Mary Jane Goodman was born on July 4, 1907 in Forgys Mill, Butler County, Kentucky. (Most of this info about Mary Jane Goodman Bodine, and her family came straight from her. It is recorded on tape.) Her brothers were Walter, Gibby, Robert, and Roy. Her sisters were Lettie (half-sister), Nellie and Edith. Lettie is her mother's daughter from a previous marriage. [Her mom's first husband died in an accident or from pneumonia. Grandma said he died from an accident. Grandma's brother's (Gibby's) wife, Ileene, thought it was pneumonia.] Most of Grandma's siblings are buried in Kentucky, but their kids are all over. She is the daughter of Allen Garfield Goodman and Lena Lavona Rives. Garfield was born on May 21, 1880± in Logan County and died July 4, 1956± in the same. He was named after President James Garfield. Lena was born April 2, 1881± in Forgys Mill and died August 28, 1953± in Logan County. They are both buried in Rock Springs Cemetery next to the Rock Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Butler County. Grandma's parents were farmers. They grew corn, beans, hay, and some tobacco.
Grandma used to worm tobacco when she was young, but said "I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole today." She said she was always considered a little "puny" or "sickly" when she was growing up. So she got to go to school instead of doing a lot of farm work. She went to Hickory Whip School in Butler County. There used to be a hickory switch that hung behind the teacher's desk. One time they got a teacher in a wheelchair. So some boys thought they could get out of line with him. He pulled out a lasso and threw it around a couple of them and pulled them up front. Then he reached in his desk and pulled out a gun and laid it on his desk. The boys got the message and didn't act up anymore after that.
Concerning Grandma's marriage, see her husband's information, Charles Sharp Bodine.
Her father played the fiddle and her mother played the organ. Along with some neighbors who played the accordion and guitar, they used to play at line and square dances. Dad remembers one of the few times they went down to see the Goodmans in Butler County. (Without a vehicle, it wasn't easy to take a wagon all the way from Muhlenberg County.) Dad said that Roy could really call a good dance. Grandma said that they kids could square dance, but their mother wouldn't allow them to do the waltz or the fox trot. They also weren't allowed to play cards for quite awhile, but later on they could play Rook and a few other card games. Garfield Goodman was also a great whittler. Many of the things he carved are still in the family. The first farmhouse that Grandma's parents ever owned is still standing today. It's about two miles north of Sand Springs Cemetery down a dirt road behind the church's old foundation. It's on a ridge above the Mud River. Once hanging on Grandma's wall is a painting of this house when it was in much better condition.
Allen Garfield Goodman's parents and grandparents are also buried in the Rock Springs Cemetery. His father, Gibby Goodman, was born May 3, 1841± in Kentucky and died on October 16, 1917± in Logan County. Gibby's wife, Mary Jane Southerland, was born April 15, 1851± in Kentucky and died April 23, 1901.± A family tradition says that Gibby and his two brothers, Ben (?) and Wesley, fought on the Union side in the Civil War. (Grandma was pretty sure of the name Ben, but she wasn't so sure Gibby's second brother was named Wesley.) Gibby supposedly saw both of them die in that conflict. He saw Wesley fall in battle. And the other, Ben, was shot by a firing squad. Ben had found an old friend in a cave where this friend had hidden after being wounded on the battlefield. However, his friend was a Confederate rather not a Union soldier. Ben had grown up with him. They had done everything together as kids. So Ben tried to help him by bringing him some food, but he got caught. Gibby was then forced to be in his own brother's firing squad of 20 to 25 men. Only one or two men had a real bullet, but Gibby was worried all his life that he may have been the one to shoot his own brother.
This family tradition would lend proof to the idea that Allen Goodman was Gibby's father. Besides Gibby, Allen Goodman had two other sons who would have been old enough to serve in the Civil War: Wesley and William Goodman. William was killed in that war according to the book "Pioneer Families of Butler County, Kentucky: South of the Green River." However, Wesley was not. He died in 1899. The family tradition about Wesley's dying in that war could be mistake. The name "Ben" could have actually been "Bill," a shorter form of William's name.
