Notes for: Abraham Bodine
I have never seen any original sources listing the names of John Bodine and Mary Crocheron's children. As far as I can tell, the best list of these children would be John, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Catherine, Peter, and Abraham. However, one should realize that this is only an educated guess. Hopefully, more information will come to light on who John and Mary's children were, but it is not likely. These children were probably born on Staten Island, but there is no source for this information either.
It is almost certain that all the children John Bodine of Bethune and his wife Mary Crocheron would have been born on Staten Island and baptized at the old French Huguenot Church of Fresh Kills (now Greenridge). However, the church records are now lost. Registers from this church did exist at least until 1758 when they were last in the hands of Henry Latourrette, the son of Jean Latourrette and Maria Mercereau. It is thought that these were probably destroyed during the American Revolution by the English and their hired Hessian mercenaries. They probably also destroyed the old church and graveyard. The British did this to those they thought supported the American Rebels (adapted from http://www.latourrette.net/jean_america.html). If by some miracle those records ever were discovered, I'm sure they would reveal a lot about the family of John and Mary Bodine. Without those, we will not know the details of the births and baptisms of John and Mary's children.
Here is some information sent to me by Scott Thompson (iamsthomp2 at worldnet.att.net). It comes from page 490 of History of Hunterdon and Somerst Counties New Jersey, compiled by James P. Snell (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1881). The information in Snell's book does seem to have several errors, but it is probably the earliest information on who some of the children of John and Mary Bodine were. He must have gotten this straight from some of those Bodines themselves. Here is the info:
The Bodine Family is an honored one in the history of France, but moderate as were the advices of Jean bodine, the wise counselor of Henry III, his relatives were afterwards compelled to flee, with other Huguenots, to Holland, whence they ultimately came to Staten Island, at least as early as 1701.*
From the mouth of the Raritan they ascended to its source. Among the settlers of this region there were at least five of this name, all of whom left a large number of descendants.
*The earlier history of the Bodine family has been traced by Rev. Dr. Charles Baird, of New Rochelle, N.Y., for his forthcoming work on the Huguenots of America.
John Bodine had a plantation, early in the last century, on the west side of the North Branch. Immediately north of that was the Ammerman tract, and immediately north of that the Du Mont tract. This John Bodine had a son Abraham, who married Mary Low, and had John, baptized April 15, 1748; Judick baptized March 31, 1745, married Samuel Willemsen; Mary, probably the Mary that married Thomas Cooper; Cathelyntje, baptized Sept. 3, 1749; Sarah baptized Aug. 10, 1755 ; Cornelius, baptized November, 1755, married Margaret Sutphen, of Six-Mile Run, born 1754, and had Abraham, Peter, John, Cornelius, Gilbert, Issac, Charles, and George, all deceased.
Isaac Bodine had eleven children,- eight by his first wife, Cataleyn, and three by his second wife, Jannetje. These children, with dates of baptism, were Jan, Nov. 19,1703; Jantien, April 30, 1707; Frederick April 26, 1709; Mareyken, April 25, 1711; Kataleyn, Aug. 8, 1713; Isaac, April 5, 1715; Abraham, July 31, 1717; Elizabeth, Oct. 31, 1719; Hester, Dec. 25, 1723; Isaac, Aug. 16, 1730; and Jannetje, Aug. 16, 1730.
Peter Bodine had two children by his first wife and one by his second, Margrita. Their names and dates of baptism were Jan, April 30, 1712; David, April 3,1717; Mareytje, Oct 15, 1738.
Jacob Bodine's wife was named Elizabeth. They had six children,-Viz,, Jan, St. Jantien, Jacob, Catherine, Cornelius, and Antje.
Abraham Bodine married Adriantje Janse, and had nine children, among whom were Catrina, baptized April 14, 1725, and married Lodewyk Haydenbrook; Peter baptized December, 1726 and twice married ( first, Mareytje; second, Widow Williamson}; John, baptized Dec. 5, 1730, married Femmetje Vorhees; Abraham and Judick. The last named was born March 17, 1735, and ultimately married John Thompson.
[Note from Dave: The John Thomson and His Family book seems to say that the first eight children were baptized at the Church of the North Branch. The ninth was baptized at the Church of Raritan (now Somerville, NJ).
