On Saturdays I rummage through my old cabinet, pull out and dust off an item, and present it here on Roots. Today: An old bible.
This old bible was not gathering dust in my old cabinet (yet), as I only bought it last week, at a book stall on the market in Utrecht. It’s heavily damaged, the cover has come off and is partly lost, but it was cheap, and it has a very old dedication written on the first page:
Aan
J.F.Ph. Hers
tot aandenken van
zijne vertrekkende vrienden
J.D. van Spankeren
A.J. v[an] Spankeren
v[an] Walsem
Herkingen
19 Nov[ember]
1860.
Translation: To J.F.Ph. Hers, in memory of his leaving friends J.D. van Spankeren, A.J. van Spankeren van Walsem. Herkingen, 19 November 1860.
A quick search for Hers in Herkingen in Genlias just shows one candidate, but he was only six in 1860: Johannis Floris Philippus Hers, son of Floris Hers and Petronella Maria Rolloos, born 16 May 1854 in Herkingen. There are no hits for Van Spankeren or Van Walsem in Herkingen, but when I extended my search to the region I found the probable givers of this bible (and authors of the dedication): Jan Dirk van Spankeren and Arnoldina Johanna van Walsum, who married in 1858 in Zuidland. Note that in Holland married women put their maiden name after their husband’s name, thus Mrs. van Spankeren would have been known as A.J. van Spankeren – Van Walsem.
The bible will now disappear into my library. If a member of the Hers or Van Spankeren family is interested in this bible they may contact me.