Great Grandfather, Thomas H. Bonner

Thomas H. Bonner was my great grandfather and until recently I have known very little about him. I knew he was born in February 1845 in British America, but didn't know where. It could have been in the Caribbean Islands or a Canadian Province. Thomas married my great grandmother, Edna Bridwell in 1888 in Louisiana. He was 43 and she was 18. I've always wondered how and why a man from British America made it to Louisiana. With the age difference, I have thought he might have been married before. They had a child, Addie, born in Louisiana in 1889 who died at a young age. Their son Edward was also born in Louisiana in 1891. Then they moved to Mississippi where my grandfather Ross, his brother Robert and his sister Maude were born. Great grandfather is said to have died back in Louisiana in 1902. His son, Thomas Henry Bonner was born in January 1903, after his father's death.

The only census record I have of Thomas was 1900 in Perry county Mississippi. He was noted to have been born in British America in 1845. His parents were noted to have been born in Ireland. He was a carpenter, owned his home, was married to Edna and had four children.

I have searched records of deaths in Louisiana and in Mississippi and have not found Thomas. I have also searched Civil War records for both states and could not find him in any units from those states. Just a little over a week ago, I was searching some Civil War records for one of Don's relatives, Andrew Hicks Baker and his brothers from Texas. I was looking at Civil War Pension Index Cards for the Baker's. Don't ask me why, but while in the middle of the Bakers, I stopped and I searched the Civil War Pension Index for Thomas H. Bonner. I was shocked to find his index card.

The soldier was listed as Thomas Bonner, widow was Edna Bonner. Thomas had filed for a pension in October 1891 in Louisiana as an "invalid". Edna had filed for his pension in April 1903 in Louisiana, as a widow. The date 1891 matches the date in which Thomas and Edna would have been in Louisiana before moving to Mississippi. The 1903 date, when Edna filed as a widow, is consistent with Thomas have died in 1902 and son Thomas being born in January 1903 in Louisiana. The application and certificate numbers for both filings are on the card, so I can request copies of the pension applications from the National Archives.

The most enlightening news on the pension index card was that Thomas served as a Union soldier and was with the 6th Battery, 1st Maine Light Artillery. Of course, I started my search for information about the 1st Maine. I found that they were organized in Augusta, Maine in August 1862. Found the complete details of their timeline and the battles they fought. All the locations and battles of the 1st Maine were very near here especially Antietam and Gettysburg. While searching about the 1st Maine, I came across a researcher in Maine who had done lengthy research on this unit. I wrote to him and asked if he knew about Thomas Bonner. I explained that Thomas might have been born in British America.

I received an email response the next day that told me that Thomas Bonner (Bonnar) enlisted in the 1st Maine when he was 18 years old. Thomas listed his home town as Fredricton, New Brunswick, Canada. In less than one day, I had learned his military unit, the details of their battles and that Thomas was from New Brunswick. Going back to ancestry.com I found several other official records of Thomas' service. I also began reading details about some of the battles he fought and have gained some interesting information which I will share in the next blog post about Thomas Bonner. I went back to the 1910 census where Edna and her children were living in Oklahoma. Edna noted on the census that her children's father was from Maine. I had noticed that before, but now it had real meaning.

Although I now have only a small amount of information about Thomas Bonner, I believe it can lead me in the right direction.