Gibby's father was either a John Goodman or John's brother, Allen Goodman. I'm waiting for more information on this before I can make a change here. It appears that Allen Goodman is the right person, though. John Goodman, was born November 1, 1809± and died November 3, 1869.± Gibby's mother was probably a Martha McDougal (JS). She was born December 13, 1812± and died June 13, 1893.± However, info from Pioneers South of the Green River may say that John Goodman's wife was a Martha Southerland. Gibby's parentage should still be considered unclear at this point. (For the cemetery info on Grandma's Goodman line, see Butler County Cemeteries, District 5, pp. 340-342 and Logan County Cemeteries, pp. 107-109. Rock Springs Cemetery is actually in Butler County, not Logan.) They are also buried at Rock Spring Cemetery.
Grandma's mother's parents were William R. Rives and Malinda Jane Hall. William was born July 25, 1837± and died July 28, 1921.± He first married Eliza J. _______. She died December 23, 1867.± He then married Malinda Jane Hall. They owned a merchandise store and a water mill where people ground their corn. This was down the river a little way from their farm. One time William got a newspaper that had an article about a murder that had happened somewhere. People used to come from all over just to see the story about that murder. Crime like that wasn't very common back then. According to his gravestone, he was in a regiment of the Kentucky Infantry. (Muhlenberg County Cemeteries, II, p. 112. William and Eliza are the only two people in this small plot on a farm in extreme southeast Muhlenberg County. The military inscription says, "Co D 11 Regt Ky Inf.") He fought on the union side, but his brother, Uncle Jim, fought for the Confederacy. William never forgave him for this. Later on, William changed his last name from Reeves to Rives in order to disassociate himself from his brother. After the war, William offered his former slaves a $100 bill, a horse, and a saddle if they wanted to leave. A lot of conmen were running around in those days offering the freed slaves beads and cloth for the money that the conmen called worthless paper. For the former slaves that wanted to stay and work the land, he offered them an acre of land, a horse, and wages.
His second wife, Malinda Jane Hall, was the one in Grandma's family line. She was born May 16, 1851± and died October 21, 1918.± She is buried in Gardner Cemetery near some of her children. William had wanted her to be buried on the farm, but she wanted to be near her children. (Muhlenberg County Cemeteries, II, p. 110. Her name on the stone is spelled Reaves. Grandma said this must have been a mistake. It should be Rives.) William is buried with his first wife, Eliza (Ellen) J., at the Rives Cemetery.
On July 15, 2000 (while I was in St. Dizier, France), I read an email message from my mom that she had sent a couple of days earlier to me saying that Grandma was having heart trouble and was in pretty bad shape. I immediately called Mom and asked about the situation. She said Grandma's kidneys seemed to be failing and that she couldn't eat. She gave me the phone number of the hospital and I called and talked to my aunt, Nancy Grice. She passed the phone to my dad and then he passed the phone to Grandma. Grandma seemed pretty weak, but she could hear me and I could hear her just fine. She said something like it was only a matter of days before she went to see God and that she was waiting for that day. She told us she loved us and wished us the best of luck in our work. I told her that we loved her, too, and would be praying for her. I said that I wished I could be there to see her, but I was in France.
Grandma kept getting weaker and weaker. However, she did start eating again later on. Then, on August 16, my mom wrote me a note saying that Grandma had passed on at 4 AM in the house of her youngest daughter, Peggy (Bodine) Cox.
I love you, Grandma. We shall meet again some happy day.
Here is an obituary that Ronny Bodine sent me:
Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Ky.) of 17 Aug 2000.
Mary Goodman Bodine, 93, of Owensboro died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at her home. She was born in Logan County and was a homemaker. She was a member of St. John United Methodist Church, Cora Cline Sunday school class and United Methodist Women. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Sharp Bodine; and by a daughter, Emily Stuart. Survivors include a son, Bobby Bodine of Lambertville, Mich.; six daughters, Susie Shaver of Central City, Ellen Ruck of Antioch, Ill., Nancy Grise and Peggy Cox, both of Owensboro, Carol Walker of Charlevoix, Mich., and Sally Snyder of Knoxville, Tenn.; 21 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; and several nephews and nieces. Services are at 10 a.m. Saturday at Tucker Funeral Home in Central City. Burial will be in Fairmount Cemetery in Central City. Visitation is from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.