The Baird - Sims Bible
By Kenneth O. Sims
This one hundred sixty plus year old Bible was published in
1840. Its first owner was Joseph C.
Baird. It is currently (2005) owned by a
granddaughter of Esther Sims Stephenson (1892-1982) in
The purpose of the research for this writing, is to determine what relationship, if any, existed between contemporaries Joseph C. Baird and Beverly Hutson Sims, to determine when the Bible came into the possession of the Sims family and to record the history of the Bible for its current owner and others to come.
Joseph C. Baird was born in
The Marables
owned and operated the gold mines at Arbacorchee in
Research indicates that Joseph
C. Baird lived in or near
The first entries recorded in the Bible, which was published the year of their marriage (1840) were the birthdates of Joseph and Caroline:
J.C. Baird
C.M. Baird Apl 8, 1824
and the date of their marriage:
J.C.B. and CM Baird
An early issue of the Jacksonville Register,
The next entries in the Bible are that of the birth of Joseph’s and Caroline’s two children and the death of one of them:
Zebulon E. Baird
Matthew C. Baird Apl. 21, 1844 March 13, 1845
The
Dated
Joseph C. Baird 38 $7600.00 R.E. N.C.
Caroline 24
Zebulon 8 Al.
Caroline Marable 48
Cornilia 16
Thomas 13 Al.
indicating
that Caroline’s mother lived with them after the death of Matthew Marable and that the Marable’s
moved from
Caroline Baird died
Mrs. Caroline Matidla
Baird, consort of Mr. J.C. Baird, dau. Of M. and C.M. Marable, departed this life
Lucy B. Marable, wife of Joel Weems
M.C. Baird, inf. son of J.C. & C.M. Baird
Caroline’s death date was recorded in the Bible next to that of her birth.
On
Rebecca Baird
and Joseph’s and Rebecca’s marriage date on a separate marriage page:
J.C.B. and R. Nolen
11 May 52
Also, on the same page as the Baird-Nolen marriage, the following birth is recorded:
William M. Brown
Research has not identified this William M. Brown.
The 1860 U.S. Census of
Compiled Service Records show
that on
No record has been found of
Joseph Baird after the army resignation of October, 1862. It is unclear if he returned to either
Calhoun or
Between 1860, when the Beverly Hutson Sims family appears in the U.S. Census of Calhoun County and
1870, this Sims family moved to
The first Sims recording in the Baird-Sims Bible appears to be the births of the Sims children:
Thomas B Sims
was born Ap the 15 1855
John B Sims
Mairred
was born Ap the 21 1858
Sirelda A. Sims
was born March the 26 1860
and in a different hand and by a different instrument
Henry. C. Sims
was bornd March the 31 1862
Robbert H Sims
was bornd Dec the 18 1865
married may the 30,
1899
The recording of the first three births (1855 -1860) appears to have been made at the same time which would put the recording after March, 1860. If this recording was done after the birth of the fourth child in March, 1862, one would assume that the fourth child would have been recorded with the first three. But, acceptance that the recording was done before March, 1862 is inconsistent with the placing of the military pay form by the Baird family after February, 1863. Since the second two births (1862 and 1865) are in a different hand and a recorded with a different instrument than the first three, they evidently were recorded after December, 1865. The marriages of Henry Claud and Robbert H. evidently were written in later.
A receipt dated
Something
evidently happened on
Beverly Hutson
Sims died
Nancy J. (Abel) Sims died
A piece of paper with writing on both sides listing the first four children of Thomas B. Sims:
Woody Sims
Baird
Hamp Sims Baird
Ester Sims
Baird
(Baird appears to be a coincidental misspelling of Borned)
and containing various other names and towns with the year 1894 appearing several times was placed in the Bible. An analysis of this piece of paper can present the following scenario:
In 1894, within months of the
Bible passing to Thomas, a 16 year old Florida Sims, evidently practiced
writing abc’s and the year 1894 several times,
and recorded the births of her older
brother Woody (W.B.), herself, brother Hamp (H.H.) and step-sister
Esther, who would have been about two years old in 1894, and also the names and
addresses of her brothers, sister, herself, a first cousin Mary Cornelius,
Viola, Ala , daughter of Thomas Benton Cornelius, a first cousin Dan Pearson,
son of Rachel Cornelius, Mattie Haril (Harrell?),
and li???e Sims,
Letters from Elizabeth Anna's (Annie's) sisters Carrie and Eliza (neither of which seem to have married) who lived in Chepultepec with their mother Elizabeth (Chambers) Sims, were written in 1893 and 1894 and found their way into the Bible. These letters show that Elizabeth (Chambers) Sims was living at the time of their writing. She evidently died between the writing of the 1894 letter and 1900 when sons William Frank Sims and James H. Sims lived next door to each other in Chepultepec. Annie’s Brother Marion, and unmarried sisters Eliza and Carrie lived with James H. and his family at that time. Both letters refer to Esther. The 1893 letter suggests a visit from Esther and the 1894 letter suggests a letter from Esther. Esther would have been one and two years old in 1893 and 1894.
The births of only the children of Thomas by the second wife, Elizabeth Anna (Annie) are recorded on a piece of paper which is in the Bible. The fact that these entries seem to have been done at the same time would put the date of recording at after the birth of O.D. in 1905. Annie was said to have not had much use for the children by the first marriage and is said to have refused to raise them. A family tradition suggests that Hester’s brother took them. That would be Thomas Benton Cornelius.
The birth dates of Beverly Hutson Sims and Nancy J. Abel Sims are recorded on a separate page:
B.H.
Sims
N.A.
Sims
These entries appear by hand and
instrument to have been recorded at the same time. The birth year of 1813 for B.H. Sims is not correct.
An analysis of census data places his birth year at 1824. His tombstone records 1820. The birth year of 1813 is consistent with
the birth year of B.H’s brother Henry G. Sims who, as
for as it is known, never left
Annie died
It appears that the Baird Bible became the Sims-Bible in the early 1860’s. Research does not show a relationship between the Sims and Baird families.
Return to Blount Families site.