Updates to Joseph Bonser. His will and place of residence.

I went yesterday to the Family History Center of the LDS church here in Mesa, Arizona. I spent some "fruitless" time with cemetery indices of Beaver County, Pennsylvania looking for Elliott, Gibson, Kennedy and Inman burials.  I found a number of them, but mostly later and of unclear relationship to my forebears in that county.

More disappointingly, I looked at some indices for the wills and administrations of Northumberland County, PA for records on Isaac Bonser.  I did not find any listings of administrations, but I did find a notation of a will probated on 11 February 1777.  This would seem to match the "date of death" that I have found in some online trees for Joseph Bonser. It is also consistent with his having "died in the Jersey" with regard to his company and regimental history and the Fitzsimmons pension document.  According to a volume of extracts, however, the will mentions only "my wife and children" and does not list any specific names.  Once again, there is no connection that I can firmly document yet.  I have, perhaps, a couple more chances.  Sometimes one can get a "probate packet" that lists more than simply the wills.  This is a pretty early one, but it may be possible to write to Northumberland County and get information.

Also, given the time of his death, a guardian may have been appointed by the Orphans' Court, as it was not always the case that a widowed mother was felt to be "competent" in that role.  The Orphans' Court records still exist for that time and have been microfilmed by the LDS, but I will have to order them from Salt Lake City, and this means another trip to the family history library.  I would probably have to get at least two rolls, one the index for the time period and the other the actual court proceedings.

In the meantime, I did come across a reference to Joseph Bonser and his place of residence in a publication I found on The Internet Archive. This describes Joseph Bonser as an early settler in this area and also describes being near Loyalsock, a name that comes up in land records for his "possible" son Isaac Bonser as well as in the military records for Joseph Bonser as related in the Fitzsimmons pension application of 1833.


"Joseph Bonser was an early settler above Loyalsock, on the
small stream which still bears his name. His cabin stood at the
point where the great Sheshequin path intersected the run, and
where Rev. David Brainerd met and preached to the Indians as
early as 1746. The great swamp alluded to by Colonel Hartley
was in this neighborhood."

Otzinachson: a history of the West Branch Valley of the Susquehannah: its first settlement…; Meginess, John Franklin 1827-1899; Williams Port, PA: Gazette and Bulletin Printing House, 1889; p. 334

The introduction to this copy reports that it was first published in 1856, making it an even earlier secondary source than the 1899 date would suggest.

There is a map reproduced in the front of the book that has, in the upper right quadrant north of the Susquehanah river the "Loyalsock Creek."  Just barely visible there is "Bonser's Run" that is referred to in the text.

Map of Susquehanna River Area including Bonser's Run (upper right quadrant)

(click to enlarge)