***End of info from Scott Thompson.
The first mention of Abraham seems to be in the baptismal records of Raritan DRC in Somerset County on May 18, 1715. He witnessed at the baptisms of two couples, Isaac Bodine and his wife (son Isaac) and John Laforsi and his wife (son David). He witnessed Isaac's with Catherine Van Neste and John Laforsi's with Janitjen Middagh.
Here are the entries where Abraham Bodine is mentioned in the baptismal records of the First Reformed Church of the Raritan:
May 18, 1715 Bodyn, Isaack and wife - Isaack. Witnesses: Abraham Bodyn; Kataryna Van Neste.
May 18, 1715 Laforsi, Jan and wife--Davit. Witnesses: Abraham Bodyn; Janitjen Middagh.
Apr. 12, 1716 Van Neste, Joris and wife--Hendrick. Witnesses: Abraham Bodien.
Apr. 3, 1717 Bodien, Piter and wife--Davit. Witnesses: Kataleyn Middagh; Abraham Bodien.
Apr. 4, 1725 Bodyn, Abraham and Arriaentje--Catrina.
Dec. 1, 1726 Bodyn, Abraham and Arriaentje--Pieter.
Aug. 6, 1732 Van Koort, Leyyes and Ante--Abram. Witnesses: Abram Bodeyn and wife, Annatt.
Apr. 15, 1733 Bodeyn, Abram and wife, Areyaente--Abram.
May 1, 1734 Lafors, Jan--Ragel. Witnesses: Areyaente Bodeyn.
July 10, 1737 Bodyn, Abraham and Ariaentie--Isack.
Nov. 1, 1741 Bedyen, Abram and wife, Ariaentye--Araentye.
On July 18, 1722, he bought sixty acres of land on Ambrose Brook from Elizabeth Merlatt. Ambrose Brook comes between the present towns of Stelton and Metuchen in Middlesex County. It is about at the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and empties into the Bound Brook at the town of Bound Brook. Both Abraham and Elizabeth Merlatt are described as being from Piscataway (East Jersey Surveyor's Association, Book AB5, folio 433). Later he sold this land and on April 24, 1752, he bought a tract that adjoined his on the North Branch of the Raritan. An Abraham Bodine, possibly this one, also owned a part of the Peter Van Nest tract on the west side of the North Branch.
Abraham was living in Somerset County, New Jersey in April of 1752. He was Assessor of the Poor for Bridgewater Township, Somerset County, in March of 1750.
The "Somerset County Historical Quarterly," set of 8 Volumes, Editor A. Van Doren Honeyman, Plainfield, NJ. Raritan, New Jersey, Somerset Historical Publication Reprint Publishers, 1977, v. 4, p 79. Department of Notes and Queries: (95) Jansen-Johnson. Adriadne (or Adriantje) Jansen married Abraham Bodine, whose daughter married John Thomson, the ancestor of the late Rev. Dr. John Bodine Thompson. (I'm not quite I understand the above reference!?)
The following information on Abraham's children comes from these references: Sebring Collections, pages 20-24; Somerset County Genealogical Quarterly, December, 1985, pages 236-237 (Bodine wives); Sebring Family Newsletter, v. 2, Issue 1, January, 1987, pages 5 and 6 - Family Group Sheet Auke Jansen/Catharine Sebring. The exact list printed below and the next paragraph was published in the "Sebring Newsletter" of May, 1989:
Abraham Bodine, the son of Jean and Marie (Crocheron) Bodine, born circa 1692, Staten Island, New York; died after 1753, perhaps Somerset County, New Jersey; married circa 1772, Arriantje Jansen, the daughter of Auke and Catharine (Sebring) Jansen, born circa 1700, perhaps Long Island, New York; died after 1741, perhaps Somerset County, New Jersey.
