Notes for: Mary Elizabeth Bodine
Mary Elizabeth Bodine was baptized 21 Feb 1838 at St. Mary of the Woods Church, Vigo County, Indiana (info from RB).
She does not appear to be mentioned in the 1870 Census of Austin, Mower Co., MN. I believe she was deceased by then.
Somebody has said this couple had nine children, but that is probably not accurate. I think Robert had three children by Mary Elizabeth and then six children by his second wife, Mary Elizabeth's sister Mary Ernestine ("Mathilda") Bodine.
As of November 2016, this marriage to Mary Elizabeth Bodine still needs solid proof. In our opinion, though, Robert McDonald must have married this Mary Elizabeth Bodine. Then the widower Robert McDonald married Mary's sister Mathilda Bodine. His first wife does appear to have been somebody with the initials "M. E." We are not absolutely sure who that was, but Robert's three children are found in the George and Sarah Norton household in the 1870 Census of Moscow, Freeborn Co., MN. They are neighbors to this Mary Elizabeth Bodine's parents and her brother George and his new wife. The Bodines seemed to have felt a special burden to look after the young McDonald children when their mother died young. From that, I assume that Mary Elizabeth Bodine was that deceased mother. The names of the children in that 1870 Census are Mary McDonalds (age 8, MN), Alottia McDonalds (age 6, MN), and Frederick McDonalds (age 4, MN). Those names and ages match up well with the known children of Robert and "M. E." McDonald. They have to be his children.
Here are the three or four children of Robert McDonald and his first wife. I have edited some of this information from Don Lawse, Duffy Jensen (many of the dates) and Ronny Bodine:
William Alexander: Aug 15, 1862 - bef 1915 (Don Lawse gave me this name. I have not seen him mentioned in the censuses. Maybe he died young or this is a mistake.)
Marian/Mary Jane/Julian: abt 1862 - 1951. She married Charles Christenson (b. 1852).
Lydia (aka Lotte, Lilly): Jan 25, 1865 - Jul 31, 1940
James Frederick (Fred).: abt 1867 - 1954 (or bef 1915?)
I have also found information on Robert that most of his family was back in Racine County, Wisconsin. So he had nobody near him from his family to care for his kids.
From: Duffy Jensen [Duffy at sgcalaska.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2016
Subject: Mathilda "Mary Ernestine" Bodine b.1843 - d.1915
Hello,
I have been researching my maternal lines which include Bodines. My 2x great grandparents were Robert John McDonald and Ernestine Bodine. Today I located the 1873 marriage record of Robert J. McDonald and Mathilda Bodine (see attached). This confirms my suspicion that Mathilda and Mary Ernestine are one and the same person.
The name Mathilda first appears in the 1850 census data for the James M. and Mary Louisa "Polly" Bodine family. Mathilda continues to appear through her marriage date of 27 Apr 1873, from that point forward she goes by Ernestine or Mary. Her 1915 death certificate records her name as Mary Ernestine (Eruestiue). It may be that her full name was Mathilda Mary Ernestine. This is consistent with her siblings Anastasia LMV and James Madison Lafayette.
On a related topic, you have suggested that Robert J. McDonald was first married to Mary Elizabeth Bodine b. 1837 - d. 27 Apr 1873. While I have not been able to locate any direct evidence of this, the 1865 Territorial Census, Austin, Mower Co., MN - Pg 7/77 lists the household of Robert McDonald, ME, MJ, LA which could be read as Mary Elizabeth, Mary Jane b.1862, and Lydia b.1865. If this is interpretation is correct, that would make Mary Elizabeth's death before 27 Apr 1873, the marriage date for R J and Ernestine.
Duffy Jensen
(907) 344-0022 Office
(907) 223-3927 Cell
Duffy at SGCAlaska.com
From Ronny Bodine (Nov. 21, 2016):
She was Elizabeth Bodine 13 IL in 1850 and Mary E. 22 IL in 1860 living with her parents in Vermillion County, Indiana in 1850 and Mower County, Minnesota in 1860.
The 1865 Minnesota State Census, which does not record ages, lists the family as:
1865 Austin, Mower Co., MN: Robert McDONALD, M. E. (f), M. J. (m), L. A. (f).
By 1870, Mary McDonald appears to have died and the children are found living with the family of George Norton (family # 103/104) who were neighbors of the paternal grandparents of the children, James & Louisa Bodine (family # 94/95).
1870 Moscow, Freeborn Co, MN: George NORTON 40 VT, Sarah 35 VT, Eddie 15 MN, Frank 11 MN, Ervin J. 3 MN, Mary McDONALD 8 MN, Martha McDONALD 6 MN, Frederick McDONALD 4 MN.
Robert McDonald married Mary Elizabeth's sister Mary Earnestine in 1873 and in 1880 the children of his 1st marriage are now living with him, his 2nd wife and their children. For further notes see Mary Earnestine ("Mathilda") Bodine.