Person:George Bonum (1)

Plymouth Colony Deeds

On 15 February, 1683, "Gorge Bonum senir of .... Plymouth .... Laborer .... in Consideration of the Naturall affection .... I Beare unto my granddaughter Ruhamah Willis the Daughter of Richard Willis of Plymouth aforsaid Deceased and other good Considerations" conveyed to "the said Ruhamah Willis .... all that my Share Lott or portion of meadow graunted unto mee by the Towne of Plymouth Containing six acrees .... in the lower south meddows soe Called .... my six acrees therof is bounded on the Northerly nearest with the Meddow Land of Nathaniel: Morton senir of Plymouth aforsaid Runing over thawrt the Meddow from upland to upland over the river that runeth through the said Meddow".

The witnesses were Baruch Jourdaine and Nathaniel Morton, Jr. George Bonum acknowledged the deed, "As alsoe Sarah his wife Gave her free Consent", on 20 February, 1683, before William Bradford, Deputy Governor.

On 29 August 1640 George Bonham, also spelled Bonum, and Bonam, bought a house and land from Thomas Pope. On 5 January 1640/41 a dispute between Bonham and George Bower was sent to arbitration, with Manasseh Kempton and James Hurst on Bonham's side, and John Winslow and William Paddy on Bower's side.

Bonham bought a house and land at Eel River from Richard Willis, who had recently purchased it from William Dennis. He married on 20 December 1644 Sarah Morton, daughter of George and Juliana (Carpenter) Morton. In 1649 he bought additional land at Eel River from John Barnes. In 1658 he became a freeman and was a grand juror. In 1659 the court found Bonham's charges that John Smith had made opprobrious speeches against him to be frivolous, and ordered Bonham and Smith to choose some of their neighbors to hear the controversy and make an end to it. On 3 June 1662 he was on the list of ancient freeman and others to get land at Taunton, and on 7 June 1665 he was granted a thirty-acre share in land near the Nemasket River. He was a surety for Thomas Lucas twice and John Dunham the younger once, and on several occasions he was chosen to act with others in determining land boundaries.

On 8 March 1678/79 the court, in referring to the settlement of the estate of Richard Willis, mentioned land which Willis's "father in _____," had given him, obviously his father-in-law, for he married Patience Bonham. She married (2) John Holmes, son of the Messenger John Holmes. John K. Allen, George Morton of Plymouth Colony and Some of His Descendants (Chicago, 1908) names Bonham's children as Ruth, who married Robert Barrow; Patience; Sarah three born with this name, but two died young); and George; but this work is not adequately documented. The combination of Miss Clark's article plus the Willis settlement gives sufficient proof that George Bonham, Jr. was his son. There was another man of the same surname in the area, Nicholas Bonham of Barnstable, but no relationship is known.

Links

• Barrows surname

1. ↑ Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   1:210.

   BONHAM, or BONUM, GEORGE, Plymouth, m[arried]. 20 Dec. 1644, as sec[ond]. w[ife]. Sarah, d[aughter]. of George Morton, had, prob[ably]. Ruth, wh[o]. m[arried]. 28 Nov. 1666, Robert Barron; Patience, wh[o]. m[arried]. 28 Dec. 1670, Richard Willis; Sarah, b[orn]. 4 Dec. 1649, d[ied]. early in 1650; and Sarah, again, 12 Jan. 1651, d[ied]. prob[ably]. soon; Sarah, again, 10 Dec. 1653; d[ied]. 28 Apr. 1704, aged 86.

2. ↑ George E. Bowman, Editor. Mayflower Descendant
   Vol. 13, p. 86 (marriage); 16, p. 64 (death).
3. ↑ Vital Records of Plymouth, Mass.
   Plymouth Colony Records 2:6, 79; 3:135, 137, 169; 4:20, 94, 297; 6:4; 8:33; 12:61, 69, 166;.

   Deeds 5:259

4. ↑ American Genealogist
   Vol. 38, p. 235.

   Bertha W. Clark, "John Holmes's Two Wives Patience"