The LeFevre Family Bible
ReadThe LeFevre Bible belonged to the French Huguenot family of Isaac LeFevre. Isaac survived the massacre after the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685 and was able to smuggle the Bible out of France as he escaped with the Ferree family.
The LeFevres and the Ferrees: From France to Pennsylvania
This Bible belonged to the family of Isaac LeFevre, who escaped France at sixteen years old in 1685. As French Protestants, called Huguenots, the LeFevre family was persecuted by Catholic rulers after Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685. This edict had granted Huguenots religious freedoms since 1598. Following the edict’s revocation, Isaac’s immediate family—his father Abraham, his mother, siblings Judith, Philip, Jacob, Mary, Susanna, and Charles—was killed in 1685. He was able to escape: with his life, and with this Bible. According to LeFevre descendants, Isaac’s mother concealed the family Bible in a loaf of bread, allowing Isaac to travel with it without suspicion.
Protestanten vluchten uit Frankrijk na de herroeping van het Edict van Nantes, 1685-1686 (1696) by Luyken, JanRijksmuseum
Isaac LeFevre escaped France with the Ferree family, a wealthy Huguenot family from Landau, France. As Huguenots, the Ferrees were still persecuted after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Unlike the LeFevres, members of the wealthy Ferree family were not killed; instead, French soldiers were assigned to dragoon the Ferrees in their home. Escaping, possibly under the cover of night, the Ferrees went to Strasbourg, where they met Isaac LeFevre.
LeFevre joined the Ferree family and traveled with them from France through Bavaria, to Holland and England, then to New York and finally to Pennsylvania. Isaac LeFevre and Catherine Ferree married in Bavaria around 1704. After staying in New York for a few years, the LeFevres and the Ferrees each received a land grant from William Penn, which allowed them to move from New York to Lancaster County. They settled in Strasburg Township in 1712.
Cover of the LeFevre Family Bible (1997) by Photography Credit Conservation Center for Art and Historic ArtifactsLancasterHistory
The LeFevre Family Bible is now in the collections of LancasterHistory in Lancaster, PA. The Bible underwent significant conservation in 1997 at the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia, PA.
Title Page of the LeFevre Family Bible (1608) by Photography Credit Larry Lefever PhotographyLancasterHistory
As the handwritten note to the right of the page states, the LeFevre Family Bible was printed in Geneva in 1608, though its printer is unknown.
The original title page was “torn out by accident” according to the handwritten note at the top of this page. Most likely, it was not accidental but intentional: done to protect the printer in case French authorities caught Isaac LeFevre with the book.
Page with LeFevre Family Births and Deaths in LeFevre Family Bible (1608) by Photography Credit Larry Lefever PhotographyLancasterHistory
LeFevre Genealogy in the Bible
Throughout the LeFevre Family Bible are handwritten records of births
and deaths, chronicling the family's genealogy.
Located at the end of Deuteronomy, this record states the birth dates of Isaac and his six siblings. All of Isaac's siblings were killed in 1685, but Isaac escaped. Click here to read a transcription.
Children of Isaac LeFevre and Catherine Ferree, French (1608) by Photography Credit Larry Lefever PhotographyLancasterHistory
Written in French, this page records the birth dates of the children of Isaac LeFevre and Catherine Ferree, who married in Bavaria around 1704.
Children of Isaac LeFevre and Catherine Ferree, English (1789) by Photography Credit Larry Lefever PhotographyLancasterHistory
One of the Bible’s back flyleaves, this page is a handwritten English translation of the French records of Isaac and Catherine’s children. The page also adds the known death dates of Isaac and Catherine’s children. Click here to read a transcription.
Joseph LeFevre’s Records in LeFevre Family Bible (1800) by Photography Credit Larry Lefever PhotographyLancasterHistory
Joseph Lefever [sic], son of Lydia and Samuel, had three wives: Salome, Lydia, and Catharine. On the left page, Joseph’s three marriage dates are recorded: his marriage to Salome was on April 14, 1785; to Lydia on September 20, 1796; and to Catharine on March 3, 1803.
On the right page, his children with Salome are recorded: Susanna, Lydia, Salome, John Carpenter, and Joseph Smith. Below that are the births of Mary Ann and Lydia Ferree Lefever, his daughters with his second wife Lydia. Salome’s and Lydia’s deaths are also recorded. Joseph did not have any children with Catharine.
Interestingly, the day of the week and the time of day of each birth is also recorded, which is unusual for the genealogical records in the book.
Lefever and McClung Family Records in LeFevre Family Bible (1832) by Photography Credit Larry Lefever PhotographyLancasterHistory
This page, written on a flyleaf in the back of the Bible, gives the birth dates of the four children of John Carpenter Lefever and Elizabeth McClung, who were married July 21, 1823.
Click here to read a transcription of the children's names and birth and death dates.
The last genealogical record in the LeFevre Family Bible, this page documents the marriage of Joseph Henry Lefevre to Christiana E. Foster and records their seven children.
Click here to read a transcription of the children's names and birth dates.
Recipes
The LeFevre Family Bible also includes two recipes. One of these is pasted in on a back flyleaf. The other is handwritten on an empty page in the book.
LeFevre Family Recipe for Cough Syrup (1608) by Photography Credit Larry Lefever PhotographyLancasterHistory
This recipe, handwritten in English, is one for homemade cough syrup. Click here to read a transcription of the recipe.
Untranslated LeFevre recipe, French (1608) by Photography Credit Larry Lefever PhotographyLancasterHistory
This page is still untranslated, as it is written in an old French dialect. It is believed to include the French version of the previous recipe for cough syrup.
This exhibit was created by Allison Schmitt, in fulfillment of her LancasterHistory NEH Summer Internship Program project, in July 2020. To view the LeFevre Bible in-person during a private viewing, please contact LancasterHistory.
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