Indianapolis collector traces 1850s Bible to prominent Westmoreland family

Before the internet opened up new avenues for genealogical research, Bibles once were a prime repository for families intent on preserving their history.

One such tome, dating from the 1850s, has provided an Indianapolis-area man an intriguing link to the Southwestern Pennsylvania region where he was raised.

Pittsburgh native Chris Mitchell, who received the Bible as a gift, learned it had surfaced through an antique store in the Butler area.

“I had wanted an old Bible for myself, “Mitchell said. “For the age, it was in pretty good condition. Then, when I opened it up, I saw there was a family record, and somebody had pressed a couple of plants between the pages.”

When he checked on having the volume restored, Mitchell verified its mid-19th-century origin and that it had been published in the Philadelphia area.

He also was able to research the original owners of the “Good Book” — the Gills, a prominent clan in Westmoreland County.

“That resonated with me,” Mitchell said. It prompted him to post an image of the Bible and information about the Gills on Craigslist, wondering if any of the family’s descendants might spot it and reach out to him.

At last word, no one associated with the family has come forward.

According to Mitchell, the family record in the Bible begins with Cornelius Gill, who owned a farm near Freeport and operated a lumber business, and his wife, Sarah.

“I have the record that lists all of the descendants,” he said. Of particular interest is one of the couple’s children — John Duff Gill, who was an attorney in the Greensburg area, was active in local municipal government and even sought to serve as governor.

“He was the only one who came up with any results on Google,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell included in his Craigslist entry information on John Duff Gill he found in an excerpt from “Old and New Westmoreland,” an historical volume from 1918.

The biographical entry on Gill notes he was born in 1845 in Allegheny Township and was admitted as a practicing Westmoreland attorney in 1871. He was a member of the Greensburg Board of Education and director of Allegheny Theological Seminary for many years.

Residing at 207 W. Third St. in Greensburg, he also was secretary of the Greensburg Building and Loan Association and an elder of the United Presbyterian Church. In 1874, he married Agnes Brown Gemmell. The 1880 census records show the couple had three sons by then — Henry “Harry” Sterling Gill, 5, Arthur Bruce Gill, 3, and Robert Gemmell Gill, 1. They later had two more sons: John G. and Kenneth, records show.

In 1884, John Duff Gill, who had been a Democrat, switched to the Prohibition Party, which pushed for a “constitutional prohibition of the liquor traffic.” The biographical sketch adds that Gill “has long been a director of the National Reform Association and to the twin causes, education and temperance, has been a tower of strength.”

According to prohibitionists.org, Gill was the Prohibition candidate for Pennsylvania governor in 1890, attracting 16,108 votes, for a mere 1.74% of the total ballots.

Democrat Robert E. Pattison was elected to a second term as governor that year, after serving an initial term in 1883-87.

John Duff Gill died April 4, 1926, in his Greensburg home. He was 80.

Mitchell is curious to see if any Gill descendants are interested in the Bible, or a copy of the enclosed family record.

“I would want my great-great-grandfather’s Bible,” he said.