Notes for: Mary Leta Bodine

Connie Abel says her family pronounced this family line of Bodines as BOW-dine.

Ovelia M. Sheffield said Mary Leta was born December 7, 1882 in Clinton, Missouri. And Ovelia's father, William Bodine NewKirk, Mary Leta's son, was born in Moberly, Missouri in 1909.

From Ronny Bodine:

From Randolph County, Missouri Marriage Records:
W. M. Newkirk of St. Joseph, Buchanan County AND Miss Lita Bodine of Moberly, Randolph County, were married 7 Nov 1907 at Moberly by W. B. Taylor, M.G.

In 1910, William and Mary Newkirk lived with her parents in Moberly, Randolph County. William was employed as a railroad shop helper. In 1920, the Newkirks lived with Mary's mother in Moberly and in 1930 in LaSalle, LaSalle County, Illinois where William worked as a mechanic with the Elevator Company.

Obituary, Decatur (IL) Daily Review of Saturday, 24 March 1962.
William M. Newkirk, 80, of 1454 E. Moore St., died at 9:45 p.m. Friday at St. Mary's Hospital after a long illness. Before his retirement in 1951, Mr. Newkirk was an electrician for Decatur Milling Co. He had lived in Decatur since 1933 and was a member of St. Paul's Methodist Church in Decatur and a masonic Lodge in Moberly, Mo. Mr. Newkirk was born in Mattoon, March 1, 1882, a son of James N. and Ella Newkirk. He married Mary Leta Bodine, Nov. 7, 1907, in Moberly, Mo. Besides his wife, he leaves two sons, William B. of Decatur and Terry F. of Madison Wis.; a brother, Bert E. of St. Joseph, Mo.; five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Brintlinger's Funeral Home where friends may call after 4 p.m. Sunday. Burial will be in Graceland Cemetery.

Obituary, Decatur (IL) Herald of Monday, 12 Feb 1968.
Mrs. William M. (Mary Leta) Newkirk, 85, formerly of Decatur, died at 5 p.m. Sunday in the Pilgrim Nursing Home in Peabody, Mass. She had been ill the past four months. Mrs. Newkirk was born Dec. 7, 1882, in Clinton, Mo., the daughter of William M. and Ella Terry Bodine. She had lived in Massachusetts since July 1967. She was a member of St. Paul's Methodist Church. She married William M. Newkirk on Nov. 7, 1907, in Moberly, Mo. He died March 23, 1962. She leaves two sons, William B. of Decatur and Terry F. of Lynnfield, Mass.; two sisters, Mrs. Lorena Hayes of Decatur and Mrs. Helen Burton of Jefferson City, Mo.; five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. One brother and one sister preceded her in death. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Monson Funeral Home. Burial will be in Graceland Cemetery.

Burials in Graceland Cemetery, decatur, Macon County, Illinois.
(For grave marker photos see Find Grave Memorials Nos., 26708083 & 26708067)
William M. Newkirk 1882---1962 Mary Leta Newkirk 1882---1968

Children: William Bodine (1909), Terry Franklin (c1921).

*End of info from Ronny.

From: Connie Abel [cabel at columbus.rr.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2010
Subject: correction to webpage

Hello,

My name is Connie Maria (Newkirk) Abel, and Mary Leta Bodine was my paternal grandmother. I came across your webpage when I was looking up something for one of my grandsons, who is making a family tree for Cub Scouts.

I believe my grandfather, William Milo Newkirk, died in Decatur, Illinois. My grandmother, Mary Leta Bodine, died in Peabody, Massachusetts.

My father, Terry Franklin Newkirk, was born in Moberly, Missouri, not in Decatur, Illinois. He died in Lynnfield, Massachusetts.

I'd love to hear how you are related to the Bodine family! Thank you for your website.

Connie Abel

From: Connie Abel [mailto:cabel at columbus.rr.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2010
Subject: RE: correction to webpage

Hello again,

Thank you for your quick response!

When I was looking last night, I had only seen one little page from your website; this morning I found the rest of it. Wow. I cannot begin to imagine the hours of work it represents.

