Dean Elliott's grandmother, pictured left, is credited with saving the Bible from getting thrown out with the trash during a family move in 1925.

Survival is the name of the game in for the Elliott family Bible. Dating to 1869, when it was given as a wedding present, the Bible hasn’t had the best of luck over the years, staving off extinction at least twice. Its first near-death experience came in 1925, when, during a family move, it was accidentally relegated to a trash heap. Dean’s grandmother, Maude, plucked it from the rubbish pile. Since then, it’s been used on the altar of every family wedding, despite nearly being wiped out a second time during the 1993 flood, when it sustained moisture damage in a water-filled North Lawrence basement.