Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Chris Kidwell, Compiler, Bodkin Family Civil War Letters and Other Material, A&M 3840, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

Richard Bodkin (b. 1710) immigrated from Ireland and was the great-grandfather of Joshua Bodkin. Two of Joshua Bodkin's sons are mentioned in this collection: William H. Bodkin and Michael Bodkin (1842-1924), both of whom served with the Confederate Army during the Civil War, William with the 62nd Virginia Mounted Infantry and Michael with the 25th Virginia Infantry (Heck's Regiment). Michael married Rebecca Eve (Cowger) Bodkin. Among their children were Charlie Bodkin and Sarah Jane (Bodkin) McCauley. One of Michael Bodkin's granddaughters was Gertrude May (Bodkin) Judy (1897-1987) who married Isom Judy (1887-1986), and who was a member of the Judy family that is the subject of A&M 3798. Gertrude was the daughter of Luie (Cunningham) Bodkin (1876-1956), who owned the bonnet and scarf in this collection.

Scope and Contents

Contains material regarding the Bodkin family of Pendleton County, West Virginia. Items within the collection include two Civil War era letters written by William H. Bodkin, other letters, sheriff's summons, receipts, a funeral program, genealogical information and photographs of Bodkin family members with identification. The collection also contains a brown velvet bonnet and a black scarf; and six homemade quilts and a quilted pillow. All items within this collection, except the bonnet, scarf, and quilted items, are facsimiles.

Civil War material includes two letters and a receipt (1861). Both of the letters were sent from Camp Washington in Augusta County, Virginia, written by William H. Bodkin, and addressed to his father Joshua Bodkin. The letters are dated 23 February 1863 and [30?] March 1863 respectively. The letters discuss personal and camp conditions and inquire for news of home.

Also in the collection are photographs of members of the Bodkin family in portraits or at family events. Photographs include identifications of the persons shown and their relationship to the Bodkin family; however, dates are included only infrequently. Persons appearing in these photographs include but are not limited to Michael Bodkin, Rebecca Eve (Cowger) Bodkin, Sarah Jane (Bodkin) McCauley, James W. McCauley, Charlie Bodkin, Maude (Cunningham) Bodkin, Sylvie Bodkin, Willie Bodkin, John William Bodkin, Luie F. (Cunningham) Bodkin, Osburn Bodkin, Gertrude May (Bodkin) Judy, Isom Judy, Ben Bodkin, Della (Cunningham) Bodkin, Isaac Bodkin, and Savannah (Cunningham) Bodkin. There is also one large (19 1/2 in. x 11 1/4 in.) photograph of Rebecca (Bennett) Cunningham, which is located in an oversize box. Attached to the back of this photograph is census data and other biographical information regarding Cunningham.

The collection also contains a brown velvet bonnet with a black border and woven black scarf. These items were owned by Luie (Cunningham) Bodkin; she made the scarf by hand. Both of these items were made ca. 1880-1890. These items are located in an oversize box. (See box 1.)

There are also six quilts and one quilted pillow made by Gertie [Gertrude] Bodkin Judy (5/9/1897 - 9/19/1987) sometime in the 1950s and 1960s. They were made by hand and with the assistance of an old treadle sewing machine. (See boxes 2-5.)

There is also a fedora hat from the 1940s that belonged to Isom Judy of Judy Gap, Parsons, West Virginia. It comes with a photograph showing Isom wearing the hat, a biographical clipping copied to acid free paper (1971), and a narrative by the donor establishing provenance. (See box 6.)

See also:

A&M 3798, Judy, Martin Family. Photographs and Textile

Diane Collins, Mountain Folk, volumes 1-2

Deebra Simmons, The Bodkin Book

Ibid., Dreams of the Past

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Augusta County (Va.)
• Bodkin family
• Bodkin, Michael.
• Bodkin, William H.
• Civil War -- Confederate letters
• Family histories.
• Genealogy
• Handicrafts.
• Judy, Gertrude May (Bodkin)
• Pendleton County (W. Va.)