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THE VAN VALKENBURG FAMILY BIBLE LOST AND FOUND From Bonnie Strope (Br 6) Part Two . Although Marilyn Susoeff is not revealing the name of the woman or the town in Texas, to protect the keeper of the Bible from a deluge of phone calls from curious VanValkenburgs, she said that the woman is a descendent of Mrs. George Catlin, of Apalachin, who was the last person known to have the VanValkenburg Bible in their possession, in 1901. 'The Bible was actually right where we thought it would be, relationship-wise,' she said. 'But location-wise it could have been anywhere. It is interesting that the same newspaper article that unearthed the Franklin Bible succeeded in locating the actual Van Valkenburg Bible.' Even more rewarding to our Strope family is the fact that in September of 1994, the Bible was donated to the museum in Towanda. On September 24, 1994, the following letter was prepared and sent to me. "Dear Bonita,-We met at the Bradford County Historical Society a few weeks ago...Remember the newspaper article that you had about the VANVALKENBURG bible and we made copies of it? When I was at the Historical Society volunteering today the people from Texas who had the bible came in and donated it to the Society. The Society knew that they were coming and several members of the board were present and there was quite a lot of excitement about it. At least for the time being it will be on display in a glass case in the parlor of the museum. Happy ancestor hunting. Sincerely, Marolyn Campbell Cole. A Towanda, Pennsylvania area newspaper told of the Bible's arrival from Texas. "Wyalusing Rocket-Courier, "Thursday, October 20,1994 Picture caption: "Those participating in the presentation of the Van Volkenburg Bible to the Bradford County Historical Society included: (left to right) Henry Farley, curator, James Egloff, Richard M. Robinson, historical society president, Cora Egloff, and Doris Jugo, library committee chairperson. `'Piece of Local History Returns-Van Volkenburg Bible Presented to Museum' The historical Van Volkenburg Bible belonging to Wysox pioneers has been returned to Bradford County after a period of nearly 200 years. Mrs. Cora Egloff and son, James, from Houston, TX formerly from Apalachin, NY, recently hand delivered the Bible to Bradford County Historical Society President, Richard M. Robinson and Curator Henry Farley. Mrs. Egloff wanted this artifact to be placed permanently in the museum for safe keeping. The ninety-year old Mrs. Egloff stated that she and her husband worked at IBM at Endicott, NY during World War II and she still has friends in that area. Her son, James, was in the metal working industry before leaving New York State in 1949, for Texas where he now is in the bookbinding business. Both mother and son have fond memories of traveling to Monroeton many years ago to have Sunday dinners at the Wilcox Restaurant located in the building located on the corner of Main and Mechanic Sts. Over the years, many people have inquired as to what happened to the Bible mentioned in various Bradford County histories. Rev. Craft, in his history, relates that in 1778, when the Strope and Van Volkenburg families in Wysox, were captured by the Indians, 'Old man Van Volkenburg had taken possession of his Bible, a large, massive, heavily-bound book, which will weigh several pounds, and holding on to it with great care, an Indian snatched it from his arms and flung it into the fire. The old man sprang forward and pulled it out of the flames, carried it with him through all of his journeyings, and it is now preserved, bearing the marks of the fire, as an heirloom in the family.' After their release, the family returned to Wysox. A Van Volkenburg daughter, Lydia, was married to Sebastian Strope and Henry Tuttle, also one of the first Wysox pioneers settlers, was the husband of Mary Strope and had the Bible in his possession (Mary Strope is not the daughter of Sabastian-BES). Mrs. Egloff, a descendant of this family (John and Margareth-BES) came into possession of the Bible through her parents, Mary and John Tuttle (David Allen McNeal says that Cora Wilcox Egloff is a granddaughter of John Tuttle-BES). The Bible can be viewed when touring the museum." After seeing the Bible on display, this writer contacted Marilyn Susoeff thanking her for all her efforts to locate the Bible. She was thoughtful to acknowledge my note with the following correspondence. "Marilyn Toyne Susoeff-Dear Bonnie, Your interesting letter dated 1/22 (95) came while we were visiting in Calif. Yes, I enjoy thinking that I had something to do with the donation of the Bible to the BCHS, though the woman I found who owned it and took it to the BCHS gave me no credit for hunting it down, making arrangements for its donation, and keeping in touch with her about donating it. She didn't know that it was "lost" or of interest until I contacted her. But that's o.k. I'm glad it is there and I hope to see it sometime. Best Regards, Marilyn" Marilyn never had an opportunity to view the Bible before her death. The Bible is being displayed with other antiquated articles from Bradford County, Pennsylvania's past in a glass case at the museum in Towanda. To protect it from further damage, viewers are not being allowed to handle it. Curiosity makes one wonder what the pages look like and what genealogy treasures lie within its pages, just out of my reach. Someday, perhaps, Dutch 'in-law' relatives of this author's sister will be granted permission to view its contents and translate its treasures into English. Our cousin, Sherry Nichols, was granted permission by the museum curator to photograph the Bible. She has been gracious enough to share copies of her pictures. Charlie Strope and his daughter, Laurel, express their gratitude for the picture sent to them in the following card. "Thank you so very much for the beautiful photograph of the Van Valkenburg bible. What a treasure! Dad and I took turns holding and examining it (he with his magnifying glass and me with my bifocals) for at least an hour, exchanging remarks of admiration and seeming disbelief. We are so happy and grateful to have this symbol of an artifact so important in the story of our past." Caption on top of the Bible:
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