New Iberia: A city rich with history.
Streets like Indest St. and Daspit Rd. are tangible reminders of the past, but one local woman discovered an unexpected link to history within the pages of a 200-year-old book.
“I’ve never in my life seen this kind of bible, even at church.” Thousands of pages lined with gold, hundreds of thousands of verses, dating back to the 19th Century. “The stories are [from] before Jesus Christ, its copyright date is from, like, 1810.”
New Iberia resident Rose Nix received a Catholic Bible from the 1800s, containing handwritten names that bridge the past with the present. “I feel like it doesn’t matter what religion this book is, it holds truth for all of us.”
Five years ago, Nix was given this rare gift. “I was kinda nervous,” she told KATC’s Iberia Parish reporter, Anna Fischer, “and I kept it in a bag to make sure it didn’t get more damaged.”
Nix, who used to care for a couple who owned Sorrel Electric in New Iberia, inherited the Bible after they passed away. “The bible was sitting there, and we were cleaning out the house, so I asked their daughter if she wanted it, and she said no. I asked if it would be alright if I kept it; so I have kept it all this time.”
“It’s beautiful,” Nix said, referring to the Bible’s exquisite details and handwritten records of marriages. Birth, death, and marriage records, along with matching certificates, are meticulously documented in Rose’s Bible. “It’s so beautiful to be able to go back and just see the handwriting of someone from 1934, 1968, 1958… and these are local names.”
Names like Landry, Falgout, and Indest, which have become well-known throughout Acadiana, are inscribed in the Bible. “In this town, it really goes deep; which is why I want to share the book.”
A history book, tucked in the pages of a Bible. “I feel like it doesn’t matter what religion this book is, it holds truth for all of us.”