Notes for: Catherine (Catharine) E. Bodine
From Ronny Bodine:
From New York Herald of Monday, 4 Feb 1850:
Married. Jan. 26th, at Port Richmond, by the Rev. Jas. Brownlee, Charles Windsor to Catharine, daughter of the late Jacob Bodine, of the above place.
1860 Castleton, Richmond Co., NY: Charles Windsor 30 NY clerk in bank, Cathrine 30 NY, Eleanor D. 9 NY.
[Note: The Windsor family was living next door to Catherine's brother Edmund Bodine and his family.]
1865 Castleton, Richmond Co., NY: Catherine Windsor 32, Elenor 12 child, Jacob BODINE 30 brother. All persons were noted as born in Richmond County.
Susan Windsor, the sister of Charles Windsor, was married to Catharine's brother Edmund Bodine. The Windsors acquired Dongan Manor from Catherine's widowed sister, Mary Post, and during their ownership the property was known as Windsor Manor. Later, they sold the manor to Amor and Mary Ann Williamson.
From New York Herald of Friday, 4 Nov 1864:
The paying teller of the Mercantile Bank, of this city, named Charles W. Windsor, has suddently disappeared, and is supposed to have left for Europe. On investigation, a deficiency in his accounts amounting to two hundred and forty-one thousand dollars is said to have been discovered.
From New York Herald of Friday, 11 May 1888.
When Mrs. Catharine Windsor requested her brother, William H. J. Bodine, to return the money she had left in his charge, he told her he could not do so. She asked him what he had done with her greenbacks, and he made this laconic explanation, "Rats!" The lady's indignant surprise can be imagined by any who has received a like brutal reply to a natural query. The very worst part of Mr. Bodine's statement was that he meant his sister to believe it. She had given him S10,000 two years before to keep until she should call for it, and when she did make the demand he told her in all seriousness that he had placed the package in a closet and that it had been entirely devoured by rodents. If Mrs. Windsor had not been too much surprised to know just what was proper to say under the circumstances, she might have exclaimed in her turn, as she did not swallow the rat part of the story, "Rats!" RATS! WHO THREW THAT BRICK? It was very unfortunate that Mr. Bodine could not tell just what rat it was that got the boodle. If he had been able to catch him he might have sent him to the Treasury Department and tried to have him redeemed for $10,000 in crisp, new bills. The government officials might not have ratified his proposition, but it would have been a rational effort to have made. Mrs. Windsor gave her brother a rattling scolding for having exposed her money to the greedy rats and told him she would like to rattan him for his folly. He told her he could not return what he did not have and so she let the matter drop. This happened away back in the sixties. Years passed just as they have a way of doing and finally the lady made up her mind to make a determined effort to get the equivalent of the rodent's banquet from her brother. She began a suit against him which came up for trial yesterday before Judge Barrett and a jury in the Supreme Court, Circuit. Part 4. Ex-Judge George M. Curtis and Robert Mazet appeared for the plaintiff, and Counsellor Anthony R. Dyett represented the defendant. WAS IT A TRUST? The complaint merely alleged that the money had been given to Mr. Bodine to hold in trust and that he had failed to return it. The answer denied that there had been a trust, and claimed that as more than twenty years had expired the action was barred by the statute of limitations. Mrs. Windsor, a pleasant looking, middle aged woman, wearing a rich black dress, was assisted to the witness chair. She met with an accident some years ago and she has since been a cripple. She said that the money in dispute had been given to her by her husband, who was formerly connected with the Merchants' Bank in this city. She gave it to her brother for safe keeping. The reason she had not begun a suit any sooner than she had done was that she was living in England for a number of years, and she desired to wait until she returned to this country before taking any action. She consulted a well known barrister in London, and he informed her that as her brother had held the money in trust the statute of limitations would not run. At the conclusion of her testimony Mr. Dyett made a motion to have the complaint dismissed. He maintained that the money was not a deposit, such as a bank would take, or a loan, and that Mr. Bodine would have been compelled to return the same bills that were left with him. At the time that he announced that the money had gone to the rats the statute of limitations began to run. Ex-Judge Curtis opposed the motion. He said that there was no doubt that Mr. Bodine had received the money. There could have been no objection to having him deposit it in a bank. His rat story was purely fabulous. It was a trust and did not come within the provisions of the statute. THE COMPLAINT DISMISSED. Judge Barrett said that if Mr. Bodine was a bailee he was absolved from liability if the money was destroyed without any negligence on his part. When he informed his sister of the destruction of the money she was astonished. By thinking the matter over she believed that his statement was false. There could be no doubt that as soon as she heard that the money was gone she could have begun a suit to recover the amount, on the allegation that he still had it in his possession or that it was destroyed through his negligence. The statute of limitations then went into operation. The Judge granted the motion to dismiss the complaint, but allowed the plaintiff sixty days to make a case on appeal.
Death Notice, New York Herald of Sunday, 27 March 1892.
DIED. WINDSOR.--On Friday, March 25, Catharine, wife of Charles W. Windsor. Funeral (private) will take place Monday, 28th inst.
From New York City Death Records:
Catharine Windsor died 25 March 1892 in Manhattan aged 66 years.
Obituary, New York Herald of Thursday, 18 March 1909.
Charles W. Windsor, who died yesterday at the Home for Old Men and Aged Couples, No. 1060 Amsterdam avenue, will be sincerely missed, one of the attendants declared last night, by every one of the persons residing there, for during the last nine years, since it became his residence, he had helped those old persons to pass away the time by giving organ concerts nearly every afternoon. Mr. Windsor was formerly engaged in the banking business in this city. His wife and a daughter, who was an artist, died many years ago and he went to the home to pass his last days. Long before he went there he was well known in the city as an organist and played in several churches. Almost every afternoon until a week ago, when he was stricken with pneumonia, he entertained the other aged persons there by giving concerts. They showed their appreciation in many ways, and these concerts were a welcome diversion in their lives. He was an accomplished musician and was familiar with the works of the modern as well as other composers. Mr. Windsor was eighty-nine years old, and left distant relatives only.
From New York Death Records:
Charles W. Windsor, 89, died 16 [sic] March 1909 in Manhattan, New York County.
Children: Eleanor D. (1851).