension Office Mar 31 1896:

Deaths, Henry Trisel Bible, 1877.

GESTORBEN
Unsere Leiber Vater Johann Heinrich Trisel ist gestorben 15 February 1896 [Our dear father Johann Heinrich Trisel died 15 February 1896]
Johann Fr. Trisel-10 September 1876
Elisabetha Trisel-15 August 1868
Jacob August Trisel-24 September 1888

These Bible pages show that daughter Elizabeth died in 1868, between  census enumerations, and may be otherwise unknown.

The child Johann Fr. Trisel, who died 10 September 1876, was actually Johann F. Bahn, Elizabeth’s son from her marriage to Johann Bahn, who died in the Civil War. 

[1] Elizabeth Trisel Bible, c1877, Family Record [births & deaths], additional evidence, Elizabeth Trisel’s widow’s pension appl. no. 629, 450, cert. no. 448,354, 27 Mar 1896, service of Henry Trisel (Pvt., 4th Independent Battery, Ohio Light Artillery, Civil War); Case Files of Approved Pension Applications…, 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

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