Notes for: Sarah Howell Bodine
Her name in the 1850 Census is Sarah, but it appears to be Mary in the 1860 Census. There is a problem with the ages between these censuses; so these could be different people. Ronny Bodine calls her Sarah; so I'll go with that.
Her name was supposedly "Burdine" in her marriage record, but we are still checking on that.
From: jan morris [jmorris133 at gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2017
Subject: Sarah Bodine dau of Theophilus
I found your Bodine page today after receiving in the mail the NJ Death Certificate for my husbands gggrandmother and thought you might be interested in filling in a blank.
Sarah was married to John B Morris and until today I could not go farther back than either of them. Her death certificate lists her maiden name as Sarah Howell Bodine, parents Theophiles Bodine and Mary Karkuff. She died Apr 1 1910 in Phillipsburg NJ. Her birthdate is not listed but it says she was 73 years 10 months and 23 days old. I haven't done the math completely yet, but it looks as if she was born in 1836. I am curious as to where the "Howell" came in. Will go back through your site and see if I can find a Howell anywhere.
She was married sometime in the 1850's and in 1860 and 1870 is living in Knowlton Township, Warren Co NJ with John and their children. In 1880 they are in Lower Mt Bethel, Northampton Co PA listed as "Morissy", and of course 1890 is difficult to pin down. John's tombstone said he died in 1896, but neither NJ nor PA seem to have a record of his death. Both are buried in Hays Cemetery in Easton, Northampton Co., PA.
I have ordered the Civil War Pension and her Widow's Pension from the National Archives, but understand unfortunately that it can take up to a year to receive those. Her widows pension should give information about their marriage and hopefully about his death.
Thanks so much for all the work you have done on your page. All your notes were very interesting, thought it was disheartening to learn that Theophiles had committed suicide because of poverty. It seems that his wife had died the previous year.
I hope this information is of interest to you. If you like, I will update you whenever I receive the pension information.
Sincerely,
Jan Morris
From: jan morris [jmorris133 at gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2017
Subject: RE: Sarah Bodine dau of Theophilus
Hi, Dave,
I think their first child was James R Morris, born May 1858, unless they lost any earlier children. He is 2 in 1860 census. They also have 6 year old Hugh Albertson living with them. Haven't figured out who he was, and he is gone by 1870 census. Later had a daughter and four more sons.
Jan
From: Ronny Bodine
Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2017
Subject: Re: Sarah Bodine dau of Theophilus
Hey Dave,
This is good stuff. Were it not for Jan we would think Sarah Morris died young or moved and vanished into history. Please pass on to her that there is an obituary for Sarah Morris in the Easton (Penn.) Times of 2 April 1910, page 8. That is from an index of obituaries in the newspaper, but not the obituaries themselves. The Easton Library will furnish a copy of the obituary for a fee. No obit for John as the index only goes back to 1900.
Ronny
From: jan morris
Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2017
Subject: Re: FW: Sarah Bodine dau of Theophilus
Hi, Dave:
I actually received Sarah's obituary last week. I have had really good luck with the Warren County Public Libraray. They have an obit index for the Belvedere Apollo and will send copies for free (so I always send a donation!). I have made two requests so far, and the librarian there has gone out of her way to send other things she thinks may be related. I ordered 9 obits from the Easton library a little over a months ago but have not received them yet. Their page says 2 to 4 weeks, so I am hoping for those any day. If you would like copies of Sarah's obit or death certificate, I will be happy to send them, just let me know.
The Warren County librarian found the obit from Easton for me. Sarah died 1Apr1910, had lived with her son George in Warren County NJ since at least 1900. She is on his census record in 1900 ; next census was taken 10 days after her death in 1910. The obit says that she is survived by three sons - George of Warren County and James and Leroy (Leroy seems to go by William a lot) of South Easton. James is my husband's great-grandfather. James did not die until 1945, and I remember my father-in-law speaking fondly of him.
I did find that I had a marriage date for Sarah and John B, 30 August 1856. Found something else very interesting this afternoon. There is a birth record from New Jersey listing a mother Sarah Bodine (no father listed) for a child Hugh Bodine, born February 1854. In 1860, the first census record for John and Sarah, they have the son James (2), and a child Hugh Albertson, 6 years old. That must be the Hugh Bodine who was born in 1854. I cannot find any trace of him by either name after that 1860 census. There are a lot of Albertsons in the area.
I have requested John B Morris' civil was pension, but after learning that it can take up to a year to get it, I am considering looking for a researcher who can get it much more quickly and probably for not much more cost.
New Jersey says it has no record of John's death, and I'm sure that Sarah's pension record will contain specifics. Pennsylvania did not register deaths at the state until 1906, and you are supposed to check with the county for deaths prior to that, but the helpful archivist there in Northampton did not find anything. I have a feeling they were living in Northampton Co PA when he died. They are in Hays Cemetery in Easton. t I didn't find them on the old reliable FindAGrave, but did find them on PAGravestones.
The Easton library site is very specific about what they won't do, but perhaps I will call them and see if there is any chance they would look for an obit for me for John in 1896. I will try to get a chance to do that tomorrow.
Thanks for your interest!
Jan
From Ronny Bodine:
Sarah Bodine, age 16, lived with her parents in 1850, but cannot be located thereafter.