Notes for: John A. Bodine
Ronny Bodine and I agree that this John A. Bodine (born Sept. 7, 1809) must be the same person as the John Bodine (born Sept. 7, 1809) we had as the son of Isaac and Rachel (Dubois) Bodine. We previously had no information on that John Bodine other than his birth date from the New Paltz Dutch Reformed Church records. More proof would be nice, but they almost certainly must be the same.
A book at Google is called "Miscellaneous Articles Regarding Bodine Castle, Property of Colonel John Bodine of Long Island, New York." So I guess this John Bodine (or some other later owner named John Bodine) must have been a colonel in the Civil War or something. This John Bodine might have been a little old to be in the Civil War. I have seen articles on a Colonel John Bodine who won a shooting match for the Americans against an Irish shooting team. This was a famous match. That John Bodine was described as an ex-Union infantryman.
Bodine Castle at 43-16 Vernon Avenue. Built in the spring of 1853 by John H. Williams as one of three large "castellated or tower houses". Thomas Andrews of Oyster Bay, who came to Ravenswood in 1853, had charge of the erection of the castle.
This large, impressive castle captured the imagination of generations of travellers and journalists particularly, who were fond of ascribing a mysterious and hoary antiquity to the place. 1815 was a favorite date and the architect was supposed to be a mysterious Frenchman. The presence of a tunnel leading from the castle to near the water particularly intrigued local residents and editors who invented stories of secret romances and hidden crimes and even slave smuggling to explain it. The tunnel has a very prosaic explanation. It enabled the servants to bring refreshments to a summer house on the lawn without being seen by guests strolling on the park-like lawns.
John A. Bodine was born in Columbia Co., N.Y. in 1818, came to the city and made his fortune as a wholesale grocer in the export trade with Cuba. Because of his social position, he was persuaded to run for mayor in the campaign of 1876 on the Independent Democratic ticket but he lost. He died on April 2, 1887 at 78.
Bodine Castle was built for its owner who continued to occupy it as his home until March 1880. In the 1854 munitions explosion one of the shells passed through a pane of glass into the library room and shattered the chandelier. In 1882-3 the castle was rented by Harold Larsen, superintendent of the L.I. Paint Works. In 1893 the property and castle became part of Young & Metzner's paper & jute bag factory. By the 1920's the castle had become the office and storage area of the William P. Young Lumber Co. Consolidated Edison bought the place in 1962. When the Landmarks Commission in 1966 considered designating the castle as a landmark, Consolidated Edison opposed the proceedings and then quietly demolished the building on May 11, 1966 to forestall action. Thereafter, the site became and still is a high-tension switching station.
Someone who contacted me had heard two different stories regarding the landmarking of Bodine Castle in the 1960s.
1) One was that the authorization was all but signed when Con Ed snuck in and tore it down.
2) The other was that the landmarks commission didn't try very hard to get a designation and didn't care what Con Ed did.
The L.I. City Weekly Star, in an article printed in 1894, described the castle as it appeared at that date:
"The Bodine Castle is still a handsome structure notwithstanding the ravages of time. The main section is built of rough blocks of a kind of granite quarried nearby and the roof is covered with sheet copper. At one corner a turreted brick tower rises high above the surrounding roofs and trees, commanding a fine view of the city. The castle stands about 200 ft. from the river, the grounds extending back to Vernon Ave. There is a high stone fence on the Vernon Avenue side with heavy iron gates, guarded on each side by a sentry box built of stone. There are also two stone buildings in front of the grounds that were at one time used as stables. The trees and shrubbery that formerly added beauty to the place are uncared for.
The castle itself is gradually crumbling to pieces through neglect. The front doors of the castle are of oak and very heavy. In an obscure corner of one of the rooms on the first floor of the right wing, an old iron safe was for years hidden behind the oak wainscoating. The safe had the appearance of not having been opened in at least half a century. In one of the upper rooms near the tower, a false door is hidden by a secret panel. A tunnel, walled up and arched with brick, leads from the cellar out to within 25 feet of the river. Near the end of the tunnel are the remains of what was once a summer house. A stone stairway leads from the ground underneath the summer house to the river below."
Bob Singleton
GAHS (Historical Society of Astoria in Queens?)
