St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-07-30
AN INTERESTING RELIC.

AN INTERESTING RELIC.
When Joseph w. D. Carpenter, son
of Horace Carpenter of this place,
enlisted and left for the war 80 years
ago he was presented with a small
pocket Bible which bore this in
scription:
ST. ohnsbury, VT, Mayer, 1861.
Dear Joe:
Please accept this volume from
your true friend. Read often in its
pages and seek to profit by its pre-
cepts Ever yours affy,
w. 2. FAIRBANKS.
Mr. Carpenter was killed by a
musket ball May 5. 1864. and Il
months later his remains were
brought home and inferred in the St.
Tohnsbury cemetery.
The following letters are selfex-
planatory:
South Orange, n. J., Mar 1891.
Mr.. Fairbanks-Dear sir:
have in my possession a small
Bible which has been in the family
nearly 80 years, and the inscription
on the fy-leaf describes somewhat
its history. 1t was found on the
battle field of Fair Oaks (after the
seven days battle) by friend of my
mothers, Mr.. William Chambers,
10th Reg. N. Y. Volunteers, and pre-
sented by him to her. The inscrip-
ton states that the book was pre-
sented by w. P Fairbanks 20 his
friend Joe, at St. Johnsbury, VT,
May 27, 1861. AS you are possibly
the Mr.. Fairbanks mentioned, it
would, no doubt, interest you to
know of the existence of the Bible
and its history. l should like to
keep the Bible, but if you are desir-
Gus of having it, will send it to
YOU Yours truly,
Mrs. A. c. BABsoNs.
1t seems that Col Fairbanks
answered this letter, for on May IS,
he received the following letter:
Mr.. w. P. Fairbanks-DearS Sir:
Your letter OF March 10th was re-
ceived and 1 have deferred answer
ing until now. I was greatly inter
ested in its contents. No doubt the
little volume would be highly priced
bv the widow of poor Joe," who
must have valued and used it, as he
carried it to his last battle. Perhaps
it NAV interest you to know its his
tory since that time.
Mr. Chambers, who found the
book, returned from the war. AL
though but child at the time, re-
member the episode Of his giving the
book to my mother perfectly.
The handwriting on the back of the
fly leaf is that of my dear mother,
now deceased. 1t then passed into
my hands and I, in turn had given it
to my little boy, never thinking 1
should hear of any one in connection
with it. Last summer l met gentle
man in the employ of the Fairbanks
Scale Co. 1t occurred to me to men
ton the name in connection with
the Bible, and l was surprised to
learn the initials were the same. 1
then concluded that you and the
person who wrote the inscription
were the same. This led me to
write you, and the RESULT now
return the volume, by mail, to you,
its rightful owner, to do with as
you think best. should be pleased
to know if it reaches you safely
Very sincerely,
Mrs. A c. BABSON.
Col. Fairbanks received the Bible
safely and at once sent it, with the
letters, to poor Joe's" widow, Mrs.
Helen F. Carpenter, accompanied by
this letter to her:
New York, June 9, 1881.
Mrs. Helen F. Carpenter,
Dear Madam: Last fall l became
aware that Bible which l gave to
your late husband in 1861 was in
the possession of a lady in New
Jersey. l wrote her in March that
when she was inclined to part with
it l should be glad to get it to you,
and recently she sent it to me.
| now send it to you, with the
letters | received from her. While it
may not be of special value to you,
I thought it rightly belonged to
you.
Yours trI11V