This Bible was printed at Cooperstown, NY, in 1835 and at one time was owned by Mrs. Jessie Black Loomis of Norwich, NY. Mrs. Loomis was a descendant of George S. Gorham, the original owner of the Bible. George, an attorney, was born in Danbury, CT, and his ancestry includes descent from at least one of the Mayflower pilgrims.
Gorham Family Marriages
George S. Gorham and Abigail Blanden were married Nov. 1, 1832; George S. Gorham and Laura A. Black, Nov. 28, 1844; Elizabeth M. Gorham and Norman M. Black, Nov. 30, 1854; Abbie Gorham and Daniel N. Munroe, Nov. 14, 1855; Charlotte Gorham and Rev. R. G. Wallace, May 6, 1862; Cook C. Kelley and Laura E. Black, Jan, 21, 1879; H. Riddell Marion and Jessie A. Black, April 15, 1886.
Gorham Family Births
George D. Gorham, born Oct. 4, 1807; Abigail Blanden, Oct. 10, 1809; Abigail Gorham, July 1, 1833; Meriah Elizabeth Gorham, Feb. 23, 1835; Charlotte Gorham, Dec. 25, 1836; Frances C. Gorham, Oct. 28, 1839; George W. Gorham, Aug. 26, 1847; Charles B. Gorham, July 3, 1849; George R. Gorham, Oct. 22, 1852; Laura A. Black, May 27, 1823.
Gorham Family Deaths
Abigail B. Gorham died Feb. 3, 1844; infant daughter, died Feb. 7, 1844; George W. Gorham, March 19, 1849; Mrs. Laura E. Kelley, June 15, 1880, in her 23rd year; Mrs. Elizabeth M. Black, Dec. 19, 1880, in her 45th year; Laura A. Gorham, Nov. 8, 1853; Norman N. Black, April 10, 1883, in his 58th year; George S. Gorham, June 15, 1884.
Gorham Family Information
This branch of the Gorham family has been traced back to the immigrant. George D. Gorham (1807-1884), first owner of the Bible, noted in the 1880 census that he and both of his parents had been born in Connecticut. His son, Charles B. Gorham, served in the New York Assembly.
John Gorham (1620-1675), the immigrant from England, married Desire Howland, a daughter of Mayflower pilgrim John Howland and his wife, the former Elizabeth Tilley. These first Gorhams lived in Barnstable Co., MA, and their descendants spread throughout New England.
The records in the Norwich library vault are among a collection of Bible records copied by the local DAR chapter many years ago. It is not known where the Gorham Bible is.
Harry E. Bolton of Attleboro, MA, apparently copied the records in the vault. It is he who furnished them to the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, which published them in its Vol. CX (April, 1956).
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