INDEX
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_Henry Johnson Bonner _+
| (1801 - 1876) m 1836
_David Findley Bonner _|
| (1842 - 1921) m 1865 |
| |_Martha Findley _______+
| (1809 - 1852) m 1836
|
|--Caroline Josephine Bonner
| (1868 - ....)
| _______________________
| |
|_Mary Elizabeth Smith _|
(1841 - 1936) m 1865 |
|_______________________
[6975] [S420] Guy Gordon Lawyer, 408 S. Arap
[6976] [S421] Guy Gordon Lawyer, Jr.
[6977] [S420] Guy Gordon Lawyer, 408 S. Arap
[6978] [S421] Guy Gordon Lawyer, Jr.
[6979] [S421] Guy Gordon Lawyer, Jr.
[6980] [S420] Guy Gordon Lawyer, 408 S. Arap
INDEX HOME
_Cornelius Henry Van Blarcom Bonner _+
| (1902 - ....) m 1928
_David Cushing Bonner ___|
| |
| |_Dorothy Blum _______________________
| m 1928
|
|--Catherine Elizabeth Bonner
|
| _____________________________________
| |
|_Norma Elizabeth Hurley _|
|
|_____________________________________
[7039] [S420] Guy Gordon Lawyer, 408 S. Arap
[7040] [S421] Guy Gordon Lawyer, Jr.
INDEX HOME
__
|
_Frederick Bonner ___|
| |
| |__
|
|
|--Chapel H. Bonner
|
| __
| |
|_____________________|
|
|__
[11691] [S280] Robinson, History of Greene Co
HOME
_Orlo Roy Bonner _____+
| (1908 - 1974) m 1930
_Ernest Rea Bonner _____|
| (1932 - ....) m 1960 |
| |_Mable Lissie Rea ____+
| (1909 - 1993) m 1930
|
|--Christine Lynn Bonner
| (1963 - ....)
| _David Glenn Prosser _
| |
|_Glenda Louise Prosser _|
(1939 - ....) m 1960 |
|_?? ?? _______________
INDEX HOME
_David Henry Bonner _____+
| (1874 - 1954) m 1899
_Cornelius Henry Van Blarcom Bonner _|
| (1902 - ....) m 1928 |
| |_Mary Deter Van Blarcom _
| m 1899
|
|--Cornelius Henry Bonner
|
| _________________________
| |
|_Dorothy Blum _______________________|
m 1928 |
|_________________________
[7033] [S420] Guy Gordon Lawyer, 408 S. Arap
[7034] [S421] Guy Gordon Lawyer, Jr.
INDEX HOME
_David Findley Bonner _+
| (1842 - 1921) m 1865
_David Henry Bonner _____|
| (1874 - 1954) m 1899 |
| |_Mary Elizabeth Smith _
| (1841 - 1936) m 1865
|
|--Cornelius Henry Van Blarcom Bonner
| (1902 - ....)
| _______________________
| |
|_Mary Deter Van Blarcom _|
m 1899 |
|_______________________
[7026] [S420] Guy Gordon Lawyer, 408 S. Arap
[7027] [S421] Guy Gordon Lawyer, Jr.
INDEX HOME
_Quintan Russell Bonner _+
| (1936 - 1996) m 1970
_Orlo Joseph Bonner _|
| (1973 - ....) |
| |_Linda Anderson _________+
| (1949 - ....) m 1970
|
|--Cyle Bonner
|
| _________________________
| |
|_____________________|
|
|_________________________
INDEX HOME
__
|
_Frederick Bonner ___|
| |
| |__
|
|
|--David Bonner
|
| __
| |
|_____________________|
|
|__
INDEX HOME
_James Bonner _______
|
_John Bonner ________|
| (.... - 1785) |
| |_____________________
|
|
|--David Bonner
| (1776 - 1853)
| _____________________
| |
|_Sarah Walker _______|
|
|_____________________
[1539] David was an expert wool carder, cotton spinner, farmer,
millwright, and engineer. He moved to Chillicothe, Ohio in 1798
and took an active part in the construction of the Ohio canal
and public buildings of that date (including the Old State
House in Chillicothe,built 1801-2 of native stone, two stories
tall).
Chillicothe had been laid out by Nathaniel Massie and founded
in 1796. It was part of the 6,570 square miles of territory
between the Scioto and the Miami rivers set aside by Virginia
to reward war veterans. Chillicothe was the site of a ferry
across the Scioto and became a major center. In the early
1800's the town had 100 homes and a population of 1,982. By
1815 Ross County as a whole had 18,000 inhabitants. This is
partly attributable to an Act passed in 1800 which allowed
individuals to purchase tracts of 320 acres. This size was
later reduced to 160 acres and the price was set to $2 per acre
with five years to pay.
