Shortly after our project went public with the launch of this web site, I was contacted by my friend, Nancy Vermillion, to tell me that she was related to the descendants of John & Penelope Bonham, the parents of little Louisa Bonham. It was a thrilling breakthrough after weeks of unsuccessful research. On October 14, Ginger and I met Nancy at Willow Wild and she took us on a tour of the Bonham family burials there. We started at the plot that James Bonham had purchased for himself, his late wife Elaine, and the reburial of Louisa and Charity Bonham. Elaine’s body had already been moved to the new plot from her resting place in California. The tombstone commemorating Charity and Louisa had also been relocated from the Bonham Family Cemetery though their bodies had not yet been disinterred.
James Bonham plot in Willow Wild Cemetery, photo by Wanda Holmes Oliver.
Charity & Louisa Bonham headstone and foot stones in Bonham plot in Willow Wild, to the right of the headstone of Elaine and James Bonham, photo by Wanda Holmes Oliver.
Charity & Louisa Bonham headstone, cleaned and in its new location, photo by Ginger Sisco Cook.
Visit to Willow Wild Cemetery, photo by Ginger Sisco Cook.
While at Willow Wild, we also visited the burial of James Bonham’s parents, Willam A. and Marye M. Erwin Bonham. William Arthur Bonham was the son of John William Bonham Jr., and grandson of John and Penelope Bonham. Though none of the children of William and Marye currently live in Texas, Nancy mentioned that the family was planning to gather in Bonham in November for a memorial service for Elaine, Charity, and Louisa. She agreed to make introductions and try to arrange a meeting for us with them. We were very hopeful, but also mindful of the fact that the family would be here for a short time and for a specific purpose. We said goodbye to Nancy with fingers crossed.
Resting place of Marye Erwin and William Arthur Bonham in Willow Wild Cemetery, photo by Wanda Holmes Oliver.
On Nov. 3, 2018, I had the immense pleasure of meeting with the Bonham family around the dining room table at Granny Lou’s. James and John Bonham, sons of William and Marye were present, as was the widow of their brother Arthur Erwin Bonham, along with wives and cousins of their generation. The next younger generation of the family was also generously represented. We shared research, family stories, photographs, and fellowship. The family has a treasure trove of history, first compiled by William Arthur Bonham in the early 1980’s and updated by Arthur Erwin Bonham in 1992. One of those treasures, Arthur Bonham’s memories of the farm south of Bonham can be read here. The farm was near Bonham State Park. The house was built by Arthur’s father, John William Bonham Jr, son of John and Penelope Bonham, and brother of Louisa Bonham.
Photos courtesy of Janice Bonham West.
Bonham Family Farm in 1914-1915, photo courtesy of the Bonham family..
Bonham Family Farm as it appeared in 1992 during a previous family reunion, photo courtesy of the Bonham family.
Marye Erwin and William Arthur Bonham on their honeymoon in 1925, photo courtesy of the Bonham family.
The family lore shared around the table was fascinating. John Bonham was born in the early 1800’s (the family pegs the date as no later than 1820) in North Carolina, the son of David and Charlotte (aka Charity) Bonham, who had arrived in North Carolina in approximately 1810, coming from Europe as a married couple. In addition to John, their children included Sam, Bill, and an unnamed daughter. David Bonham was lost in the Seminole Wars and his body was never recovered. Sam was similarly lost near the Great Salt Lake in another, later, encounter with hostile Indians near the end of the Civil War. Curiously, there is a reference in 1832 to a Charity Bonham in a Bastardy Bond registered in New Hanover County, North Carolina, indicating that she might have had a child with no confirmed paternity or family support. Was the child truly born out of wedlock, or did this stem from the loss of her husband, and therefore her means of support? Charity’s fellow bondsmen were Joseph Eakins and Williams Moore, neither of whom can be directly related to the Bonham family, and the record provides no other details.
John and Penelope Boone Bonham came to Texas at the end of the Civil War from Mena, Arkansas by way of the Military Road. They owned several slaves, but expected to be separated from them at the first military checkpoint, and so left them behind. They chose their Fannin County destination because a sister of John Bonham was already settled here, married to a Dr. Allen.
When asked the obvious question about our namesake Alamo hero, the family says no kinship to James Butler Bonham has ever been found, though John’s wife, Penelope, was a relative of Daniel Boone.
The family history is rich and detailed, but not without its contradictions. The tombstone of the Charity Bonham buried in the Bonham Family Cemetery states a birthdate of 1812. If correct, this Charity would have been much too young to be the mother of John Bonham. Some of the family records refer to a David Bonham dying in the Gun (Gum?) Springs area. If this is correct, then he is not the David Bonham who disappeared in the Seminole Wars, but perhaps the son of that David. And if the son, perhaps the Charity born in 1812 is his wife, and a sister-in-law to John and Penelope.
Then there is what we know from public records. John & Penelope married in Stewart County, Tennessee in 1847. Their first child, Mary, was born in Tennessee in 1849. By the time their third child, Nancy, was born in 1857, they were living in Arkansas. They are recorded in the 1860 Census living in Mountain Township, Polk County, Arkansas with four children ranging in age from 2 to 13 years. John’s age is stated as 37 (placing his birth year in 1822-1823) and Penelope is listed as 30 years old. There are two other family members in the household, Saletha Bonham, a female of 64, and Mack Bonham, a young man of 18. Saletha is of an age to be John’s mother, though if she is the mother of Mack, he was born when she was in her mid-forties - less probable, but not impossible.
In the 1870 census, the family is living in Fannin County, Texas. Josephine, age 8, is listed as having been born in Arkansas. Little Louisa is not represented as she was born and died in the interval between the census years. George is 3 years old and Hesakiah is an infant. George and Hesakiah are reported as having been born in Texas. Saletha and Mack are no longer members of the household. Neither the public records or the Bonham family have any additional information on either of them. The two are a mystery, as is the whereabouts of David and Charity Bonham in 1860, how Charity came to be in Texas in December of 1864 when she died, whether David had come to Texas with her, and what their relationship was to John & Penelope. That she shares a tombstone with their baby daughter who died one month later than she is certainly an indication of a close relationship, but we can’t say with certainty what that relationship was.
Perhaps Saletha was John’s mother. If we assume that she was the wife of the lost David Bonham rather than Charity, and we further assume that the David who was the husband of Charity was another son, then some of the pieces do fit together more cleanly. But this is a web of speculation with no supporting evidence.
Then there is the reference to the sister of John married to Dr. Allen - the reason for the family choosing Fannin County for their destination. Capt. Wilson Bruce Allen, founder of Allen’s Chapel, was married to Cassipha Bonham. It was a second marriage for both of them. Cassipha was the widow of C. D. Cosner. However, neither Mr. Allen nor Mr. Cosner were doctors, and the marriage to Mr. Allen did not take place until 1880. There are references to C. D. Cosner being a merchant in Honey Grove in 1865, so it is possible that Cassipha was the sister living in Fannin County and the details have become jumbled over time. There is also a record of Sarah Bonham and James A. Wilson being married on 7/10/1861 in Fannin County. James A. Wilson was a doctor, so perhaps Sarah is the sister who anchored the family here. The marriage record stands isolated as a single fact with no corroboration.
We may be forced to “let the mystery be”, but we will always be delighted to be a part of the journey with the Bonham family.
Photo courtesy of Janice Bonham West.
Story by Wanda Holmes Oliver.