Woman posts 130-year-old letter from thrift store bible online — ends up reuniting descendants

Finding things from the past often serves as a time capsule. Something very similar happened with a family who was reunited with an emotional letter penned by one of their ancestors some 130 years ago. The letter ended up 1,700 miles from where it was originally written and was discovered folded up inside the pages of a Bible which was from 1880 and was gathering dust in a thrift store. It all started when Marie Racine, u/vanislesassenach uploaded a series of photos of the Bible as well as the letter on Reddit with the caption, "Mrs. H Harris from Denmark Hill penned a letter to her niece in 1894. The letter was carefully tucked in between some pages of the old Bible. What an absolute treasure! If anyone has more information about this purchase, please share!"

In 2016, Marie found herself pursuing the bookshelves of a hospital auxiliary thrift store in Campbell River, British Columbia, when one book caught her eye: a Bible."I don't know why I was drawn to it because I'm not really religious," Racine told Newsweek. "When I peeked inside, I could see that it was from the 1880s, and since it was on sale for the low price of $8.00 CAD ($5.76 USD), I figured why not take it home with me."

Racine who has a love for anything old, spends a lot of time looking through interesting items in thrift stores. However, she had no idea what was in store for her. "When I got home, I was flipping through the pages and I found the letter tucked deep inside about 400 pages in," she said. "At first I saw the number 94 and I thought it was written in 1994, but after seeing the penmanship and the paper it was written on, I realized it was 1894!"

Racine said that the letter was pretty "hard to decipher." However, the letter had a letterhead that she was able to read. She made out the name was "H. Harris" and saw that the place was called Denmark Hill. After looking it up on the internet, she discovered that the letter was likely to have been written by someone at King's College Hospital in Southeast London in the UK but that's all she got. "I thought the letter was neat, so I tucked it back in the Bible and put it on my bookshelf," Racine said. 

The Bible remained on her bookshelf until she saw this Facebook marketplace advert posted by someone selling another Bible from the 1880s and it got her thinking about her own discovery eight years ago. "I decided to see if anyone on Reddit could possibly tell me more about H Harris," she said. "Within a day, the internet did not disappoint." One of the Reddit users was able to run the letter through AI which revealed the contents of the letter.

"My dear Irene, Thank you for your letter and the flowers - almost the last breath of summer. I am better but very weak and shaky. Certainly, a more lasting shake than I had sixteen years ago - still I hope to run on a little longer. I quite forgot your birthday this year & have just done so in an odd moment. Was very ill then. Tell the children I am always pleased to hear from them, am glad to hear Charlie is settled at work, and trust all will go smoothly and successfully with him. (PS I think this summer has been a friend - I have not been far, and have really been ill since the middle of July - Perhaps things will be a lot brighter soon again.) I am not writing much yet. It is one of the most inconvenient features of my illness, the difficulty of writing. Love to Tom and all the babies," the letter read. 

Later another Reddit user was able to track down more information about the author who was identified as Henry Harris. "He was a physician and a liberal party member who practiced in London. We found out that he was incredibly short but still very respected in the medical community," Racine said. "He passed away of tuberculosis on April 26, 1895, not long after this letter was written. He was 57."

Eventually, another individual on Reddit was able to trace his family line and found his great-granddaughter Lesley who confirmed that Henry was indeed her great-grandfather. Racine later got in touch with Lesley who provided the photos of Harris. "I found out that he was known as 'the little doctor' with a spinal condition that made him small, he had five children, and that reading the letter made her emotional." Later Racine returned the letter to Lesley who even offered her money which she declined saying that it was all good karma. According to Racine, there was a good chance that the Bible as well as the letter reached the States after the Second World War, when many British immigrated to Canada for a new life.