A Holy Hidden Treasure: 318-Year-Old Bible Found in Iowa Nursing Home

A 318-year-old book has sparked a mystery in Iowa.

Kathy Magruder found a leather-bound Bible in the back of a retirement home library.

The book was the King James version of the Christian Bible printed in Scotland in 1705.

“When I opened it up, the pages, they make a noise when you turn them, that’s a little different from a new book,” she told KCCI. “The book smells a little different than any other book, and that's when I knew it was probably worth looking into  more."

Through death and marriage records handwritten into the Bible, Magruder was able to trace the family who originally owned it. 

“I started looking into it and I fell into a rabbit hole,” she told the outlet. "When I found the names in a genealogy, you could probably hear me yell out here in the front of the store. Woo! Got it!"

Now she’s hit a dead end.

Magruder’s next mystery is to solve is how the three-century-old Bible made its way from Scotland to Iowa.

"I'm working on it, but I'm just having so much fun with the research,” she added.

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