Saturday, June 20, 2009

June 20, 2009-Edna Bridwell Bonner

Edna Louivesy Bridwell Bonner was my great grandmother. I don't have much knowledge of her life and background. She was born in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana in 1870 and was one of 15 children. Her parents were Wesley Bridwell , born 1820 in South Carolina, and Elizabeth Satterwhite, born 1829 in Georgia. Her father, Wesley was one of 8 children of John Bridwell and Rachel Cox. After Rachel died, John remarried and had eight more children. So, Wesley was one of 16 children of John Bridwell.

Edna married my great grandfather Thomas H. Bonner in 1888 in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana when Edna was 18 and Thomas was 43. Thomas was born in British America in 1845. I'm not exactly sure where that is, maybe Canada or a British Carribean island. Thomas was 25 years older than Edna. That makes me wonder if he may have been married before. Their children were Addie, Edward, Ross (my grandfather), Robert, Thomas and Maude. Addie , Edward and Thomas were born in Louisiana and Ross, Robert and Maude were born in Hattiesburg, MS. My existing family genealogy showed that young Addie died at age one in Louisiana, but I recently found a headstone for Addie Bonner, "daughter of T.H. and E.L. Bonner". She was buried at Windham Cemetery in Laurel, MS. Laurel is not very far from Hattiesburg, only about 30 miles. I'm still trying to put those pieces together.

Great grandfather Thomas Bonner died around 1902 either in Mississippi or Louisiana. He was said to have been a Railroad Detective. On the 1900 census, Thomas and Edna and five of their children except Addie are listed on the Perry County, MS census. Thomas is noted to be a carpenter and both of his parents to be from Ireland. Edna is noted to have given birth to 8 children with 5 living. That means that besides the five listed on the 1900 census, plus Addie who died in 1899, she must have given birth to two other children. At the Windham Cemetery in Laurel, Mississippi where Addie is buried, another child, Sada Auma Bonner is buried. Her marker also reads, "daughter of T.H. and E. L. Bonner. She was born in 1893.

In 1910 Edna and her five children are in Choctaw county, OK. I have wondered why they moved from Mississippi to Oklahoma and not back to Edna's home in Louisiana after Thomas died. Although, Choctaw county, OK is only about 180 miles from Homer, Clairborne County, LA. I still don't know why they went on to Oklahoma, but there are some commonalities that I have found.

The area around Laurel and Hattiesburg, MS was known for its lumbering and lumber mills. On the 1900 Perry MS census, many neighbors of the Bonners worked in lumber mills. The area they moved to in Choctaw county was also known for its lumber mills. The Choctaw Lumber Company, founded by the Dierk's brothers was a thriving business when Edna and her children moved there. Perhaps someone they knew in Mississippi, who was in lumbering, moved to Oklahoma.

I identified a Bonner family in Choctaw county at the time Edna moved there, Dr. Robert Bonner, but it does not appear that he was related to great grandfather Thomas Bonner. While in Choctaw county, Maude Bonner died at age 12 at Ft. Towson, Oklahoma and she is buried there. Coincidentally, Dr. Robert Bonner and his family are also buried at the Ft. Towson Cemetery. There was a smallpox outbreak in 1912 when she died. Maybe that's what caused her death. While in Choctaw county, Robert, Edward and Ross worked for the Choctaw Lumber Company. That information was noted on the WW I draft cards for Robert and Edward and on the census for Ross. Even on his WW II draft card, Edward while living in Arkansas was working for a lumber company. That just makes me think, they had an early influence from lumbering.

While I haven't found that any of Edna's siblings moved to Oklahoma, I did find that a few of her cousins did move there. Her cousin Adolphus Bridwell lived in Pottowatomie county in 1900 and in Kiowa county in 1910. Her cousin, Sarah Elizabeth Bridwell Quillian lived in Cotton county in 1900 and before. Her children were born in Indian Territory in the late 1890's. I guess that doesn't provide enough family support to explain why Edna moved her children from Mississippi to Oklahoma after Thomas Bonner died.

Grandfather Ross Bonner married Grandmother Eula Manning. Eula died in 1940, leaving my Aunt who was only 7 years old. Edna moved to Oklahoma City in 1940 and lived with Ross to help take care of Poppy for one year. Then she moved back to the Ft. Towson area until she required a nursing home. She moved back to Oklahoma City where she passed away in a nursing home in 1950.

My Aunt Poppy recalls visiting Edna at her home. She said Edna was very poor. She kept chickens and she let them come into her house. They even laid eggs in pans and bowls in the house. She would call the chickens in the house by saying, "Come on babies". She also said Edna would sew the small cotton snuff or tobacco bags into pillow cases or sheets. Must have taken a whole bunch of snuff bags to make a sheet. Edna must have been industrious.

Edna is buried at Memorial Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

I have posted some pictures on flickr related to Edna and you can see them there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29098057@N07/sets/72157620075851228/