Freestone County, Texas
Biographies 



Biography of Reuben McGee Bonner
  (Nov. 8, 1810-Mar. 17, 1893, buried in Bethlehem Cemetery in Whitney, Hill Co., TX.)

[NOTE - Many people incorrectly attempt to link Reuben M. Bonner to William 
   Bonner or Dr. John Bonner, but no link has been found.]

Reuben McGee Bonner

born: Nov. 8, 1810, Jones County, GA
died: March 1893, Whitney Hill County, Texas
married: Dec. 23, 1830, Butler County, AL, Eliza Bexley Hartley, daughter of 
  Joseph and Mary (Bexley) Hartley who came to AL from Putnam County, GA (In 
  1819 "Hartley Associates" bought abandoned Ft. Dale, north of Greenville, AL 
  from the U.S. Government.) Eliza died Sept. 10, 1854, Texas.

Reuben M. Bonner worked for brother-in-law Elias Taylor as a stage coach-driver. 
Later he set up a store in Greenville, Butler County, AL. In 1851, Reuben moved 
to Freestone County, Texas, operating Bonner’s Ferry near Butler. Then in 1858, 
he moved to Palestine, Texas and organized a stagecoach line from there to Waco 
where he owned a hotel. In 1879, Reuben established whole-sale grocery business 
in Whitney, Hill County, Texas.

Reuben married his second wife, Mrs. Martha (Jackson) Trent, on 19 Apr 1856 in 
Anderson County, Texas (Book 2, page 166) (who died Dec. 23, 1878) by whom he 
had one son.

Reuben was an entertaining extrovert, according to contemporaries, Reuben was 
the most prosperous of the three Bonner brothers.