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Madelyn Lacy
Dr. Jamison
H 9th grade lit
September 10, 2015
The Prayer Book
For almost four generations, a beat-up, ripped, prayer book has been the encouragement
and guidance for mothers Louise Wittenberg Hackney, Sue Hackney Williams, and Sara
Williams Lacy. After seeing this artifact, on a Tuesday afternoon, with Band Aids holding the
binding together, pages folded and ripped, you can see why it is not just a little old book that
should be looked over easily.
This cream colored item holds guidance from the Lord that is vital for rough times as a
stressed mom in an everyday tricky situation said Sue Hackney Williams. Any mom can pray
in any way that she chooses to get through the good times and bad times of being a mom. This
little book is just a good representation of how that has occurred in this family.
In the early 1900s, Louise Wittenberg Hackney who was the first known owner of the
book lived in London, Kentucky. It was there in Kentucky where Louise got the book from a
friend as a gift when she was very young. Louise was married to Horace Hackney; they had two
children.
Louise's daughter, Sue, said "that book went everywhere with her and was as important as
her right arm. She always had it when she would go to church.
Like mentioned before, this book is as old as time with words such as Thy, thee, and
whom. It is very small and has little pictures in the beginning of each chapter on the top of the
page. The binds that were holding it together are practically not there anymore, being few and far

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between, and is now replaced with Band-Aids. The fonts of the words in the book are not even
used anymore!
When it came time and Sue had her first born Joe Williams baptized, Louise handed the
book down so that she could fight her own spiritual and motherly battles with it in 1951. Sue felt
so proud to have the book and handled it with the respect it deserved. She found that it helped
her in most aspects of her life. In the time of this interview, Mrs. Sue Williams described the
prayer book as her "quiet place.
Later on and carrying on the tradition, Sue gave it to Sara, her daughter, in 1999 when
she baptized her triplets. This tiny book has gone through a lot, and is in rough condition, but
will hopefully be carried on to a new mom in the family someday.
The impact this book made was like a scar that will never go away. The special job of
being a mother is a very difficult one, as Sue points out in the interview. Sue says "it comes with
lots of risks, new experiences, and joy, but before you can have joy, you have to go through
seasons of difficulty. This is a relatable statement for mothers who can become nailed down
with stress from little hooligans running around their house. However, for Sue, there was a cure
that was given to her by her mother who went through difficulties just like her; it was the little
old prayer book. The cure came from reading the prayer book and taking some time for herself.
This allowed her to sort out issues in her life and learn which helped her and that she would later
give to her kids through advice.
Most mothers now keep going without a break which truly can lead to depressed,
unhealthy, and frustrating seasons of being a mother. If mothers today could have learned one
thing from the earlier generations, it would be to have a very strong prayer life to get you
through the rough times of being a mom.

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According to Sue and her beliefs she says that children should be prayed over in good
times and bad.
In another interview with Sara Williams Lacy, who is the current owner of the book, she
said that it allowed for us to connect and pray over our kids.
Prayer is a big deal in the Christian faith; it allows Christians to get guidance from the
Lord. Within the prayer book it has written scriptures that are about praying for your children.
This makes it easy to understand what the words are saying and meaning in the stressful
seasons. Sue pointed out that without that book, things in her life would have been much
different such as her children, marriage, and choices.
This artifact is a unique find because of the impact it made on these important mothers. It
shows hope for a brighter future with mother to mother bonds. Thats why this little old book
would be very interesting to research for anyone fascinated in old artifacts or prayer books.
In another interview with one of Saras daughters, Madelyn Lacy she says I dont know
if I will one day own this particular book or if one of my sisters will get it. I do know that we
will all benefit from it having been in our family and the women who prayed from it. I hope to
pass on my Christian faith to my children as the women in my family have passed it on to me
and to my sisters.
Within the same interview Madelyn says it was a great experience when I learned about
the prayer book, and everything that it meant to the wonderful mothers in my family. It also
encouraged me to learn about more artifacts in the world and maybe not just the artifacts in my
family tree.
A hopeful future can be filled with more prayer books, and more people praying for the
children of this world. It might also have more of a bond between mothers to encourage each

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other in seasons of difficulty and in faith just like Louise, Sue, and now Sara. Anything can make
this chain reaction and it doesnt have to be really old or special as long as you make it filled
with memories and meaning it can one day be a wonderful artifact to you as well.

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Citations
Lacy, Sara W., and Sue H. Williams. "Artifact Article." Interview by Madelyn R. Lacy. n.d.: n.
pag. Print.