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Archives: Rev. John Vought Bodine Family Bible

In September of 2003, Deborah Thomas (Swanilda73 at aol.com) came into possession of some of her father's genealogical papers. Among these items, she made a wonderful discovery. Her father's cousin from the "Young" side of the family had written him a letter and in that letter had included a photocopy of the "Births" page from a family Bible. The births were from the family of Rev. John Vought Bodine (b. Oct. 20, 1842) and his wife Margaret Hughes Kern (b. Sept. 14, 1845). They had seven children whose births were recorded on that page. My thanks to Deborah for making this valuable find available to all.

As I mentioned, the one page of the Bible I have info on only lists some births. Here is what the Bible says. The spelling is as written in the Bible. See further below for more notes on this information. Click on the word "BIRTHS" below to see an actual image of the Births page.

BIRTHS

(Right Column)

John V. Bodine [handwritten above it is "Vought"]
was born October the
twentieth in the
year of our Lord
one thousand Eight
hundred and fourty
two
--------------------
Margaret H. Bodine [handwritten above it is "Hughes"]
formely Kern was
born September 14th
1845
--------------------
Ambrose S. Bodine [handwritten above it is "Sharpless"]
was born July 25th
1865
--------------------
Anna Jane Bodine
was born May 10th
1867
--------------------
Peter Beckner Bodine
was born November 7th
1869
--------------------
Emma Elizabeth
Bodine was born Dec, 5th
1872

(Left Column)
Frank Manhardt Bodine
was born May 19th 1878
--------------------
Catherine Sigmond [spelling a little uncertain] Bodine
was born May 19th 1878
--------------------
William Diener Bodine
was born February 23th (sic) 1880

Note: The last date does appear to say "23th" and not "23rd". This is not an "8" that looks like a "3." It must have just been a mistake; although, one might want to maintain a little doubt about this date.

Deborah also wrote, "Also written on the front and back of this photocopy was a note from my father’s cousin which reads:

I have our grandmother’s wedding book and certificate. Inside were two folded up, frayed, torn and yellow with age pieces of paper. This page was evidently torn out of an old Bible, where they recorded births. The one I have circled is our grandmother [Anna Jane]. I think you will be more than interested in her older brother’s name, Ambrose Sharpless. Our grandmother’s Baptisimal Certificate was the other "worn out" piece of paper. It took place in Columbia, PA, May 8, 1870 by a Rev. D. Beckner, Pastor of Catawissa English Southern Church. You will notice that they used the minister’s name Beckner for the middle name of their next child. Our grandmother’s father, Rev. John Vought Bodine, was a minister and he married J. Frank Young and Anna J. Bodine. The only ones I remember clearly were Emma Elizabeth who we called Aunt Till, Catherine, who we called Aunt Cottie, and Uncle Will, the youngest. Cottie’s twin died of a young age. Because Aunt Cottie and Uncle will lived together, I always thought they were the twins (until I found this piece of paper).