Notes for: Alvin ("Al") Edward Bodine
From Ronny Bodine:
AFRICAN-AMERICAN.
From Audrain County, Missouri Marriage Records:
All Bodine, of Mexico, Audrain County AND Ethel Smith, of Cook, County, IL, were married 24 March 1903 in Centralia, Boone County, by Rev. G. W. Graves.
1910 Mexico, Audrain Co., MO: All BODINE 32 MO undertaker, Corean 23 MO wife. Married 1 year, 0 children. His 2nd marriage, her 1st.
On 7 Sept 1918 in Mexico, Missouri, Alvin Edward Bodine, black, born 11 July 1876, registered for the World War I Draft. He reported he worked as a cabinet maker and named Corine Bodine of Mexico as his next of kin.
From the Missouri Death Certificate of A. E. Bodine: Colored, married, undertaker, born 10 June 1878 in Mexico, MO, son of Al. & Henrietta (Cooper) Bodine; died 1 March 1919 in Richmond, Ray County. Informant was Mrs. A. E. Bodine.
Obituary, Mexico (MO) Weekly Ledger of Thursday, 6 March 1919.
Al Bodine, a well known Mexico colored man died suddenly of heart disease at Richmond, Mo., at 4 o'clock Friday morning. Bodine was a son of Henrietta Bodine and a nephew of E. J. Cooper. He was born and reared in Mexico. Besides being a licensed embalmer, he was a natural musician and fiddled his way into the good will of the white people of this city. For many years he conducted a five piece orchestra known as the Bodine Orchestra which played for amny dances and social functions in and near Mexico. He also had a good tenor voice and his favorite number was "The Hold City." Few persons have been heard who could sing this beautiful piece with as much expression or music as could Bodine. He learned the undertaking business under Clayton R. Lupton and I. M. Greer and while working for the latter was a licensed embalmer by the State Board of Embalmers. He was 39 years old and went to Richmond, Mo., last fall. His body will be brought here Sunday morning and he will be buried at Elmwood.