We know from the wills and administration papers of Jacob Bodine, Sr. that he had at least thirteen children. Of these, nine were girls and four were boys. Here is the list as it appeared in the estate papers:
James
Lea
Margaret
Abraham
Nicholas
Mary since intermarried with James Watson
Elizabeth since intermarried with Daniel McIntire.
Amy since intermarried with James Best.
Desire (written "desire") since intermarried with Jacob Lilley
Martha since intermarried with John Bears.
Rachel since intermarried with Thomas Guider.
Catherine since intermarried with William Guider
Jacob deceased leaving five children
I would guess that the order given is not necessarily the birth order. Given the information we know about Jacob's daughters, I propose the following birth order for them:
A. Margaret*
B. Catherine
C. Mary
D.Elizabeth
E. Amy
F. Martha
G. Desire
H. Leah
I. Rachel
*I believe others might place Margaret's birth in between Mary and Elizabeth in about 1783 (in New Jersey).
Now let's look at the census data from Northumberland County, Pennsylvania for the years 1790, 1800, and 1810. I believe this information can help us confirm who was born when.
The 1790 Census of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania lists seven females in Jacob Bodine's household. One of these was his wife. The other six must have been his daughters. The males listed in this census are all under 16, but I'm not sure if that means all the daughters were, too. I'll make that assumption, but it is not necessarily true. This gives us the following:
Margaret: Born 1774-1790.
Catherine: Born 1774-1790.
Mary: Born 1774-1790.
Elizabeth: Born 1774-1790.
Amy: Born 1774-1790.
Martha: Born 1774-1790.
The 1800 Census of Derry Township, Northumberland County, PA for Jacob Burdin lists nine females: 1 +45, 2 under 10, 3 10-16, and 3 16-26. The female +45 would be Jacob's wife. I will assume that one of the daughters has since married and moved out of the household. Therefore, of the the six females listed here who were 10-26, five of these six would refer to the previous six females listed in the 1790 Census. One of the girls aged 10-16 would be new. And the two females under 10 would be new. Therefore we can assume the following birth years for Jacob's nine daughters:
Margaret: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1774-1784 (1800 Census).
Catherine: Born 1774-1790. Not listed in 1800.
Mary: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1774-1784 (1800 Census).
Elizabeth: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1774-1784 (1800 Census).
Amy: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1784-1790 (1800 Census).
Martha: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1784-1790 (1800 Census).
Desire: Not listed in 1790. Born 1784-1790 (1800 Census).
Leah: Not listed in 1790. Born 1790-1800 (1800 Census).
Rachel: Not listed in 1790. Born 1790-1800 (1800 Census).
These would be all the daughters of Jacob and Nancy Bodine. Of course, one or more of his daughters may have died, but we don't know that and it would only complicate matters. For the sake of making this exercise practical, we will assume that none of them died.
We now have the 1810 Census info for Jacob Bodine to compare to this (Derry Township again). There are only six females listed this time: 1 female +45, 2 females 10-16, 2 females 16-26 and 1 female 26-45. This means no new females were born after 1800. The female over 45 would be Jacob's wife. The female 26-45 had to be one of the females who was 16-26 in 1800. Three more of those older female daughters from 1800 are therefore missing. They must have married off. We have therefore figured out something more concerning the approximate birth dates for the nine daughters of Jacob Bodine. The approximate birth years are given below for all nine daughters and the reasoning is in parentheses.
Margaret: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1774-1784 (1800 Census). Born 1765-1784 (1810 Census)
Catherine: Born 1774-1790. Not listed in 1800 or in 1810
Mary: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1774-1784 (1800 Census). Not listed in 1810.
Elizabeth: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1774-1784 (1800 Census). Born 1784-1794 (1810 Census).
Amy: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1784-1790 (1800 Census). Not listed in 1810.
Martha: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1784-1790 (1800 Census). Not listed in 1810.
Desire: Not listed in 1790. Born 1784-1790 (1800 Census). Born 1784-1794 (1810 Census).
Leah: Not listed in 1790. Born 1790-1800 (1800 Census). Born 1794-1800 (1810 Census).
Rachel: Not listed in 1790. Born 1790-1800 (1800 Census). Born 1794-1800 (1810 Census).
With this in mind, we can begin to plug in the known birth dates for some of Jacob and Nancy's daughters.
Margaret: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1784-1790 (1800 Census). Born 1765-1784 (1810 Census).
..........I believe this is Margaret. She does not seem to have married. From the census data, we see that she was born between 1774 and 1784. She may be the oldest daughter, but that is not necessarily true. Catherine or Mary could have been older (females B & C). From the known and estimated birth years of her siblings, I would guess that Margaret was born about 1774, but that is only an educated guess. I believe she may have been the oldest child. I think others might place Margaret's birth in between Mary and Elizabeth in about 1783 (in New Jersey).
Catherine: Born 1774-1790. Not listed in 1800 or in 1810 (with her father).
..........Catherine was born between 1774 and 1790. Further Census data (for her husband, William Girton) shows this: In 1800, she is between 16-26 (b. 1774-1784). In 1820, she is between 26-45 (b. 1775-1794). In 1830, she was between 40-50 (b. 1780-1790). In 1840 she was between 50-60 (b. 1780-1790). All this data shows that she had to be born between about 1779/1780 and 1784/1785. It looks like she was married in about 1800. If she was around 20 when she got married, then she was probably born about 1780. Since Abraham, her brother, was born about 1781 (and William may have been born about 1778/1779), I propose an estimated birth year for Catherine of about 1779/1780. It is possible that Catherine was the oldest daughter based on Dutch naming customs. However, I don't yet see that those kind of customs were systematically followed in this family. It is something to keep in mind, though. The custom would depend on Jacob Sr.'s mother being named Catherine. This is possible since we think that the most likely candidates for Jacob Sr.'s parents are Jacob Bodine and Catherine Bogart. If this Catherine were the oldest daughter, then I would want to give her an earlier birth date than 1779/1780.