I believe Lorena Bodine died in Decatur, Illinois, but I am not sure. I believe Helen Bodine died in Jefferson City, Missouri sometime in the early 1970's. My husband and I visited her in her home when our oldest child was a baby, which would have been the summer of 1969, and she died a little while after that.

I have a very vague memory of my grandmother mentioning "Baby Ruth", which makes me wonder if she might have died very young. The only siblings I heard of consistently were my father's Aunt Lorena and Aunt Helen, whom I knew (there was never a reference to an "Aunt Ruth"), and Uncle Terry, named for my great grandmother Mary Ella Terry, and whose name my father and brother continued. Uncle Terry died before I was born.

I have quite a bit of information on my mother's side of the family, and in 1974, my father put together a few pages about the Newkirk/Bodine side for the family. I learned a little before her passing that my cousin, Ovelia Mae (Newkirk) Sheffield, was interested in genealogy and had done some research. I think she mentioned that she had the family Bible. We corresponded a little in the last few years of her life; we had only met briefly a time or two when I was small. The last I had heard, her brother William was living in Chicago.

The pages my father assembled are largely about the family of Talitha C. Woods, who had eleven brothers and sisters, showing the descent from Adam Loftus, "Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland…born at Swineshead in Yorkshire in 1534." If any of this information would be helpful to you, please let me know. The information covers several pages and would probably best be mailed to you. Most of the information regarding dates which my father gave were for marriages-no dates of birth or death.

Here is the information I have regarding the descendants of Talitha:

Talitha C. Woods married first Martin Bodine December 27, 1842, and had children Robert, Katie, Mary T., William A., and Ashby Bodine. Talitha Woods Bodine married William H. Dulaney and had one son James G. Dulaney.

William A. Bodine married Mary Ella Terry and had children Mary Leta, Ruth, Terry A., Lorena and Helen.

Mary Leta Bodine married William Milo Newkirk and had children William Bodine, and Terry Franklin.

Terry Franklin Newkirk married Betty Jo Stevens on August 9, 1942, and had children Terry Franklin, Jr., Marc Stevens, and Connie Maria.

Here is some information that you may find of interest from the preface to the material my dad provided:

My mother, Mary Leta Bodine Newkirk, often mentioned her Grandma Dulaney whom she would visit in the summer and at whose house she attended many parties. This was the house in Hannibal, Missouri, that Aunt Helen describes as a "mansion", and the house and grounds covered a city block. Grandma Dulaney's maiden name was Talitha Woods. She was a direct descendant of Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin and Chancellor of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I of Britain. Talitha Woods first married Martin Bodine and they had a son, William Bodine, my mother's father. Martin Bodine apparently died young and Talitha then married William H. Dulaney. It is said that Talitha was wealthy and that William Dulaney used this money to build a lumber business which further prospered; they were considered to be millionaires. The Dulaney's [sic] gave the house in which I was born in Moberly, Missouri to my Grandmother Bodine. (Her husband, Talitha's son, was considered to be a poor business man.) We lived in this house until I was eight years old as my mother took care of her mother who was an invalid for 22 years. Of the Dulaney estate, only $2000 was inherited by my mother. The majority of the estate passed to William Dulaney's children by a previous wife. My great grandmother and William Dulaney were married for over 50 years. After she died, he built a big library at Paris, Missouri, in memory of his first wife in the town where my great grandmother and her children were born, using the money he inherited from my great grandmother! William Woods College in Missouri was founded by Talitha's Woods' brother, William Woods. He gave the money to keep it going and they still have Dulaney and Woods scholarships. [signed] Terry F. Newkirk December 24, 1974.

I have a few very early pictures of the family, given to me by my great aunt Helen. As I recall, one is of my great grandmother, Mary Ella Terry, and one may be of my great-great grandmother, Talitha C. Woods.

One question occurs to me that perhaps you could answer: how did the Bodines in your branch pronounce their last name? Long "i" or short "ee"?

Thank you for all of your good work on your website!

Connie