Henry Bonnar and Amanda Pond, New Brunswick, Canada

Henry Bonnar was the tenth child of James Bonnar and Margaret Chalmers. Henry was born in York, New Brunswick in 1848. I have identified some information about Henry, but I am very curious to learn more. My great grandfather, Thomas Henry Bonnar, was the brother of Henry Bonnar. Thomas was born in 1846 and Henry in 1848. It's interesting that James and Margaret Bonnar would name two sons Henry. Great grandfather, Thomas Henry Bonnar, went by the name of Henry most of his life. My father was also named Henry Bonner, so the Henry's in my family are growing.


Henry Bonnar, tenth child of James and Margaret Bonnar, married Amanda Pond around 1869. They had four children and three of the children can clearly be identified. The children are: Alfred Ernest Bonnar born in August 1869, Henry Bonnar born in 1870, and Robert Douglas Bonnar born in 1873. I came across a reference to Austin Bonnar, son of Henry and Amanda, but I have not been able to find information about Austin except his name mentioned in the obituary of his brother Robert Douglas Bonnar.

Children of Henry Bonnar and Amanda Pond:

Alfred Ernest Bonnar also used the name Ernest Alfred Bonnar. He married Belle Hazelton on 17 Sept 1897 in Rochester, NH. Belle was the daughter of William and Mary Hazelton of Newfield, York, ME. Ernest Alfred was 28 and Belle was 16, according to the marriage certificate. Ernest Alfred listed his occupation as blacksmith.
Ernest Alfred and Belle are found on the 1900 census in Newfield, York, ME. Alfred is listed as Ernest A. Bonnar, age 30, born Aug 1869. Belle is listed as age 15, born in July 1884, which differs from the marriage certificate. Were she 15 in 1900, she would have been 12 years old in 1897. On this 1900 census, Belle's mother Mary Hazelton and her sister Susie Hazelton are living with them. Ernest A. Bonnar's occupation is blacksmith. The record indicates that Ernest A. and Belle Bonnar had been married for 3 years, gave birth to one child and had no living children.

In 1910, Ernest A. and Annie Bell Bonnar are living in Newfield, York, ME and they have four children. The children are Alfred W. age 8, Austin R. age 3, Arline H. age 2 and Kenneth M. age 8 months. Alfred W. was born 4 May 1901 in Newfield, York, ME. Austin R. was born 14 Sept 1906 in Newfield, York, ME. Information for Alfred and Austin was obtained from Maine Birth Records.

Initially, I believed that Ernest A. Bonnar died between 1910 and 1920 because Belle Bonnar remarried. On the 1920 census in York, ME I found Belle H. and Charles J. Burbank with Belle's children, Alfred age 18, Austin R. age 13, Arline age 11, Kenneth M. age 10 and Belle's mother Mary Hazelton age 69. On the census in 1930, Belle and Charles Burbank are living in Portland, ME. Also on the census are children Austin R. age 24, Arline age 22, Kenneth M. age 20, Charles Burbank age 5 and Mary Hazelton age 79.

The information that has made the issue of the death of Ernest A. Bonnar between 1910 and 1920 questionable includes a Naturalization Record of 26 March 1917 in Maine where Ernest Alfred Bonnar listed his residence as Portland ,Maine. Additionally, there is a 1920 census in Portland, Maine where Alfred E. Bonnar who was born around 1870 in Canada was in a residence as a roomer. This Alfred E. Bonnar listed his occupation as blacksmith. Also, in looking back at the 1910 census, Ernest A. Bonnar and Belle are recorded as household #34 and Charles J. Burbank was recorded as household #50. The Bonnars and Mr. Burbank were neighbors. Ernest Alfred Bonnar could have died between 1910 and 1920 as I originally believed or he and Belle may have divorced.

Directories for Portland, Maine indicate that Alfred W. Bonnar (son of Ernest and Belle) and wife Annie S. lived at 21a Pine Street in 1929. Also in 1929, Arlene, Austin R. and Kenneth M. Bonnar lived at 55 Belmont Street in Portland ME. In the 1925 Portland, Maine Directory, Charles Burbank was living at 55 Belmont St. Belmont St. was obviously the Burbank/Bonnar family home in the 1920's.

The Social Security Death Index for Austin R. Bonnar(son of Ernest and Belle) shows that Austin was born 14 Sept 1906 and died 9 July 1993. He is buried at the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Augusta, ME. He served as a Corporal in the US Army in WWII. He enlisted 20 July 1942 and was assigned to the Branch Immaterial as a Warrant Officer. Kenneth M. Bonnar's SSDI indicates he was born 29 July 1909 and died 12 April 1984 in Springvale, York, ME. Kenneth enlisted in the US Army 16 Sept 1942 and he too was assigned to the Branch Immaterial as a Warrant Officer. The SSDI for Arline Bonnar showed that she was born 1 Feb. 1908 and died in April 1981 in Portland, ME.

