The Bible of Caleb Hampton Aldridge

Caleb Hampton Aldridge was the oldest brother of my Great-Great Grandmother, Frances Julina Aldridge Davis. He was the son of Henry Garner Aldridge and Priscilla Murray Aldridge, otherwise known as Garner and Prussia, while Caleb Hampton was better known as "Hamp". He was named for Garner's father Caleb Aldridge, Jr., the progenitor of the Aldridge family in Stanly County, North Carolina.

Hamp was born in 1843 and died in 1912. He was married twice, to sisters. First, to Sophia Floyd and second to her sister, Elizabeth "Betty" Floyd McSwain Aldridge, a widow. They were daughters of Josiah Floyd, Jr. and Sarah "Sally" Easley Floyd.

This is the first page of Hamp's family Bible. It is very old and hard to read. On the left it says "C H Aldridge Cottonville, N C .  I am not sure what the CO means or of the intials on the left. It could be information that was recorded and faded away. I have copies in dark and light. Some of the images are readable in one light and not the other.

The left side starts with   George Smith was born Dec 4 1888.
Below that  it says "Lee Smith was born Jun 14 1891
Ida Smith was born Mar (can't make out the number 1892
Willie Smith was born Nov 4 1894

These are legible on the dark print, which does not copy well, but not on the lighter on. These were children of Martha Ella McSwain Smith, daughter of Hamp's second wife Bettie, by her first husband John C McSwain.

The next four listed names are the daughters of Ella McSwain Smith's daughter Inez C. McSwain, and are also the grandchildren of Hamp Aldridge, as he was the father of Inez C. McSwain.

Lenora McSwain was born Sep the 25 1891
Varina McSwain was born feb the 27 1892
Renie Hooks was  July 9 1894
Lina Sep 6 1896

The second page must have been older than the first, as it lists the children of Hamp Aldridge and the first page listed grandchildren.

The left side says:
C H Aldridge borned  feb the 18 1845
E P Aldridge borned June 19 1840   (this is referring to Elizabeth "Bettie" Aldridge, his second wife).
M E McSwain bornd Aug 18 1854  (this is Martha Ella McSwain, daughter of Bettie, mentioned above).
G G Aldridge bornd oct 27 1866 (this is George Gillaim Aldridge, Hamp's son by 1st wife Sophia)
W C Aldridge bornd Oct 25 1870 (this is William Crowell Aldridge oldest son of Hamp and Bettie together)
F J Aldridge bornd Feb the 19 1872 (this is daughter Francis J Aldridge, perhaps named for his sister)
H F Aldridge bornd Jan the 2 1874 (this is Henry F Aldridge who moved to Davidson County, NC)
I C McSwain bornd Mar 10 1878 (this is Inez C McSwain, daughter of M. E above and Hamp)

The right side continues naming the children of Hampton Aldridge:

R I Aldridge bornd Jan the 15 1876 or 1879 (this is Rebecca Isabell Aldridge and is a little hard to read. At first glance, the initials look like a B J and the year like 1876. But he is listing his children in order and the next one in line is Rebecca Isabell and other records have her birthdate as January 15 1876)
W S Aldridge bornd May the 25 1878 (this is daughter Wincy S. Aldridge who married Cornelius Harward)
A F Aldridge bornd  Aug the 4th 1881 (this is son Algie Foy Aldridge)
M H Aldridge bornd dec the 23 1886 (this is an unknown child who must have died before the 1900 census)
S L Aldridge borned  feb the 21 1888(this is daughter Sarah Elizabeth who married an Eury)

Across the bottom of the page he scrawled "Stanly County NC".

The Caleb Hampton Aldridge Bible gives an accurate listing of all of his children and some of his grandchildren. Without it we would not know there was an M. H. Aldridge.