Source: HISTORY OF THE PAN-HANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA 1879
Page 359
BONER FAMILY: William as born in 1751 in Virginia, and came to Brooke (then Ohio) county December 9, 1774. Was a single man at that time and lived with Oliver Gorrell, who lived on the farm now owned by R M Wells. In 1776 he bought the improvements of Isaac Meeks, on the farm where he lived until his death, and the same where his son George now lives. He was married to Miss Jane McColloch, a cousin to Major Samuel McColloch, and reared a family of ten children six daughters and four sons, all of whom are dead except two. Was engaged in several expeditions against the Indians in Ohio. He died July 23, 1830. His wife died March 8, 1849, at the advanced age of eighty-five.
GEORGE BONER: son of William Boner, as born October 9, 1798 on the farm where he now lives. Has devoted his time to farming. Married January 12, 1843 to Miss Nancy Hedges, and has reared a family of six children, five of whom are now living. Mr. Boner, although eighty years of age, is still active in mind and body. Has always lived a quiet, retired life.
This is an E Mail received from Bruce Bonar in response to our family story of Bonar.
(this is in reference to a book written about the Bonar family.)Mrs. Brown and her husband, Durward, visited us when I lived with my parents on our farm, near the Ohio County Airport, when she was collecting information for her book. We helped her contact some of the relatives and, in particular, one of my father's cousins, Genelda Wells, who was married to Dr. Wells, a dentist in Wellsburg. Genelda had a "diary" handed down from the family, kept by my great grandfather, Robert McIntire Bonar, that mentioned that the William Bonar who settled in Brooke County was born "on the Roenoke," the son of the William Bonar who immigrated from Ireland, left Virginia, and then migrated to the area near Harve de Grace, Maryland, from whence young William trekked into the wilderness. Bruce
Two years ago I wrote an article for the West Virginia Historical Society Journal that is housed on the West Virginia History and Archives website. This article describes the death of Major Samuel McColloch and the location of the ambush by Indians. The site is located in Brooke County, on the farm of my ancestors, near the Ohio County Airport and adjacent to Girty's Point Road. Actually, the county line separating Ohio and Brooke Counties runs across our property, and our farmhouse, plus other buildings, was located in Brooke County. We pay the property tax in Brooke County. My father told me the story of Major Sam's death, which occurred on our farm, not far from the farmhouse. He got the account from his father, passed down through the generations. In the 1930"s the Brooke County Historical Society wanted to put a marker commemorating the spot where McColloch was killed. It was never erected. A few years ago I ran across a McColloch family history while in the history room at the Ohio County Library in Wheeling. In the book, the author, Sam McColloch, theorizes the location of the ambush, exactly where Dad said it was. Sam and I communicated about this and started looking into raising money to place a monument to commemorate this event. After some frustration, we decided that a more permanent way to preserve this history was to write it up and place it where others could get access to it. I wrote the article, after considerable research. Here is the link: http://www.wvculture.org/history/wvhssoc.html. The article is in a PDF file as listed.
If you think it would be of interest to place this article on your website, perhaps with a link to the state website, I'm sure that it would increase its visibility and perhaps add to the history of Brooke County. Bruce
Bruce D. Bonar
(Dr. Bruce D. Bonar, a West Virginia native,
received a bachelor's degree from West Liberty State
College and master's and doctorate degrees from West
Virginia University. He is Professor and Director of
the Office of Professional Laboratory Experiences at
Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky.)