Notable Family Members
Meet the remarkable individuals who have shaped our family's legacy
Thomas Bonney (1604-?)
First of the Family in America
Thomas Bonney (also called Goodman Bonney) was the founding patriarch of the Bonney family in America. Born about 1604 in Dover, England, he emigrated to the New World in 1634 aboard the ship Hercules from Sandwich, England, under Master John Whitberley.
As a shoemaker (cordwainer) by trade, Thomas settled in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where he became a respected member of the community. He served as constable (1643-1644), a position of high trust and responsibility, and later as surveyor of highways (1652). His military service during King Philip's War earned him a land grant of 32 acres in the Narraganset settlement (1733).
Thomas married twice: first to Mary Terry (who died), then to Mary Hunt at about age 50. Together they had eight children who established the foundation of the American Bonney family line. His will, dated January 2, 1691, bequeathed his Duxbury property to his wife and son Thomas 2nd, ensuring the family's continued presence in the community.
Source: The Bonney Family by Charles L. Bonney, Chicago. Second Edition. Published by Chicago Legal News Co., 87 Clark St., Chicago, 1898.
Prentiss Franklin Bonney (1805-1853+)
Missouri Pioneer and Gold Rush Adventurer
Prentiss Franklin Bonney was born on April 2, 1805, in New York, and died after 1853 in White Plains, Utah Territory (now Nevada). He was a farmer, pioneer, and adventurer who played a significant role in the westward expansion of the Bonney family from New York to Missouri and ultimately to California during the Gold Rush era.
Prentiss married twice in Washington County, Missouri, and had eleven children total. According to the 1850 census, he was a farmer with land worth $200. The family was active in the Bellevue Presbyterian Church, where both of his marriages took place.
Bellevue Presbyterian Church, Caledonia, Missouri - circa 1830. This image shows the congregation's first building where Prentiss Bonney's marriages took place. It was the first Presbyterian church west of the Mississippi River.
In 1853, he embarked on a perilous journey to California during the Gold Rush, accompanied by his eldest son James Logan Bonney, but died of cholera at White Plains along the old Gold Rush Trail.
Read More: Complete biography of Prentiss Franklin Bonney
Sources: Missouri Bonney Family genealogy research by Gregory N. Bonney; U.S. Census records; Washington County, Missouri marriage records; U.S. Senate Journal records (1841).
Elinor Amelia Bonney (1885-1962)
Family Chronicler and Diary Keeper
Elinor Amelia Bonney was born on January 16, 1885, in Cherry Grove, Wexford County, Michigan, and died on August 13, 1962, in Norwalk, Ohio. She was a dedicated family historian who kept detailed diaries spanning decades, providing invaluable insights into daily life in the early 20th century. Her extensive diary collection, beginning in 1912, documents the intersection of the Bonney and Wheeler family lines and captures the social and family dynamics of the era.
On May 17, 1920, Elinor married Frank Wiley Babcock in Lorain, Lorain County, Ohio. Her ancestry brings together the Bonney and Wheeler family lines through her parents' marriage. Her mother Martha Jane Wheeler married Harvey D. Bonney in 1879, uniting two prominent Ohio families. The Wheeler family had deep roots in Lorain County, Ohio, with connections to the Pomeroy and Harris families, while the Bonney line traced back to Massachusetts through Lyman Bonney (1810-1887).
Her diaries reveal the family's connections to Michigan, where she was born and where several family members homesteaded property, and document the close-knit relationships between extended family members. Elinor's writings provide a window into early 20th-century family life, including references to the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 and the challenges of rural life in Ohio and Michigan.
Read Elinor's Diary: 1912-03 Elinor's Diary
Sources: Elinor Bonney's personal diaries (1912-1950s); Family genealogy records; Census data from Lorain County, Ohio and Wexford County, Michigan; Marriage and death records.