The Professor Wrote My Family History

Genealogy is more fun when you're able to collaborate with cousins on the research process. There's nothing like being able to bounce ideas off of someone who's equally curious and passionate about shared family history.

Even better when you find a cousin who's deeply invested in your shared family history and has already produced significant research.

Finding the Professor

While conducting desk research on Brooke County, (West) Virginia - the location where I speculate my fifth great-grandparents Thomas Kirk and Sarah Bonar met and married - I came across the research of a Bonar descendant.

I read with interest the work of Mr. Bonar who mentioned the existence of a family diary indicating that William Bonar, Sarah's father and my sixth great-grandfather - was born "on the Roenoke."

Excited to learn of the existence of a family diary, I wondered whether it still survived and if it made any mention of Sarah and her husband Thomas.

After some speedy online research, I located Mr. Bonar on Facebook and sent him a message introducing myself and asking about the diary.

Happily, he responded:

"The 'diary' is very short—not a real diary, just some comments about the family. It was in the possession of the Wells family of Wellsburg WV."

Mr. Bonar added that he had a photograph of Sarah's brother G.D. Bonar, his direct ancestor, which he was happy to share.

The Professor's Surprise

Our correspondence shifted to email, where Mr. Bonar divulged the wonderfully surprising news:

"I have written a book about our pioneer ancestors, William Bonar and Jane McColloch."

Mr. Bonar, I learned, was a retired university professor who spent years researching and writing the history of my sixth great-grandparents William and Jane (McColloch) Bonar - Sarah's parents. Published last year, he still had copies available.

He kindly shipped a book to me, which I read with great gusto. 

A copy of the book detailing the history of my sixth great-grandparents William and Jane Bonar

How often do you come across a professor who has researched, written, and professionally published your family history?! 

Not often!

I learned so much about the challenging circumstances that confronted the settlers pushing into Virginia's northwestern territory. Encroaching into the lands of Native American communities, conflict raged and led to an often volatile and uncertain existence. 

He painstakingly detailed 18th century frontier life in Virginia, while acknowledging the "dearth of original records" that makes it very difficult to tell the story with specificity for any one person from this era. I've certainly learned that from the many challenges I've encountered with my own Kirk family research.

My Elusive Ancestors

The book reiterated that the Bonar family lost touch with my fifth great-grandmother Sarah Bonar. 

There's only passing mention of Sarah Bonar and her marriage to Thomas Kirk. The book notes that she married a man by the name of Kirk and that they lived in Captina [Belmont County, Ohio]. That's it! Blink and you'll miss it.

This brief reference originally comes from Dorothy Rine Brown who, in 1969, published the Bonar Genealogy.

Her book explained that, "The records of the late Tabitha Bonar Wilson say that Sarah "Sallie" married a man by the name of Kirk, and that they lived at Captina, Belmont Co, Ohio."

Again, no known first name for the mysterious Kirk husband. Pedigrees are provided for each of William and Jane (McColloch) Bonar's children with the disappointing exception of my Sarah. There's even a sad blank line where Thomas' first name should be. Sarah and Thomas really disappeared from the Bonar family radar.

Tabitha (Bonar) Wilson was a daughter of G.D. Bonar, and niece to my Sarah (Bonar) Kirk. Her proximity in both time and relationship lends credibility to her claim that Thomas and Sarah Kirk settled in Captina Creek in Ohio after marrying most likely in Brooke County, (West) Virginia.

Both books make it clear that there's a need and place for my own history of Thomas and Sarah (Bonar) Kirk to provide the missing pieces.

My chief genealogy goal this year is to publish a family history on Thomas and Sarah (Bonar) Kirk. Clearly, this book would fill a void that even the professor couldn't.

Your Relatives in Virginia, I Presume You Know But Little of Them

For two years, Anna (Kirk) Rhodes corresponded with her husband Jacob who, during the Civil War, served as a Private in Company B commanded by Captain Ira P. French in the 76th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

Between 1862 and 1863, a dozen letters - dictated by Jacob to fellow soldiers who hand-wrote his remarks in pencil - recounted the harrowing hardships faced by Union troops as they marched across the United States and engaged "the Rebels" in battle.

