The Mystery of the Underhill Bible

The Westchester County Historical Society acquired a significant historical artifact—a Bible bearing the bookplate of Abraham I. Underhill, one of three brothers who established a flour mill on the Croton River in 1792.

The Bible contains a handwritten page documenting Abraham Underhill's marriage. The entry reads: "in a publick Meeting of the people called Quakers at Croton in the Town of Cortlandt, the 19th day of the 12th month, 1805."

Most intriguingly, the Bible also contained "a folded paper in an unknown hand, possibly shorthand," according to the eBay seller's description. The author solicits expertise in deciphering this mysterious document, questioning whether it represents mundane correspondence, Quaker meeting minutes, or documentation related to the protracted legal dispute between the Underhill and Van Cortlandt families over control of the Croton River mill.

Two high-resolution black-and-white scans of the document pages were provided by Patrick Raftery, Librarian of the Westchester County Historical Society, to assist readers in identifying and translating the shorthand writing.