Notes for: Joseph Herman Bodine

From: marian.parks at syngenta.com
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007
Subject: Joseph Maddison Bodine

I am a descendent of the West Barre Bodines.

Clarissa Bodine Grinnell (1870) was my grandmother. Her father was Samuel C. Bodine (1834) married to Betsey Hill Bodine (1835). They had 6 children: Mary, Esther, Clarissa, Archibald, Edith, Samuel Clark Bodine.

My grandmother didn't marry until she was in her 30s, but she and my grandfather Fred C. Grinnell had 2 children Catherine Grinnell Hill and Roland Grinnell. My father was Wilbur William Hill, son of Wayland F. Hill. The Betsey Hill Bodine (1835) that was married to Samuel C. Bodine was my mother's grandmother and my father's great aunt.

Unfortunately, that's about as much as I can tell you. I knew Clarissa very well, she lived to be nearly 100, as did both of her children. Her brothers and sisters spent many holidays at my mother's home. Mom was the cook of the family, and since I am one of ten children, the gatherings were always at her home. Mary and Esther never married. I don't remember ever meeting Edith or Samuel (we called him Uncle Clark)... His only son was Joseph, who remained a bachelor all his life. He lived in Oakfield, NY on the family farm. It was always fascinating to visit him, as he had no indoor plumbing, no electricity, no running water. I can't remember the name of the road, but there were wetlands on his farm and he "thrashed" his wheat right up until he died. The kids from other farms would help him, just to have had the experience. He did have a tractor.

When I look up the Hill genealogy, there are Bodines married to Hills and Hills with a middle name of Bodine, so they intertwined all through the past apparently.

I have a navy wool and white linen coverlet that was made on a "barn loom" dated 1834 with the name Mary Ann Foster. This was what sparked my interest in genealogy. As kids, we always thought this was a relative of my mother. She was actually a relative of my father.

Thanks for all the work.
Marian Hill Parks

From Ronny Bodine:

Death Notice, Medina Journal-Register (Medina, N.Y.) of 2 May 1979.
The community was saddened by the death of Joseph Bodine on Friday, April 27, in the Genesee County Nursing Home. He was a life long resident of the community and his family was among the early settlers and also active in the early growth of the United Methodist Church.

Burials in West Barre Cemetery, Barre, Orleans County, New York.
Joseph H. Bodine 1911 - 1979 (Cremated)