In July 1863, Jacob succumbed to disease in Memphis, Tennessee. Anna was left a widow with children to raise.

The letters, now yellowed and faded, survived and are cared for by Anna's descendants.

It was just last year that I discovered that Anna was a daughter of my fifth great-grandparents Thomas and Sarah (Bonar) Kirk (Will The Real Kirk Daughter Please Stand Up?). This discovery soon connected me with a direct descendant of Anna and Jacob who shared the preserved correspondence with me.

Among the many papers were also letters from Anna's brother, James Kirk, who had moved from Licking County, Ohio - where Thomas and Sarah Kirk settled and raised their family - to Crawford County, Illinois. There were also notes from a Kirk nephew (son of Anna's brother Vachel) and niece (daughter of Anna's brother Joseph). 

A single letter from Anna's maternal uncle provided insight into her mother's family.

The Bonars of Virginia

Among the faded correspondence was a note in careful penmanship from Greenberry Dorsey Bonar, brother to Anna's mother - and my fifth great-grandmother - Sarah (Bonar) Kirk. Greenberry D. Bonar was a member of West Virginia's House of Delegates, representing Ohio County in 1865.

This is the only note I've seen from anyone of this generation and provides insights on the Bonar family who still lived in (West) Virginia.

Written on August 2, 1864, the single page with text on both sides is the first that G.D. Bonar has written to his niece following the death of her husband.

G.D. Bonar writes to niece Sarah (Kirk) Rhodes, page 1

G.D. Bonar writes to niece Sarah (Kirk) Rhodes, page 2

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Transcription:

Home August 2nd, ‘64

Mrs Anna Rhodes, Dear niece

Your kind letter came to hand. We was truly glad to get it. I have had but little correspondence for several years with my Licking County friends and we are pleased to renew it. 

We had heard of the death of your husband previous to the reception of your letter we were truly sorry to hear it. We are very sorry that you are left a widow with so large a family to provide for. But we should be resigned to God’s will implore his protecting care and do the best we can under the circumstances. 

Your relatives in Virginia I presume you know but little of them. Your Mother’s brothers and sisters are all living except your Aunt Becch (sic.) Brady, we are all old men and women. I am the youngest of the family but one and I am 63 years of age. My oldest Brother, James, visited us this summer. He is 78 years old enjoys good health walks about comfortable. Your Aunt Katherine is 82 years of age. She is very corpulent and uses crutches in walking. Your Aunt Betty makes her home with Brother George. 

My fellow citizens are somewhat exercised about the draft. The quota of our County Ohio is 248. We have had no trouble heretofore in raising volunteers, by the County paying a liberal bounty. I presume our County will pay $300 bounty but it is doubtful about getting volunteers sufficient to fill our quota. 

Wheat crops are very light. Corn good prospect’s good. Hay tolerable good. Apples a fair crop. 

Please excuse me for not answering your letter sooner. Write soon and let me know all you can about our Licking County friends. I have forgotten the names of your Aunt Beccy’s sons in-law. Please write their names and tell me if they have heard of James W. Brady recently. Your friends in this section are enjoying their usual health. My children are all married. Wife and I are an old couple but we carry on our business as usual.

Your affectionate Uncle
G.D. Bonar


G.D. Bonar
West Liberty
Ohio County
Virginia

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Isn't it miraculous that a letter written nearly 155 years ago still survives?

I was struck by the mini-portraits G.D. Bonar, my sixth great-uncle, shared about his and Sarah (Bonar) Kirk's siblings still living in (West) Virginia. His presumption that Anna knew "but little of them" underscores how quickly family history was lost in an era when geography made communication quite arduous and infrequent.

He paints an interesting picture of life during the Civil War and the challenges recruiting men to serve; a difficulty often overlooked in romanticized recollections of the war. His matter-of-fact updates on the crops highlight that the Bonars were farmers, and it was an update that would mean something to Anna (whose own father was also a farmer).

Regrettably, he doesn't make mention of Anna's parents, Thomas and Sarah Kirk (who died in 1846 and 1835 respectively). My hopes for detailed reminiscences that would shed light on their personalities or answer all of my Kirk genealogy brick walls were dashed, but who knows, perhaps there's another letter out there awaiting discovery.