jan 18, 1881 - H. G.'s & Anna's daughter Grace SPAFFORD

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1881 (18 Jan): Grace Spafford born to Horatio and Anna(Spafford, Jeremiah 289). According to ‘Our Jerusalem’: "A year after Horatio s death there is an entry in Father s note book: "Little Grace was born this morning at 6:30, Jan. 18th, 1881." Mother was very ill when Grace was born. She lay in her bed exhausted and weak, wondering what to name this baby who had come as a godsend after her little son s death. She went over in her mind the names of the four little girls who romped no more through the house no, they were not lost, she could not name this baby after one of them. Her eyes rested on an illuminated text hanging on the wall. "My grace is sufficient for thee." So my sister became Grace Spafford, without any addition of a middle."(Vester 55) Re-using the name of a deceased child for a subsequent child, at least in my experience researching genealogy was common in the 1800 English speaking world. The Spafford’s did not subscribe to such a practice. The Spafford’s with the rest of Christendom (generally speaking), do not believe that death is the cessation of existence, but that a dead Christian is very much alive in the physical proximity of Jesus. ---- Spafford, Jeremiah. A Genealogical Record,. Memorial edition, Alfred Mudge & Son, 1888. ; Vester, Bertha Spafford. Our Jerusalem an American Family in the Holy City, 1881-1949. Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1950.

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