He then moved to Greenfield, Ohio, where he and his wife were
among the earlist permanent settlers. David began negotiating
in land at an early date and succeeded in putting over one oft
he largest land deals ever to take place in Greenfield. In 1813
he purchased 50 inlots in the eastern section for $2.00 a lot
(Purchased in Cincinnati District, Union County, 160 acres, SE
1/4-S33, 7 December 1813 at $2 per acre with 5 years to pay).
Within four years he sold four of the lots for $750. For that
era it was a tremendous land deal.
On 17 Nov. 1855, David acquired the northeast corner of
Washington and Jefferson Streets where he erected a carding
mill. The farmers around Greenfield brought wool here to be
carded, saving a somewhat longer trip to Chillicothe. He
operated the mill until 1822 when a new owner moved it to a new
location on Jefferson Street. The old mill building became a
grocery and hotel. At the new location he built a factory for
wool and cotton. The factory's machinery was operated by
horses, oxen, and cows which were worked on a horizontal wheel
sweep nearly forty feet in diameter. He added a pair of
millstones to grind corn and burrs to make wheat flour.
This advertisement appeared in the July 12, 1828 Hillsborough
Gazette:
"COTTON SPINNING AND WOOL CARDING"
"Our cotton and woolen factory is now in good order, where
common wool will be carded at five cents per pound, paid in
cash at the time. Wool carding and spinning in all other
respects, as to price and trade, the same as last year. Cotton
yarns, assorted, can be had at our factory; as also summer and
winter janes, in exchange for cash, wool, or such trade as is
taken in the stores."
"Greenfield, May 20, 1828 - David Bonner"
Sometime between 1820 and 1820 a David S. Bonner appears in
Vincennes, Indiana Territory. A working supposition is that
this David S. Bonner is the same person as David Bonner from
Ohio. But this has not yet been proven. In
Vincennes in 1818 he purchased the Jean Baptiste Poetevin die
Arpin plantation on the Southeast corner of 5th and Main Street
and built a large brick cotton mill which was torn down in
1823. Next he erected another brick building about 1831. This
building had three stories, the upper two for storage and the
main floor was a salesroom. The building, lalter called the
"Old Cotton Factory," stood on a half square facing south west
on Barnett Street between Second Street and Third Street. It is
no longer standing. He also built a large Virginia style house
on Main Street and Second Street. The house was one of the
earliest brick hounses in Vincennes and was constructed by
Jonathan Spinning, a Cincinnati contractor.
Hubbard Smith, M.D. in his early history of Vincennes,
indicates that the house was built about 1822 for David S.
Bonner, a Virginia financier and cotton mill operator in
Vincennes. But the actual date is now known for the oldest
Cincinnati Directory lists 13 Spinnings that are contractors or
masons. A plaque which has been placed on the front of the
house says it was built in the late 1700's but this cannot be
correct. The floor beams in the four story house measure 3" by
14" and tradition has it that the lumber for the house was
floated down the Wabash River. The large front porch has a
sandstone floor and steps, and large ornamental fluted columns
which support the roof. The original front door and large brass
lock are still in use. The walls are of solid brick, 14" think.
The ceilings are high. Sometime after the house was built the
ceilings wer redone and they are now of ornately molded tin.
The woodwork is of solid cherry and walnut, the joists are of
native poplar. The wood was joined with wooden pegs and those
joints are clearly visible in the door frames. The window sills
are 14" deep. The original house had 33 rooms, all of which
opened onto a large central hallway on each floor. Today there
are only 22 rooms, the first floor staircase has been replaced,
and an attached garage built in the rear. The mansion was
heated by a fireplace in every room, including those in the
basement. The house has had a colorful history, having served
as a stage coach stop and later as a rooming house. Today
(1970) it is the Gardner Funeral Home and has been in the
Gardner family for many generations. It is one of the few
remaining examples of colonial architecture in Vincennes.
David S. Bonner was active in the community. In July 1826 he
was on a committee to receive bids and select a new site for
the court house and his signature appears on many court
documents of the period in connection with appraisals of
estates.
On 18th April 1828, General William Henry Harrison deeded to
David S. Bonner, Richard Posey, and Thomas Collins, and their
successors in office, lot 132 on Buntin Street and 3rd Street
paralell to the Wabash River for $50. The property to be used
for the erection of a Methodist Episcopal Church. This is an
interesting entry. The Bonner family for many generations was
Presbyterian. The answer may be that on this same day, David's
daughter Louisa married Harrison's son Benjamin, an architect.
David S's business in Vincennes was not successful. A later
historian said "many years ago David S. Bonner, a very wealthy
man, began the manufacture of cotton yarn. He built a large
mill and employed many men and women. But his venture was not
successful and involved him in financial ruin."
