Notes for: Esther Bodine
This is a very probable daughter of Vincent Bodine, but it needs more research.
From Ronny Bodine:
There is no record naming the father of Esther Bodine, but circumstantial evidence strongly suggests it could only be Vincent Bodine. Smith King and John Bodine are named on a list of persons to clear the road to Rogers's Ferry at Jeffrey's Quarter to the Orange County line on 7 Dec 1787 (Wake Co. Minutes 2: 66). They are both named again as road hands on 8 June 1790 (ibid, 3: 42), but King does not appear in the 1790 census. Both again are named as insolvents in Captain Roberts's District in 1792 (ibid, 4: 97). Bondsman to the marriage of Smith King and Esther Bodine was William Duffey, a close neighbor to John Bodine in the 1790 census of Wake County, North Carolina. In 1797, Smith King and John Bodine were buyers at the estate sale of John E. Willit (recorded 6 July 1797, Wake Co. Wills D: 218).
*End of info from Ronny.
From: Ruth Kollman [rkollman at sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010
Subject: Smith King m. Ester Bodine 1787 Orange Co., NC
Dear Dave,
First, I want to thank you for your very thoroughly researched Bodine family site, which has been a great resource for me for the last couple of years. Second, I want to definitively say, at long last:
"Hi, cousin!"
I say this with such confidence because this week I reviewed the North Carolina state tax lists for Wake County, NC. (as you are probably aware, BOTH the 1810 and 1820 federal censuses for Wake Co. were inexplicably lost, so residents there "disappeared" for all practical purposes unless the researcher has access to the microfilmed tax lists, as they are not published in hard copy or on the internet, and they are not indexed). Putting that information together with the 1790 and 1800 federal census information and the other Bute Co., Orange Co., and Wake Co. primary source material you have noted on your web site and some others I have found, I have concluded that Smith and Esther (Bodine) King are the parents of my ancestor Michael King, born in North Carolina about 1788-1790. For purposes of making sense of the information below, please note the birthdate information for my Michael King and that in 1818 in Wake Co. he married Tabitha Motley, the daughter of Harrison Motley and sister of John Motley. Also that Harrison Motley married Nancy Smith. And that for basic background, Bute/Franklin Co. records from an area called Smith's Creek suggest Bodines, Kings, and Smiths were in the same general locale there. Here's the basic outline of my information:
1790 Wake Co. federal census
No Smith King appears anywhere on any federal census I could find, and not in Wake Co., either. As you have noted, a Smith King married Ester Bodine in Orange County in 1787, with Patrick Duffy as their bondsman. On the same census page (p. 261) in Wake County in 1790 are:
Arthur King (1 male >16, 2 males <16, and 4 females)
John King (3 males >16, 5 males <16, and 4 females)
Near Arthur and John (as indicated by their appearance on p. 261) are Patrick Duffee, John Bodine, Joseph Smith, and Thomas Smith. On p. 262 appear William, Isaac, and two John Smiths; and Harrison Motley and John Motley. Smiths abound on p. 264 as well, along with Vinson Bodine and John Bodine. I have reviewed both abstracts and the originals of multiple Wake County deed, estate, and court minute records between 1790 and 1800 that show Smith King, Arthur King, John King, Vinson Bodine, Patrick Duffey, and John Motley's names repeatedly appearing in the same documents, working side-by-side clearing roads, buying at the same estate sales, and serving as bondsmen, witnesses, executors, etc. for each other.
1800 Wake Co. federal census
Smith King (2 males <10, 1 male 26-44; 1 female <10, 1 female 16-25, a female 26-44)
Vincent Bodine, Harrison Motley, John Motley, James Motley, and Thomas Smith appear in the same district (the 1800 census is roughly alphabetical, so proximity cannot be determined).
Now on to the new information from the tax lists:
1815-1822 Crabtree District - North Carolina Tax List
In 1815, George King (209 acres) and Smith King (403 acres) are the only Kings in the Crabtree District. Harrison Motley also appears. The 1816 list is very hard to read, so I hate to draw any conclusions from it. In 1817, George King still has 209 acres, Smith King has 307, and a Henry King appears with 97 acres. The exact notations for 1818 read:
"Smith King for H. King" 97 acres
Smith King 286 acres
"ditto for M. King" --
George King 209
In 1819:
George King 209
"King @ Michael" --
Stephen King --
Smith King 286
"do for Henry King" 97
In 1820:
George King 209
John King 100
Michael King 30
Smith King 256-3/4
(No Henry King in the tax list in1820, but he may have returned because a Henry King married Clara Rhodes in Wake Co. in 1824. Or he may have emigrated to Tennessee with Michael, because a single Henry King appears in Washington Co. with Michael there in 1830. No way to tell at this point.)
So it looks to me like Smith King's acreage diminished as Henry and Michael acquired theirs (not as clear for Henry as it is for Michael), and Smith stood in for them in their absence, for both of them in 1818 and again for Henry in 1819. That's about as strong as a birth record. Couple that with his proximity to Bodines and Motleys, and bob's your uncle, as the Brits say. There is a whole lot more information to be gleaned from these tax lists, but I'll stop with this for the moment. How cool is that, cuz?
There's a bunch more of us, by the way. . . . Let me know if you're interested in the details of Michael's life after 1820. We've had to struggle to find each other through the miracles of the internet; Michael's great-grandchildren were orphaned and scattered, with no family histories. I can't tell you how tickled we are to find Michael's parents. And through your hard work, we know so much already about the Bodine line! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Ruth King Kollman
rkollman at sbcglobal.net