The old family Bible of Leonard and Martha (Minerd) Harbaugh Sr., is noteworthy in several respects -- first, for providing an excellent record of family names, births, deaths and marriages; second, for surviving a terrible fire in the 1920s; and third, for its longevity into the 21st century.

The Bible was printed in New York by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1844. It is thought to have been presented to Leonard as a Christmas gift in the 1840s. The precious Scripture was handed down to his son David and thence to various of David's children and grandchildren.

In 1926, the Bible was saved from a fire in Connellsville, PA by Charlotte "Lena" (Younkin) Doyle Showman, and preserved by her brothers Warren and David Younkin. When the Harbaugh History book was written in 1947 by Cora Bell and J.L. Cooperider, the Bible was cited as an authoritative record of the family's vital information. The volume was considered 'lost' after that, until it was re-discovered in a cousin's attic in 1999. The pages are reproduced below as a more permanent way to share the invaluable information for all of our cousins.