1604 - Birth of Thomas Bonney

Thomas Bonney (also called Goodman Bonney), the first of the Bonney family in America, was born about 1604, likely in Dover or Sandwich, England. According to family tradition recorded by his grandson Perez Bonney, Thomas came from Dover, England, and was by trade a cordwainer (shoemaker).

1634 - The Great Migration: Thomas Bonney Emigrates to America

Thomas Bonney emigrated to New England aboard the ship Hercules from Sandwich, England, in March 1634. The passenger list records "Tho. Bonney and Hen. Ewell of Sandwich, shoemakers," with certificates from Mr. Tho. Warren, rector of St. Peter's in Sandwich, dated 14 March 1634.

This voyage occurred during a critical period in English history. King Charles I was in his 11-year "Personal Reign" (1629-1640), during which he dismissed Parliament and assumed supreme power, ruling without parliamentary consent. This period saw increased religious persecution and authoritarian rule, particularly against Puritans and other religious dissenters.

Puritans like Thomas Bonney were seeking religious freedom and the ability to govern themselves according to their beliefs. This quest for self-governance and representation would become the root of much of America's parliamentary-style government. The colonists' experience of governing themselves in the absence of English parliamentary oversight helped establish the democratic traditions that would later shape American independence.

1634-1675 - Settlement and Community Life

Thomas Bonney settled in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where he established himself as a shoemaker and landowner. By 1640, he had acquired land northwest of North Hill and thirty acres at Namasakeeset. He was also one of the proprietors of Bridgewater in 1645, though he continued to live in Duxbury.

Thomas became a respected member of the community, serving as constable of Duxbury (1643-1644), a position of high trust and responsibility. In 1652, he served as surveyor of highways. He married twice: first to Mary Terry (who died), then to Mary Hunt at about age 50, with whom he had eight children who established the foundation of the American Bonney family line.

1675-1676 - King Philip's War

King Philip's War began when Plymouth Colony executed three Wampanoag warriors for murdering John Sassamon, a convert to Christianity who had been accused of spying. The conflict pitted English settlers and their Native American allies against hostile forces led by Metacom (known to the English as King Philip), sachem of a Wampanoag band. The war was devastating: in little more than a year, 12 towns were destroyed, many more damaged, and approximately 600 English soldiers were killed. However, the settlers and their allies successfully defended their communities without assistance from the English government, reinforcing their sense of self-reliance and independence. The decisive victory came at the Great Swamp Fight in December 1675, and the conflict ended in September 1676 with the defeat of the hostile forces.

Thomas Bonney served in this campaign. In 1733, he was awarded 32 acres in the Narraganset settlement for his military service.

Read More: Complete account of King Philip's War

1688-1689 - The Glorious Revolution

In England, the Glorious Revolution saw King James II overthrown and replaced by William III and Mary II. This event established constitutional monarchy and parliamentary supremacy in England, principles that would influence American political thought. The English Bill of Rights (1689) limited royal power and established rights that American colonists would later claim for themselves.

1691 - Thomas Bonney's Last Will and Testament

Thomas Bonney signed his will on January 2, 1691, bequeathing his property in Duxbury to his wife Mary and his son Thomas 2nd. The will was proved on May 1, 1693, after his death. His legacy as the founding patriarch of the Bonney family in America was secured through his eight children and their descendants.

1707 - Act of Union

England and Scotland formally united to create Great Britain. This union, along with the growing British Empire, would shape the relationship between the American colonies and the mother country in the decades leading up to the American Revolution.

1754-1763 - The French and Indian War

This conflict, known in Europe as the Seven Years' War, was fought between Great Britain and France in North America. The British victory expanded British territory but also left the empire with massive debt. To pay for the war and the costs of administering the new territories, Britain began imposing taxes on the American colonies, setting the stage for future conflicts.

1765-1775 - Growing Tensions and the Road to Revolution

British attempts to tax and regulate the American colonies met with increasing resistance. The Stamp Act (1765), Townshend Acts (1767), and Tea Act (1773) led to protests and boycotts. The Boston Massacre (1770) and Boston Tea Party (1773) demonstrated the colonists' growing frustration with British rule. The Intolerable Acts (1774) further inflamed tensions, leading to the First Continental Congress in 1774.

1775 - The American Revolution Begins

The Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775 marked the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. The Second Continental Congress met in May and appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. The ideals of self-governance and representation that had been developing in the colonies for over a century were now being fought for on the battlefield.

1776 - The Declaration of Independence

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, formally declaring the thirteen American colonies free and independent states. The document, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, articulated the principles of natural rights, popular sovereignty, and the right to revolution—ideas that had been developing in the American colonies since the time of Thomas Bonney and the Great Migration.

The Declaration established the foundation for a new nation built on the principles of self-governance, representation, and individual rights that Puritans like Thomas Bonney had sought when they left England over 140 years earlier.

1803 - The Louisiana Purchase

President Thomas Jefferson completed the Louisiana Purchase, acquiring approximately 828,000 square miles of territory from France for $15 million. This purchase doubled the size of the United States and opened vast new lands for American settlement, including what would become Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Louisiana.

The Louisiana Purchase opened the door for westward expansion and made possible the migration of families like the Bonneys to Missouri and beyond. The acquisition of this territory provided new opportunities for American families seeking land and new beginnings, setting the stage for the westward movement that would define much of 19th-century American history.

1828-1836 - Westward Expansion: Prentiss Franklin Bonney Migrates to Missouri

Prentiss Franklin Bonney (1805-1853+), born in New York, was part of the broader Bonney family lineage tracing back to Thomas Bonney of Duxbury, Massachusetts. In the late 1820s, Prentiss migrated westward to Washington County, Missouri, part of the broader westward expansion of American families during the 19th century.