From Ronny Bodine:
The New York City Directory of 1857 shows Bodine Co. Grocers and John Bodine and Mordaunt Bodine at 77 Dey, with their home in Ravenswood. The 1870 directory reflects Bodine & Co. Grocers at 196 Chambers, with John Bodine as vice-president and Mordaunt Bodine associated with the business. John Bodine was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Long Island City Savings Bank at its founding in 1876 and 1876 ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor of Long Island City. In Dec 1876 he was appointed to the new Long Island Board of Police Commissioners.
John Bodine was owner of Bodine Castle at 4316 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City. It bordered the East River facing Manhattan Island. Described as a villa built in the Gothic Revival fashion, it was purchased by John Bodine from John and Lydia Harris by deed of 31 July 1851 for $12,000 (Queens Co. Deeds, 90: 371). A New York Herald article of 20 Nov 1890 reported the owner as Mr. Mordaunt Bodine. At that time Bodine Castle had been unoccupied and neglected for some five years. It was demolished in 1966.
From New York Federal Census Records:
1860 (7 June) Newtown, Queens Co.: John BODNE 50 NY Merchant, Mary 50 NY, Margaret 23 NY, Augusta 25 NY.
1880 (9 June) New York City: John BODINE 70 NJ Retired Grocer.
John and Mary Bodine were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, in the Bronx, formerly in southern Westchester County. The cemetery was visited by researchers of the Underhill Society of America who reported their findings in the following society's Annual Report of 1913:
Annual Report of the Secretary Underhill Society of America, 21st Annual Report, May 10, 1913, p. 33-34.
Burials in Woodlawn Cemetery, Westchester County, New York.
1 John Bodine, Born September 7th, 1803, Died April 2nd, 1887
2 Mary, wife of John Bodine, Born June 23d, 1799, Died May 8th, 1879
3 John B. Underhill, Born Aug. 7, 1853, Died Oct. 27th, 1881
4 A. Melvina, wife of Aaron G. Edwards, Born July 30, 1820, Died June 4, 1897.
5 James W. Underhill, Born Sept. 9th, 1818, Died Dec 20th, 1876
6 Eugenia B., wife of James W. Underhill, Born April 11, 1831, Died November 11th, 1888.
The will of John Bodine, of Long Island City, County of Queens, New York was written 29 Jan 1873. It named his wife Mary, left bequests to "my children" and appointed as executors wife Mary and son Mordaunt Bodine. A codicil was added 21 July 1884 as his wife had since died and he appointed as executor his son-in-law, James C. Perry, now of Virginia, to serve with his son Mordaunt Bodine. The will was proved 31 May 1887. (New York County Wills, vol. 389, p. 45)
The probate of John Bodine's will also required the surrogate court to confirm his death, reported as 2 April 1887, and to identify the heirs and those were his children Mordaunt Bodine of New York City, Eugenia B. Underhill of Paris, France, and Augusta Perry of Norfolk, Virginia; and grandchildren Eugenia Hollowell, Mary Hollowell and Alpine Hollowell, all living in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
Death Notice, New York Herald of 9 May 1879.
BODINE--On Thursday, May 8, at Ravenswood, L.I., Mary, wife of John Bodine.
Death Notice, New York Herald of 5 April 1887.
BODINE--On Saturday, April 2, John Bodine, in the 78th year of his age. Funeral services will be held in the Thirteenth Street Presbyterian Church, Tuesday, April 5, at four o'clock.
Although John Bodine lived with his family in New York City since the 1830s, he can only be seen in the 1880 census when he was 70 years old (born 1809/10). At his death his age was given as 78 (born 1808/9). Perhaps the inscription on his grave stone was misread and the year of his birth should read 1808 rather than 1803. Strangely though, that would make his wife 9 years older than himself.
Ronny sent me some additional notes on March 31, 2018:
John Bodine lived in New York City as early as 1830. The 1835 New York City Directory lists John Bodine, grocer. When his son Mordaunt applied for a passport he stated he was born 3 Aug 1836 in New York City. He may be the Jno. Bodine, aged 30-39 living 1840 in Ward 8 of New York City. The census entry reads:
Jno. Bodine males 1(0-4), 1(30-39); females 2(5-9), 1(10-14), 1(20-29), 1(30-39).
The Evening Post of 9 July 1833 and 29 March 1834 reported that John Bodine was a member of the Eighth Ward Democratic Republican Vigilance Committee and that of 6 March 1835 reported that John Bodine was a member of the Democratic Young Men's Ward Committee of the Eighth Ward.
The New York Tribune of 15 Jan 1851 notes John Bodine as a wholesale grocer.