Asks DLJ readers to help find Bible’s family
All I did was leave the prairie for a day in the city.
I chose Fargo.
Exciting things happen when one dares to leave the comfort of the prairie and venture into the metropolis of a pulsating city. And because I did – I now hold in my hands the DNA of a stranger long gone. I bought his DNA with hard-earned money and not just by accessing some scientific DNA ancestry site. The man whose DNA I purchased appears to be a Mr. Frances Y. Knopp. I touched his DNA with my own hands at a thrift store. Frances was presented this “Teacher’s Edition Holy Bible” that was printed in 1900 though he didn’t receive it until 1926 – likely by his father John J. Knopp.
What remarkably beautiful handwriting his father had. I can tell he used an ultra-fine point writing instrument. He likely dipped the metal tipped pen in an ink well like they did back then. That thought alone feels dreamy to me. He likely signed it by the light of a kerosene lamp.
The Bible was published by Thomas Nelson & Sons and it’s simply divine! In the back, it has a dictionary with printed drawings and other illustrations. It has pages upon pages of “Bible Helps.” It has a great section of Combined Concordances even.
I especially love the colored Biblical Atlas in the back! I have in my lap nearly 124 years of leather bound pages. I close my eyes and can almost see this Bible attending baptisms, funerals, marriages and from which I am guessing – many sermons may have been written from it.
Surely a whole bunch of peace and blessed assurance was shared from the scriptures inside. Inside this biblical treasure, I found other little things. I found a sprig from some kind of a bush. The page is stained from the leaves and stem even.
Was it from some kind of bush that was biblical?
Or was it a sprig from the tree where he shared his first kiss with his beloved?
I turned a few pages and found a prayer card from a jubilee celebration. Tucked in one of the pages towards the back, I found the cutest little newspaper clipping entitled, “A Biblical Cake.” This is not a pretty Bible. No Bible should be – if it’s being used!
I may not be a registered missionary with any denomination – yet I declare, “I’m on a mission!” My new mission is to pray and have it come to pass that this newspaper column finds its way to a living relative of Frances Y. or John J. Knopp.
I pray the DLJ readers have relatives or friends in Iowa copy it or share it via email or social media. I feel strongly the state of Iowa holds a clue to this family because on the jubilee card I found inside the Bible, it says, “The joyful remembrance of my silver sacerdotal jubilee celebrated in St. Joseph’s Church-East Pleasant Plain, Iowa where the Reverend was the Rev. Henry Sendbuehler. Do your magic DLJ readers!
It’s been my pleasure meeting Frances and John through the Word of God found tucked away on a discreet shelf in a thrift store in North Dakota. Hi to both of you if you’re up there reading this! My name is Jodi Rae Ingstad. I’m just a sinner living on the prairie who recognizes I’m entirely blessed for finding your Good Book! Please help us to find your living relatives so it can find its way home and do them some good during these tumultuous times. Amen!
Enjoy the photos from the Bible housing the DNA of strangers I feel connected to.
The Blonde on the Prairie is a lover of ND. She is an author and motivational speaker, owner of “Monkey Balls” food truck and Joyologist to the elderly and disabled and, now, also to children wherever she is needed.