Prentiss married twice in Missouri: first to Hannah Logan on November 27, 1828, with whom he had two children, and after her death in 1832, to Emmelia "Emily" Hayden on July 7, 1836, with whom he had nine children. According to the 1850 census, Prentiss was a farmer with land worth $200 in Washington County, Missouri. The family was active in the Bellevue Presbyterian Church, where both marriages took place—the first Presbyterian church west of the Mississippi River.

1833-1837 - Founding of Bonneyville Mill by Edward William Bonney

Edward William Bonney (1807-1864) came to the Bristol, Indiana area from New York State in 1833, hoping to establish a community or business center along the Little Elkhart River where lumber could be sawed and grain could be ground. He built Bonneyville Mill in 1837, constructing both a grist mill for grinding grain into flour and a saw mill.

Bonney purchased 80 acres for his planned city of Bonneyville, named after himself, and built a hotel. However, when the expected canal route never materialized and certain debts were defaulted, Bonney was forced to look for other forms of income. He sold most of his land holdings in 1841, but the mill he built would endure.

Today, Bonneyville Mill is designated by the Indiana State Historical Society as the oldest continuously operating grist mill in Indiana. The mill continues to produce corn meal, wheat flour, and buckwheat using traditional water-powered grinding stones, operating just as it did in the 1800s. Present-day Bonneyville Mill County Park preserves both the mill and the surrounding landscape that Edward Bonney envisioned for his community.

1853 - The Gold Rush: Prentiss Bonney's Journey to California

In 1853, Prentiss Franklin Bonney embarked on a perilous journey to California during the Gold Rush, accompanied by his eldest son, James Logan Bonney. The journey took them along the Humboldt River through what was then Utah Territory (now Nevada), traveling along the old Gold Rush Trail.

Tragically, Prentiss died of cholera at White Plains, located in the heart of the "40-Mile Desert"—the most grueling stretch of the Gold Rush Trail, 68 miles east of Reno. This treacherous landscape, surrounded by white alkali desert and volcanic formations, claimed many lives during the Gold Rush era.

However, his eldest son James Logan Bonney survived the journey and went on to establish the Bonney family in California, creating a new branch of the family on the West Coast. The rest of the family in Missouri never joined him in California, perhaps due to the untimely death of Prentiss, which may have discouraged further westward migration attempts. This represents another chapter in the Bonney family's continuing story of migration and settlement across America.

1861-1865 - The American Civil War

The American Civil War, fought between the Union (Northern states) and the Confederacy (Southern states), was the deadliest conflict in American history, resulting in over 600,000 deaths. The war fundamentally transformed the nation, ending slavery and strengthening the federal government's authority over the states.

The conflict arose from deep divisions over slavery, states' rights, and economic differences between the industrial North and agricultural South. The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, who opposed the expansion of slavery, prompted Southern states to secede. The war began with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861 and ended with General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House in April 1865.

The Civil War had profound effects on American families across the nation, including those in Missouri where some Bonney family members had settled. Missouri was a border state with divided loyalties, experiencing both Union and Confederate military activity. The war's conclusion and the subsequent Reconstruction era would reshape American society and set the stage for further westward expansion and development.

1900 - W. P. Bonney Settles in the Bonney Lake Area and Chronicles Pioneer Tales

William P. Bonney (1856-1945), a Pierce County pioneer and historian, settled in the area now known as Bonney Lake, Washington around 1900. His cabin was among the first built on the hill where the town would later develop, and the historic Naches Pass Trail ran through the present town site.

As Secretary of the Washington State Historical Society and curator of the Ferry Museum, Bonney dedicated his life to chronicling the tales of Washington Territory's pioneers. He authored History of Pierce County, Washington (1926) and served on the advisory committee for the 1938 Washington Pioneer Project, writing the foreword to Told by the Pioneers, Volume II. His work preserved countless stories of early settlers, road builders, schoolteachers, and farmers who shaped the Pacific Northwest.

1912 - Elinor Amelia Bonney Begins Her Diary

Elinor Amelia Bonney (1885-1962) began keeping a detailed diary in 1912 that would continue for decades, chronicling numerous interesting periods of American life. Her extensive diary collection provides invaluable insights into daily life in the early 20th century, documenting the intersection of the Bonney and Wheeler family lines and capturing the social and family dynamics of the era.

Elinor's writings reveal the family's connections to Michigan, where she was born, and Ohio, where she lived after marrying Frank Wiley Babcock in 1920. Her diaries document the close-knit relationships between extended family members, including references to the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 and the challenges of rural life. Her chronicles offer a window into early 20th-century family life and the experiences of American families during times of both prosperity and hardship.

Read More: Elinor's Diary (1912-03)

1949 - Bonney Lake Incorporates, Honoring W. P. Bonney

On February 28, 1949, the Town of Bonney Lake, Washington incorporated with a reported population of 327 residents. The community chose its name to honor William P. Bonney, the Pierce County historian who had settled in the area around 1900 and whose cabin was among the first built on the hill where the town developed.

Kenneth Simmons, who had spearheaded development efforts since 1946, became the town's first mayor—a role he would hold for three terms. The incorporation came after Simmons organized neighbors to bring electricity to the plateau and secure a dependable water supply. By 1950, the young town boasted streets, a municipal water system, electrical and telephone service, refuse disposal, and even a blood bank. The naming of Bonney Lake recognized W. P. Bonney's contributions to preserving the region's pioneer history and his role as Secretary of the Washington State Historical Society.