Bonner Cemetery
Fairfield, Freestone County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established in 1867 as a final resting place for William Bonner, Dr. John Bonner, and their descendants. The two brothers, natives of South Carolina, came to Texas in the early 1850s, settling in Freestone County. Here they massed thousands of acres of land which they developed into great cotton plantations. Patriarch of the Texas Bonners was William Bonner (1783-1877), who started his career as a waggoner. With a modest education and no financial help, he piloted his Texas land investments into a fortune. A veteran of the War of 1812, he married Ann Lee Joel in 1816. Of their eleven children, seven chose to live in this area. William Bonner was a staunch Presbyterian who was known for his shrewd judgment, unusual energy, humor, and common sense. John Bonner (1794-1879) was one of three physicians among the five Bonner brothers. A person of great intelligence, he scorned sham and ignorance. He and his wife Eliza (Williams) had nine children, seven of whom moved to Freestone County with them. Among the five generations of Bonners interred here are teachers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, and farmers. For over a century the family has figured prominently in the development of Freestone County.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established in 1867, this cemetery holds five generations of the Bonner family, South Carolina brothers who came to Freestone County in the early 1850s and built vast cotton plantations. Patriarch William Bonner, a War of 1812 veteran, rose from a waggoner with little schooling to a fortune in Texas land, while his brother Dr. John Bonner was one of several physicians in the family. Teachers, doctors, lawyers, and farmers among their descendants rest here, a family long central to the county's growth.
Why it matters
The Bonner cemetery embodies the planter society that shaped antebellum East Texas and the enduring imprint of its founding families.
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Related people
- · William Bonner
- · Dr. John Bonner
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Harmony Church
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Among the oldest church buildings in Freestone County, this sanctuary rose in 1876 to serve the Stewards Mill community, which had worshiped in homes and the schoolhouse before. Families with names like Awalt, Bonner, and Steward built it as a shared space, meant to host different denominations on different days, and Rev. Thomas Joel Bonner preached its first sermon that December. Its board-and-batten walls and paired transom-topped doors mark it as a fine survivor of nineteenth-century rural church design.
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