CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A Chicago family is hoping to solve a mystery and return a centuries-old, long-lost Bible to its proper home.
“It’s written in old, German script, so I can only decipher so much of it,” Helga Simms told WBBM.
Simms was talking about a Bible that was discovered years ago inside of the Northwest Side home she grew up in, located on North Oconto Avenue just north of West Grace Street.
Her father found the holy book in the rafters of their basement, Simms said, and he “dragged it from one home to another.”
The Bible dates back for hundreds of years, bears the inscription “Caroline von Isfendorff” on the cover and contains a complete family history. Simms said she wants to find that family. Her daughter, Maddie Johnson, has joined the efforts, as well.
“The one page of the Bible was somewhat damaged, and that’s where my mom started having issues,” said Johnson. “The last entry is somewhere in the mid- to late-1800s.”
Simms and Johnson have pursued several avenues, including the Forgotten Chicago Discussion Group on Facebook, in the hopes of finding the answer. As it turns out, lots of people have wanted to help.
“I had no idea that it was going to blow up so big and that so many people were going to start digging into this,” Johnson said.
In her Facebook post, Johnson said her mother called the Cook County Assessor's Office but was told there were no records of the people who lived there prior to Simms' parents.
Added Simms: “I just really would love to find the owners [of] this Bible.”
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