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INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF METHODISM

By

The Reverend John Elmore DuBois

Edited by Elizabeth A. DuBois
(c) 1998  DuBois Publishing Co. All rights reserved.

Preface

        In May of 1998, I caught this strange disease called
genealogitis.  It
seems I had an unquenchable desire-or need-to research my family
history.

        I was soon immersed in this new addiction-too serious to call it
a
hobby-and found myself spending long evenings, lunch hours, weekends,
and every bit of spare time that I could at my computer either
researching on the Internet, or writing notes for future use in what I
decided would be a book.  For how else could I justify the time, energy,
and money in such an endeavor?

        Within a month, my mother packed up all of her genealogical
records,
family pictures, and miscellaneous artifacts and shipped them to me. 
What followed was a magical journey into my family's past.

        The prize possession in terms of what a genealogist would want
turned
out to be an 1824 Bible belonging to my great-great-grandfather, Rev.
John Elmore DuBois.  Big, beautiful, and fairly well-preserved, this
volume was impressive even without the words within.

        But what made this family heirloom completely priceless were the
meticulous, beautifully scripted, and loving entries made in the Family
Record section.

        Births of John's children were all dutifully recorded, along
with some
other family events.  I knew from a letter that John had written to his
nephew that these entries were made by John himself.

        What moved me to tears, put me in awe, and completely
transported me to
another time, another plane of existence altogether was a newspaper
clipping glued to the page titled "Deaths."  Here is what I read:

[To be continued...]

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