Then in 1834 in Greenfield, Ohio, David Bonner replaced the
horse and ox drawn power in the Greenfield mill with the first
steam engine known in the area. This factory was completely
destroyed by fire in the summer of 1837. He immediately started
constuction of a new three story stone building on the
northeast corner of Fifth and Jefferson (now the Odd Fellows
building). Two years after the first he also constructed a
beautiful manor house on Jefferson between Fourth and Fifth
Street.
He later gave up the mill and opened a bookstore around 1840 in
a new brick building at 297 Jefferson Street.
Both Davids (perhaps the same person?) remained active in
Vincennes and Greenfield affairs. His name appears as one of
the organizers of the O & M Railroad on the charter granted 14
Feb 1844 by the Indiana General Assembly for the railroad's
construction.
David was a very principled man and his efforts were not always
appreciated. For example, he was very conscientious in
enforcing the observance of the Sabbath and many traveling
through Chillicothe on the Sabbath were arrested at his
insistence. He also opposed drinking and his signature appears
on a petition to the Court on 4 February 1839 asking that a
license not be granted to Samuel Wasson for dram drinking. He
was an abolitionist and owned a large farm north of Greenfield
where slaves were often hidden.
Elsie Johnson Ayres in "Hills of Highland" relates
the following story. "One Sunday morning Bonner met three men,
new to the area, on the Public Square. He talked to them and
became aware that they were hunting the fugitives who were
hidden in his own basement. He asked if they had been to
breakfast and upon learning that they had not, he boldly
invited them to participate in the family worship hours. They
consented and their host proceeded to read one of the longest
psalms in the Bible. Bonner's prayers were never longer than on
that particular morning. In the meantime, the slaves had been
carefully removed from their cellar hideout and conducted to
another station."
Recent research indicates that there were indeed two David
Bonners in and near early Chillicothe. One was David S. Bonner
who was associated with Nathaniel Massie and who married
Elizabeth Reynolds. However, a clipping from the Cincinnati
Mercury states "1806, Mar 24, married on Tuesday last by the
Reverend John Sale, David S. Bonner of Greene Co., to Miss
Elizabeth Reynolds".
The other was David Bonner, from Pennsylvania who married
Eleanor there, and then they came to Chillicothe. The tombstone
in the Greenfield cemetery gives David's wife as Elinor, and
the records of the Recorders Office of Highland Co., Ohio
1805-1850 have six entries with Elinor the wife of David.
The identification was even more confused as David had James
Taylor, Henry J., Sara, Margaret, and Eleanor Jane. Where as
David S. had Louisa Smith, Sara, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Mary
Jane.
An additional name appears in the Walter Daniel Bonner entry in
the [ul:National Cycclopedia of American Biography:ul]. It
states that David's wife was Caroline McIlroy. It is the only
source with that name and the underlying sources is not noted.
[1540] In the 1920's William Thompson Bonner mailed a Christmas card
which depicted four generations of Bonners with pictures of
David, James Taylor, William Thompson, and William Thompson,
Jr. That card has been duplicated and copies widely circulated
among the Bonner descendants. The card states that David was
Born 4 July 1776 and consequently that date has become a strong
family tradition. However, David's tombstone says died 31 Mar
1853 77 y 8m 15d. That calculates to 15 Jul 1776. The date of
15 July is also cited by Carmen Ghormley in her "The Ghormley
Story". I have not been able to find any colloborating evidence
for the 4 July 1776 date.
[11435] This was her second marriage. First husband's name is unknown.
Although the Woods family publication says it's source for the
marriage date is the Ancestral File, the Ancetral File actually
gives the marriage date as 1 Apr 1841.
[1541] [S309] David & Jean McBride, Cemetery
[1542] [S309] David & Jean McBride, Cemetery
[11434] [S275] Bonner-Johnson FGS, 21 Dec 199
[11436] [S271] Woods Family, unknown author
[11437] [S272] Dave Schubert email, 4 Mar 199
[11438] [S277] Ken Birch, Bonner-Woods FGS
INDEX HOME
_David Henry Bonner _____+
| (1874 - 1954) m 1899
_Cornelius Henry Van Blarcom Bonner _|
| (1902 - ....) m 1928 |
| |_Mary Deter Van Blarcom _
| m 1899
|
|--David Cushing Bonner
|
| _________________________
| |
|_Dorothy Blum _______________________|
m 1928 |
|_________________________
[7035] [S420] Guy Gordon Lawyer, 408 S. Arap
[7036] [S421] Guy Gordon Lawyer, Jr.
INDEX HOME
The information on this page was last revised02/25/2002 02:58:43 AM Pacific Standard Time .
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Printed Sources\: A Guide to Published Gen. Records