Surname Saturday - Bodine

The first Bodine in my tree is Eliza Bodine (1815-1855). It is not clear where Eliza was born, some records state New Jersey and another source states Niles, New York. At some point, Eliza and her family migrated to Ohio as she married James Cutler October 16, 1840 in Plymouth, Richland County, Ohio. The couple had four children: Bertha (b. December 28, 1841), Robert Ervin (b. March 3, 1846), Mary Eliza (b. April 23, 1853), and Martin Reed (b. March 22, 1855). The large gaps between children lead me to believe that there were others that did not survive to adulthood. My line descends through Bertha.

Eliza Bodine Cutler's headstone, located in Pioneer Rest Cemetery, Richland County, Ohio.

Eliza Bodine Cutler died October 24, 1855. She is the first Bodine in my line and for all intents and purposes, the last. As part of my genealogy goals for 2012 I chose the Bodine line as one to research further. Many months ago I received a copy of the Genealogy and History of the Branch of the Bodine Family Founded by John Bodine, A Soldier of the Revolutionary War and a pioneer of the State of New Jersey, written by Maude Cutler Scholfield, a very distant cousin. This manuscript traces the Bodine line from my 3rd Great-grandmother's generation (Bertha) back to a Jean le Baudain, living in France during the 14th century. There is a nice bibliography to the manuscript and I have no doubt that Mrs. Scholfield did meticulous research, but I must always carve my own path. Utilizing her information as a starting point I will be looking to find proof of Eliza's birthplace, her parents and then more branches from there.

Ms. Scholfield's book states that Eliza was born in Niles, New York and that her parents were Peter Bodine and Susan Ervin. (Note that one of Eliza's children bears the middle name of "Ervin"). I found that Niles, New York is in Cayuga County. In a Google search I found the Cayuga County Historian's Office website which lists a "Family File" for the surname Bodine. I have already sent a request for a copy of the file. We'll see if I can track anything more down on the Bodines. Take that, genealogy goal.

A little patience goes a long way - Thankful Thursday

It's been three and a half months since I first wrote about my random find of a distant relative's civil war document collection at the Wichita State University Special Collections library here.  The library holds a collection of documents from Milton H. Myers, a civil war veteran and husband of Mary Cutler, my 3rd great grand aunt. Among the documents was a listing for a history of the Bodine family, a branch of my tree that has stalled as far as research goes. Eliza Bodine married James Cutler in Ohio in 1840 and had four children before her death in 1855. Their first daughter was Bertha Cutler, my 3rd great grandmother, that I have written quite a bit about on this blog.

I first tried to contact the Wichita State University Special collections library staff by email, but after a couple of months of no response I decided to try the old-fashioned way. I actually wrote a letter. Lo and behold today I received an email from one of the staff members with a reproduction permission application attached. See how patient I was?