Mary: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1774-1784 (1800 Census). Not listed in 1810 (with her father).
..........By the process of elimination, this must be Mary, wife of James Watson. James is listed in the 1810 Census of Derry Twp., Northumberland Co., PA. He and a female (must be this Mary) are between 26 and 45 years old (b. 1765-1784). Based on this census data, Mary was born between about 1774 and 1784. In the 1810 Census, they have two boys under 10. If we say her oldest boy was born about 1804 (estimating he was about six years old at the time of the 1810 Census) and that Mary was around 20 when he was born, then we could guess that Mary was born before 1784. However, Elizabeth, her sister, was born in 1784. Since Mary was probably older than Elizabeth - and since Mary's brother, Abraham, was born about 1781 - I propose a birth year of 1782/1783 for Mary. Mary was in Canada by 1820.
Elizabeth: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1784-1790 (1800 Census). Born 1784-1794 (1810 Census).
..........This would be Elizabeth. The census data shows she was born between about 1784 and 1790. The information I have says she was born about Nov. 26, 1784. She married in April of 1815; so she was still at home at the time of the 1810 Census. Elizabeth was in Canada by 1820.
Amy: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1784-1790 (1800 Census). Not listed in 1810 (with her father).
..........This would be Amy. The census data shows she was born between about 1784 and 1790. The info I have on her says she was born on October 15, 1786 and had married by September 29, 1809. She would not have been in the 1810 Census. Amy was in Canada by 1820.
Martha: Born 1774-1790 (1790 Census). Born 1784-1790 (1800 Census). Not listed in 1810 (with her father).
..........This is probably Martha. From this census data, she had to be born between about 1784 and 1790. We can add the 1830 Census of Pickaway County, Ohio to this. She was between 40 and 50 (b. 1780-1790). And in 1820 (census location not known to me, possibly Pickaway Co., OH), she was between 26 and 45 (b. 1775-1794). So, according to all this census data, Martha had to be born between about 1784 and 1790. Someone has said that Martha was born in 1789. However, no source was given for this. The 1789 was probably estimated from census data somewhere. We will go with a date of 1788/1789 for now.
Desire: Not listed in 1790. Born 1784-1790 (1800 Census). Born 1784-1794 (1810 Census).
..........By the process of elimination, this must be Desire, wife of Jacob Lilley. She would be one of the three younger daughters since we already know the names of the six oldest daughters. According to the census data above, she would have been born about 1790. Desire is also found in the 1820 and 1830 Censuses of Pickaway County, Ohio. In 1820, she was 26-45 (b. 1775-1794). And in 1830, she was between 30 and 40 (b. 1790-1800). This census data, along with that above, shows that she had to be born about 1790. I will venture to guess about 1791 since Nicholas was born about 1790. She has not been found yet in any censuses after 1830.
Leah: Not listed in 1790. Born 1790-1800 (1800 Census). Born 1794-1800 (1810 Census).
..........This is probably Leah. The census data above shows she was born between about 1794 and 1800. We also have the 1820 Census data to look at. In 1820, Leah was between 26-45 (b. 1775-1794). This shows that she had to be born about 1794. Leah seems to be the last daughter to have married (in 1819). This would normally mean that she was one of the youngest daughters. The birth date I have for her is January 13, 1798, but I don't know the source for this. I would guess that it is incorrect (unless it is really January 13, '1795'). Based on all this, I venture to guess that she was born 1794.
Rachel: Not listed in 1790. Born 1790-1800 (1800 Census). Born 1794-1800 (1810 Census).
..........This is probably Rachel. Since she married in 1813, she still would have been at home in 1810. Rachel died in 1831. From the census data above, she had to be born between about 1790 and 1794. We also have the data from the 1820 and 1830 censuses to look at. In 1820, she was between 26-45 (b. 1775-1794). And in 1830, she was between 30 and 40 (b. 1790-1800). Therefore the census data shows that she was born between about 1790 and 1794. Info I have says she was born about 1795. That is close enough to 1794 to be accurate. I would guess she was born 1795.
Here is a message that was posted at the Genealogy Forum's Bodine message board by Joan Best:
Re: Abraham Bodine/Zellah Taylor PA
Posted by: Joan Best
Date: November 29, 2000
I have been reviewing your various replies on the Bodine Family Genealogy Forum, particularly your long history of the Bodine family and migration and found it helpful in application to my family. My g-g grandfather, Michael Best,was born abt. 1812 in Southwold, Elgin Co., Ontario. His father was James Best and mother Amy BODINE.
James's father was Michael Best, mother, Anna unknown. James was christened, on August 9, 1789 in the Dutch Reformed Church, Lebanon, Hunterdon, New Jersey. Since the Bodine's seem to have all passed through this area, it makes sense that James and Amy married in Hunterdon, New Jersey area before moving to Canada in C. 1812 where they took up a 200 acre homestead. Abraham Bodine/ Zellah Taylor were neighbors in the same township. Also nearby were Rachel BODINE, b. abt 1795, married to Thomas Girton, and Catherine BODINE, b. abt. 1780, married to William Girton.
The Fingal Cemetery, Southwold Township, Elgin County, Ontario has the following: A large red pillar with urn on top. Each side has Best family members. on the east side it says:
In memory of James Best died October 6, 1846, aged 57 years also his wife Amy died November 10th 1855 aged 69 years...
Thank you again for your assistance.