Henry Bonnar was the second son of Henry Bonnar and Amanda Pond. He appears on the 1871 Canadian census in Kings Ward, York, New Brunswick. He is 11 months old. I have found no other census with young Henry listed. However, Henry is listed as a surviving brother of Robert Douglas Bonnar in Robert's obituary in 1933.

The third child of Henry and Amanda Bonnar was Robert Douglas Bonnar. Robert was born 19 Oct 1873 and he married Mary Louisa Greer on 15 April 1891 in York, New Brunswick. They had seven children: Naomi Adeline (Addie), Ernest Havelock, Ada May, Ellen Ida, Howard Douglas, Myrtle Lillian and Harvey. Robert Douglas Bonnar was a Sgt. in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Regiment 2303845. On his military record, he recorded his occupation as Woodman.

Naomi Adeline "Addie" Bonnar was born 12 March 1894 and she died 29 March 1953. Addie married Abram B. Bridges on 8 March 1911. Abram was 47 and Addie was 17 as listed on the marriage certificate. They had six children: Maurice Jonathan born 13 Dec. 1911, Mary Ann born in 1913 and Emerson Abram born 29 May 1914, Sidney Osgood, Vincent Bailey and Elizabeth. Young Emerson Abram died on 16 Feb 1915 in Sunbury, New Brunswick. Cause of death was listed as convulsions on his death certificate. Maurice Jonathan Bridges died 6 April 2002 and Mary Ann Bonnar Fletcher died 21 Feb 2002.

Ernest Havelock Bonnar was born 31 Oct 1897 and he married Laura Loadon Allen 19 May 1920. They have one son Robert Havelock Bonnar born in 1925. In 1948 Robert married Eleanor Jean Seavey.

Ada May Bonnar was born 19 Feb 1899 and she married Emil S. Brooks on 27 March 1917. The next child Ellen Ida, whose birthdate I could not find, married William George Dreher on 4 May 1925.

Howard Douglas Bonnar was born 16 Sept 1902 and he married Bessie Hunter in 1928. Howard and Bessie had a son Robert Vincent Bonnar who married Ruth Finnamore. Myrtle Lillian Bonnar was born 1 March 1913 and died 17 June 1977. Myrtle married Nelson Calhoun in 1935.  Other sons were Darrel, Murray, Aubrey and Emerson. The seventh child of Robert and Louisa Bonnar was Harvey Bonnar and he was born in 1915. He married Ruth MacLellan in 1938.

A fourth child of Henry and Amanda Bonnar is Austin Bonnar. The only mention of his name is in the obituary of his brother, Robert Douglas Bonnar. I will continue to look for records of Austin Bonnar.

I came across an obituary of Robert Douglas Bonnar found in The North Shore Leader in January 1933. It is as follows:

Died - Robert Douglas BONNER of Parker Ridge died on 1 January at age 60. He was a son of Henry and Amanda BONNER, born in Durham Bridge. He leaves his wife, formerly Mary Louise GRIER; 4 daughters: Mrs. Abram BRIDGES, of Shetfield, Mrs. E. S. BROOKS, Mrs. William DREHER, of Montreal, and Myrtle, at home; 3 sons: Ernest, of Gagetown, Howard and Harvey, at home; 3 brothers: Henry, Ernest and Austin, of U. S.
Interred at Methodist Cemetery, Parker’s Ridge. - North Shore Leader 13 January 1933



Here is another obituary. This is Belle Hazelton Burbank, wife of Ernest A. Bonnar and then Charles J. Burbank. It appeared in the Portland Maine newspaper, Portland Press Herald on April 30, 1950.







I don't know exactly when Henry and Amanda Bonnar died. In McAlpine's York and Carleton Counties Directory, 1884-1885, on page 22 it reads, "Bonnar, Amanda widow of Henry". As with the other siblings of great grandfather, Thomas Henry Bonner, I will continue to gather information about Henry Bonnar and his wife Amanda. In the next blog entry, I will write about Ann Bonnar and James Good. They should not be confused with James Bonnar and Mary Ann Good.

(Addendum: May 14, 2011- I received the death certificate of Robert Douglas Bonnar and it shows that his parents were Henry Bonnar and Amanda Pond rather than Amanda Horne, as I originally had written. Amanda Pond was the sister of Henry David Pond who married Margaret Bonnar, the sister of Henry Bonnar. The death certificate shows that the wife of Robert Douglas Bonnar was Mary Bonnar (Mary Louise Greer). Robert died of heart disease on Jan. 2, 1933 and was born Oct 19, 1872, according to the death certificate.)