John Bonney
John Bonney, farmer, P. O. Shalersville, was born February 24, 1806, in Cornwall, Litchfield Co., Conn., son of John and Orilla (Sherwood) Bonney, who, in 1813, were included with their family in a party of venturesome pioneers, consisting of Deacon B. Sherwood. Wells Clark, David Beardsley and some few others, who immigrated to Ohio. The journey in those days was one of privation and exposure, the experience of our subject's parents being augmented by the presence of a family of seven children. They came via Pittsburgh through Trumbull County, and on the last day out they were overtaken by a rain storm, which compelled them to camp in the woods. John Bonney, Sr., purchased a piece of land, about 200 acres, in Nelson Township, containing a small clearing, fenced with logs, and a log-house and barn (there was a cranberry marsh west of these premises, which, in the dry season, caught fire and destroyed everything in the vicinity, save the buildings), and the following year he died, leaving his widow with eight children to provide for. Upon one occasion the family existed for three days and nights on the milk of one cow and a quantity of soft maple sap, when they were relieved by some lady residents of Windham Township. About this time Buffalo was burned by the British, and our subject remembers hearing the cannonading on the lake. Bears, wolves and other wild game were plentiful, and at a hunt participated in by the inhabitants, twenty-five bears, six wolves and small game in abundance were bagged. When our subject was eighteen years old he assisted his brother in clearing and fencing five acres of the old farm, and that year raised twenty-six bushels of wheat to the acre. Our subject has been twice married, first May 10, 1826, to Anna Brown, who bore him seven children, three of whom are now living: Orpha (wife of O. Brown), Lydia (wife of E. Smith) and Eliza (wife of C. Fish). Mrs. Bonney died in 1873, and in January, 1876, Mr. Bonney married Mrs. Melona Haight (nee Hurd), a widow, who had two children living: Emeline (wife of L Williams) and Adden Haight. Mr. Bonney has been identified with religious endeavors for fifty years, being the greater part of the time a leader in the Disciples Church, while living in Freedom, Portage Co., Ohio.
From History of Portage County, Ohio, Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885