The children of Abraham and Arriaentje (Jansen) Bodine:
i. Mary, born circa 1723
ii. Catharine, baptized April 4, 1725
iii. Peter, bapized December 1, 1726
iv. Elizabeth, baptized September 22, 1728
v. John, baptized December 6, 1730
vi. Abraham, baptized April 15, 1733
vii. Judick, born March 17, 1735
viii. Isaac, baptized July 10, 1737
ix. Ouke, baptized November 18, 1739
x. Arriaentje, baptized November 1, 1741
Snell (History of Somerset and Hunterdon Counties, p. 523) says that his first eight children were baptized at the Church of the North Branch and the ninth at the Church of the Raritan (now Somerville, N.J.). Snell does not list Elizabeth. She was baptized at New Brunswick DRC. Snell may have gotten his information from somewhere else, but my information shows exactly the opposite. My references for most of the baptisms come from v. 2 and 4 of the "Somerset County Historical Quarterly" (1913 & 1915). These are baptisms from the Raritan Reformed Church, now in Somerville, NJ. These are baptisms from the Raritan and Readington/North Branch Reformed Churches. In the early 1700's, there were four churches in one circuit, served by one pastor: Raritan (later called Somerville), North Branch (later called Readington), Six Mile Run, and Three Mile Run (later called New Brunswick). It is believed that each church had its own baptisms and registry and that these were also recorded in the main book at Raritan. The book at Raritan seems to have been the main record. This system is discussed in volume 2, no. 1, of the "Somerset County Historical Quarterly." I found only the last baptism, Mary, recorded in the baptisms from North Branch/Readington. All the others took place at Raritan DRC.
From: Renee Dauven [promine at web-ster.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Subject: John (Jaentien) Bodine
Hi Dave,
I don't know if this will help you or make things worse. I am not a Bodine researcher but I have been studying the Raritan Dutch Reformed Church baptismal records a good deal lately.
I noticed that on both of the following pages:
Isaac Bodine & Jannetje Maurits
Jacob Bodine and Elizabeth Sebring
you list a John (Jaentien) Bodine for both families. In the Raritan records, Jaentien is always a female name, not a male name. It appears to be a nickname for Ariaentje (with many spelling variations). Ariaentje in turn has been erroneously equated with Adrianetje (also with many spelling variations). It is the name of Elizabeth Sebring's mother.
This is the baptismal record from the Raritan Church for the daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Bodine:
Bodien, Jacob and wife--Jaentien. Witnesses: Ouke Jansen and wife
The witness is Ouke Jansen and his wife, Catryntje Sebring. Catrynte is the sister of Elizabeth. Ouke (Auke) and his wife also named a daughter Ariaentje. Here is her baptismal record:
- Jansen, Ouke and wife--Jaentien. Witnesses: Jacob and Maria Sebrige.
This is the young woman, Arriantje Janse, who will eventually marry Jacob Bodine's younger brother, Abraham Bodine.
I don't know what became of either of the Ariaentje(Jantien) daughters at this time but it might help to know that you should be looking for a female rather than a male and that the name may be given as Ariaentje rather than by the nickname Jantien or it may have been Anglized into Adrientje.
Oh...and the Peter Bodine that is often included in the family of Jacob and Elizabeth may not have existed. As far as I have been able to learn, the only evidence for him is from Daniel Sebring's will in which Daniel refers to his "nephews" and his "son-in-law". Just as his language in the case of "son-in-law" actually refers to his step-son, Peter Bodine, I think that his language of "nephew" may actually include the category of "grand-nephew". Thus the Peter Bodine who is called a nephew is actually a grand-nephew, the son of Abraham Bodine and Ariaentje Janse. Abraham and Ariaentje can be proven to have had a son named Peter and Ariaentje was a daughter of Daniel's sister, Catryntje. Ariaentje was a niece to Daniel and any of her children would have been his grand-nephew.
Renee L. Dauven
***
From Ronny Bodine:
Abraham Bodine witnessed a baptism at the North Branch (now Readington) Dutch Reformed Church, Hunterdon County, New Jersey in 1715. On 18 July 1722, he purchased of Elizabeth Merlatt, both being described as of Piscataway, some sixty acres of land on Ambrose Brook, near Piscataway (East Jersey Surveyor's Association, AB5: 433), which he afterwards sold, purchasing on 24 April 1752 a tract of land adjoining his then residence on the North Branch of the Raritan. He was Assessor of the Poor for Bridgewater Township, Somerset County in March 1750. Adriantje Jansen was the daughter of Andries Jansen (see Somerset County Historical Society Quarterly, IV for an account of the Jansen family).