Notes for: Samuel Taylor Bodine
The information on his birth from the Samuel Tucker Bodine family Bible says he was born August 23, 1854 in Philadelphia. I have that he was born in Villanova, but maybe this is near Philadelphia.
One source says Samuel was VP of the United Gas Improvement Company and director and executive of numerous corporations. There is information about Samuel in the paper "Historical and Biographical Sketch of the Bodine Family." It lists three children.
The following paragraph is quoted from an undocumented paper called "700 Years of History of the Families of Bodine and Bodin..." I'm not sure who the author was or when it was written. It seems to be based on the "Historical and Biographical Sketch of the Bodine Family."
Samuel Taylor Bodine's business career began as a clerk for the Boyersford (PA) Iron Foundry Company in 1873. Later he was employed with the Cohansey Glass Company of Bridgeton, New Jersey and with the shipping firm of Peter Wright & Sons of Philadelphia. Bodine was the first secretary and treasurer of the United Gas Improvement Company of Philadelphia. In 1912, he was elected president, serving unitl 1926. He was a man of strong individuality and rare executive ability, with an unexcelled knowledge of the public utility industry and was noted for his high standards of business integrity and keen sense of public responsibility.
The 1870 Census of Philadelphia (p. 98) lists several house servants from Ireland living with them. He was also worth over $200,000. I'm sure that was a pretty penny back then.
John Stanwood (Stanwood.BigJohn at prodigy.net) sent me the info below in November of 2000:
I found the following in the New Jersey Historical Society Proceedings, Vols. 51 and 52, 1933-34.
Samuel T. Bodine, Chairman of the Board of the United Gas Improvement co., died Aug.19, 1932. at his home in Villanova, Pa. b. 8-23-1854 and graduated class of 1873 from the University of Penna. He was a descendant of the LeBaudain family of France, one of whose members went to England in 1645. His ancestor, Francis Bodine, came to this country early in the 18th century and settled first on Staten Island, later going to Middlesex County in this state. Mr. Bodine was director and 2nd V.P. of Welsbach Light Company, Trustee of the Penna. Mutual Life Insurance Company, Director of the Charleston S.C. Mining and Manufacturing Company and the American Society for the Extension of University Teaching.He is survived by three children, Mrs. Eleanor Gray Perry of Cohanset, Mass., Mrs. Louise Warden How of Rosemont, Penna., and Col. William W. Bodine of Philadelphia. His wifde, Eleanor Gray Garden Bodine, died in 1927.
Mr. Bodine became a member of the N.J. Historical Society in June, 1931.
End of info from John Stanwood.
There is quite a bit more about Samuel Taylor Bodine in Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania, page 1326 to 1327. It discusses his education and the positions and jobs he held. I have photocopies of this article.
From Ronny Bodine:
Samuel Bodine joined the United Gas Improvement Company of Philadelphia and served as secretary and treasurer 1882-1888, became general manager in 1888, 2nd Vice President 1892-1904, 1st Vice President 1904-1912 and rose to president 1912-1926 and chairman of the board of directors 1926-1932. He earned a B.A. in 1873, a M.A. in 1876, and an honorary LL.D. in 1928, all from the University of Pennsylvania. Samuel and Eleanor Bodine were buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. See "Cyclopedia of American Biography," XXIII; "Who's Who in America," and their obituaries in the "New York Times" of 20 Jan 1927 and 20 Aug 1932. On 6 April 1900, Eleanor Bodine applied for a U.S. passport noting on her application her date and place of birth (Passport Applications, 1795-1905, no. 68568). Eleanor (Warden) Bodine was the daughter of William Grey and Sarah W. (Bushnell) Warden.
Obituary, the New York Times of 20 Jan 1927.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Jan. 19.---Mrs. Samuel T. Bodine, wife of the Chairman of the United Gas Improvement Company, died of heart disease at her home in Villa Nova late last night. Mrs. Bodine, formerly Eleanor G. Warden, had been active for years in Philadelphia social and charitable work. She was a sister of William G. Warden, Chairman of the Board of the Pittsburgh Coal Company and a sister-in-law of William L. McLean, Philadelphia publisher.
From Pennsylvania Death Records:
Eleanor G. Bodine died 18 Jan 1927 in Montgomery County.