Dear Champions.
The most amazing wonderful thing occurred following my announcement
of the publication of my grandmother's manuscript "No Wealth for
Levinia." (Champion.)
A kind lady, who found Levinia's Champion family bible among items
she bought at an estate sale did an Internet search and found me! The
bible is now in my possession 99 years after Levinia's death.
It is a grest story and confirms that sharing information had its
rewards in often unexpected really rewarding ways.
The article follows:
Dennis
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A Family Bible Returns.
One of the most interesting new books in the Gilpin History Museum's
gift shop is No Wealth for Levinia, which tells the story of Hugh and
Levinia Champion, who came to Central City from Cornwall, England in
1863. They had ten children, all born in Central City. Hugh and
Levinia and six of their children are buried in the Knights of
Pythias and City cemeteries just above Central City.
Weaved into this fascinating story of births, deaths, floods, fires,
feast and famine is a considerable amount of Central City history
between 1863 and 1912, when Levinia died. One story, for example,
tells of encountering some of Central City's prostitutes in a store
on Main Street and the rules by which they had to abide, something
not found in most other books. The book is an amazing picture of
daily life in the early years of Central City.
Publication of the book had an impact far beyond shedding new light
on history, however. It also managed to reunite Dennis Mayfield, one
of Levinia's great great grandchildren, with the family bible. The
book tells the story of the disposition of many of Levinia's
belongings after her death, including the Champion family Bible,
which was full of clippings, photos and dates relevant to the
family's history.
According to the book, Edith Champion, the child who was initially
entrusted with the Bible, moved to Sacramento, California shortly
after Levinia died in 1912. There she married, moved twice, lost her
husband, and then finally moved to Mill Valley, California, where she died.
Edith's niece, Amy Hoskin Hill, Dennis' grandmother (and the author
of No Wealth for Levinia) was charged with settling Edith's affairs.
Missing from her belongings, however, was the Champion family Bible.
Many in the family were puzzled as to where it had gone.
About the time Dennis was announcing the publication of his
grandmother's manuscript, a woman in Roseville, California was
selling many items she had collected over her life time, most of
which she purchased from estate sales. One item in her possession,
oddly enough, turned out to be the Champion family Bible.
She searched and found Dennis's genealogy website and realized there
was a match of names and dates and decided to email him. She and
Dennis exchanged several emails, sometimes so filled with emotion
that it nearly brought both of them to tears. She told Dennis that
she held the Bible for more than eighteen years, all the time
wondering why someone would let such a valuable bit of family history
end up in an estate sale auction. She vowed she would not sell it
without first trying to find its family.
She mailed the Bible to Dennis's sister-in-law's house in Centennial,
Colorado, where he picked it up. The Bible is now just thirty miles
from where it started in Central City. Dennis plans to take it to the
Champion family gravesite in Central City so that the family will
know that, ninety-nine years after Levinia's death, it is home with
family that loves them and with a member that knows the most of their
lives and their descendants through Levinia's story.
The woman who had held onto the Bible for so long included a note
with it that read, in part, "Dennis, I did go to the website where
your grandmother's story of Hugh and Levinia is previewed and read
the afterword you wrote and it made me feel that YES, I did do the
right thing, and am very confident that this is YOUR legacy. I am
ecstatic that I found the Bible's home. That is worth more than money
to me. What a moving story and what a fantastic closure of another
piece of the puzzle, and I am moved to be a small part of that story."
The rediscovery of the Bible certainly added an interesting and
unexpected twist to an already fascinating story and provides further
proof that sharing history can lead to sometimes unexpected dividends.
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