Joseph M. Bonner

Soldier in Captain Nathaniel Fox's Company, 6th Virginia Battalion, commanded by Colonel James Hendricks during the American Revolution. NSSAR # 118709 NSDAR #686732

Revolutionary War

GEDCOM Note

Joseph Bonner
Birth: ABT. 1757 in Sussex County, VA
Death: 6 JAN 1825 in Jones County, GA
Marriage: Susannah (Heath)?
Marriage Date: ABT. 1780 in Prince George County, VA

Children:
- William Bonner b: 1781, m: Nancy Chappell
- Hubbard Bonner b: ABT. 1782 in Prince George County, VA, m: Rachel McGee
- Uriah m: Ann Tyner
- Susan b: 25 February 1791, m: Joseph McGee

Joseph was born ABT. 1750 in Sussex Co., VA, and died 06 JAN 1825 in Jones Co., GA. Susannah was born Abt. 1761 in Sussex/Prince George Co., VA. and died 12 JAN 1822 in Jones Co., GA. The burial site of Joseph and Susannah has not been located.

Fact 1: Soldier, Revolutionary War, VA

REVOLUTIONARY WAR SERVICE BY JOSEPH BONNER

Joseph Bonner was a soldier in Captain Nathaniel Fox's Company, 6th Virginia Battalion, commanded by Colonel James Hendricks during the American Revolution. The NSSAR (# 118709) and the NSDAR (# 686732) have approved his service.

Proof:
1. U. S. Archives records of service, B - 6 - VA, Records, 35745053, 35745131, 35745174, 35745218.
2. Knight, "GEORGIA'S ROSTER OF THE REVOLUTION", pP 342 & 345.
3. DAR, "PATRIOT INDEX".
A search of our Patriot Index provided the information found below.
BONNER, Joseph
Birth: VA Circa 1760
Service: VA
Rank: Pvt
Death: GA 6 Jan 1825
Patriot Pensioned: No
Widow Pensioned: No
Children Pensioned: No
Heirs Pensioned: No
Spouse: (1) Susannah X

Service: Soldier in Virginia; received land in Georgia: _Knight's_, p. 345. Drew land in 1820, Lottery District 27, Jones County, Georgia.

1820 Georgia Land Lottery:
Joseph Bonner, Revolutionary War Soldier living in Jones Co., GA and Harris MilitiaDistrict of said county drew:
Lot No. 127th in 27th District of orginal Early Co., GA (250 acres) and Lot No. 493 in 8th District of orginal Appling Co., GA (490 acres); (both areas having been reserved for drawing by indigent or invalid Revolutionary soldiers). Records have not been located to show weather he paid the required $18.00 grant fee for each lot: sold his land warrants: or let the land go by default.

Joseph Bonner moved from Prince George Co. VA to Wilkes County, GA and purchased 250 hundred acres bordering the Ogeechee River on the East which became Warren Co. GA in 1793. Land sold about 1803 and moved to Jones Co. GA near Haddock.

Joseph Bonner listed in 1805 Warren Co. GA Census, Zachrys District, Page 198.

Joseph Bonner left no will and his property was probably divided among his adult heirs by mutual agreement. (His wife died in 1823 and there were no minor heirs so an estate administration was not mandatory.)

Joseph Bonner, our earliest proved Bonner ancestor, lived in Prince George County, Virginia. His tract of land lay south of James River, an area which is often spoken of as the "Garden Spot of Virginia". He paid taxes on eight slaves in years 1782-87 after having served as a soldier of the Continental Line in the Revolution.

We would know more about him and perhaps his parents if the early records of Prince George had not been destroyed three times. Only a few are in existence. One treasured land deed shows him selling out to a Mr. Comer in 1790, and in April of 1791 he bought 130 acres in Wilkes County, Georgia for 100 pounds sterling.

George Washington had been in office less than two years when Joseph Bonner and his wife, Susannah, brought their children to a wilderness of fertile land. They had left an environment of culture and comfort to settle on an isolated spot on the Ogeechee River. All lands adjoining them were vacant except on the Southwest corner. In 1794, he bought another 200 acres in the same location and by now he was joined by two neighbors; Jones and Heath.

In spite of lonely hardships, our Joseph prospered. In 1805, he paid taxes on nine slaves and 200 acres of land. No sale of land is recorded and it is thought that his son Hubbard lived on the other 130 acres as Joseph signed for him on the tax record. These records are in Warren County GA. Joseph did not move from Wilkes to Warren. Wilkes was divided two years after he moved there and his home was then in Warren.

After 17 or 18 years in Wilkes-Warren, Joseph moved to a new county named Jones. He bought 202 acres in Jones in 1808, but he still lived in Warren another year. It was the custom, and a good one, to send slaves under supervision to build the new home and start clearing the land. His son Uriah went this time.

Tobacco was no longer the market crop. The mule drawn cotton gin was now in operation and farms grew larger and larger. It is hard to estimate the total acreage ownedby Joseph, but it was at least 600 acres along Commissioners Creek in the Southeastern part of the county.

While in Jones County, Joseph recorded gift deeds of 50 acres and the houses in which they lived to three of his children namely; William, Uriah and Susan. He also gave 3.5 acres to a church of unknown name or denomination.

Joseph's wife, Susannah, died 12 January 1822 in Jones County, Georgia. After her death, he started liquidating his holdings. He sold two farms for a total $1,950.00. He evidently wanted to manage his own affairs while he was living; he left no will, and no estate settlement is recorded.

There is no way of knowing his monetary returns from his yearly crops or how many slaves he owned in Jones County as there was no tax on them there.

Our old soldier died 06 January 1825, Jones County, Georgia. An effort has been made by a DAR Chapter to find his grave and mark it, but time has erased it from the face of the earth.

Children:
- William (1781-1852) m:Nancy Chappell, 27 April 1809
- Uriah (1785- ?) m: Ann Tyner, 05 July 1813
- Hubbard (1789-1812) m: Rachel McGee, Abt. 1799
- Susan (1791-1855) m: Joseph McGee, 03 December 1816

Very likely other children are: Caroline, James, Henry, Martha, Robert, Mildred, Sara and Reuben.

The above short story wrotten by Annie Catherine O'Malie Zieman, May 1972.

Survey of the old Fort Hill Cemetery, Fort Hawkins, Jones Co. GA, lists these Bonner names. Ft. Hawkins was part of Jones Co. in the early days.
E.F. Bonner
6/22/1860 - 12/21/1910
Bessie Bonner
1902-1976
G.C. Bonner
1890-1962
Lena W. Bonner
9/19/1869 - 10/24/1919

JONES COUNTY GA 1816 Tax Digest, CAPT. HARRIS' DISTRICT, No. 302
Uriah Bonner
Joseph Bonner
William Bonner

Submitted by: Robert F. Bonner <mailto:robertbonner70@hotmail.com>, Carrollton, Georgia