Bonny Colorado a High Plains Ghost Town
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o- Bonny Colorado A High Plains Ghost Town by Velma Bonny Jacobs Alice Mae Barnhart Jacober and Dr. Andy Gibbons Smallest Room Press Bonny, Colorado A High Plains Ghost Town The Families of Ike and Laura Bonny & and Charlie and Jennie Barnhart * * * VELMA BONNY JACOBS, BONNY EDITOR & ALICE MAE BARNHART JACOBER, BARNHART EDITOR DR. ANDY GIBBONS, EDITOR IN CHIEF * * PRINTED BY DR. JON & BARBARA FORTUNE REVISION DATE - OCTOBER 17, 1995 COPYRIGHT - 1995 * Smallest Room Press 2500 15th Avenue Court Greeley, CO 80631 Phone (790) 356-6527 TABLE OF CONTENTS * * MAPS DEDICATION INTRODUCTION Chapter One ASH ROCK, KANSAS ROOTS Selected Ash Rock Census Information When Velma Was Small Brothers Bill, Louis, and Vernon Bonny Family Friends Chapter Two THE BONNY, COLORADO POST OFFICE Post Offices and General Stores Homestead Patent from President Wilson Isaac's Application and Location Description U.S. Post Office Description The Bonnvs at Bonny, Colorado Mail from Bonny Goldie Camp Frinqer Visits Bonny A Second Interview with Goldie Bill Bonnv and Goldie Frinqer Bill Bonny Visits Bonny Dam Lela, Lvle & Casey Bonny Cousin Ike [1886] in Idaho Obituaries for Isaac ri865l and Laura Local Schools Chapter Three PICTURES The Bonnys Ike's December 25, 1915 Postcard. Velma at Bonny, 1991 Bonny Families at Bonny, 1919 Ike and Laura in Idaho lma, Velda and the Bonny Post Office, 1919. Four Isaac Bonnys Velma's Uncle Ike. Her Papa Jacob Bonnys in Kansas Including Velma's Mom at age 12 The Barnharts The Charlie F. Barnhart Family The Ira Barnhart Family Charlie and Jennie's Wedding photo, 1905 Jennie, Dile Henderson and Marveline. Dile and Charlie Esther Barnhart and Harley Rhoades Wedding Picture Ira Barnhart's Family at Bonny Jennie and Three Grand-daughters The Winfrey Home, Adobe as was Bonny Home Bonnv Dam and Schools Bonny Dam Signs, 1951 and 1991 Happy Hollow School. Broadsword School, 1945-46 Term The Editors, Early and Late MAPS "Ash Rock Township Maps." (in) Ash Rock and the Stone Church, pp. 7 & 313. (In) Standard Atlas of Rooks County, Kansas, 1904-1905. George A. Ogle and Company, & Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. In Chapter 1 and Appendix 1. [Bonny Area Plats] "Section 11, Township 6, South Range, 43 West" [of the 6th principal meridian], p. 4 8 [Plat map] (in) Standard Atlas of Kit Carson County, Colorado, Including a Plat Book of the Villages... 1922. (Seen at Old Town Museum, Burlington, CO. The best map of Bonny Post Office location and area. Shows all Isaac Bonny [1865] property in the area in 1922). In Appendix 1. Bonny, Isaac. [Application for Post Office. Map]. "Diagram, Explanation, and Instructions", January 19, 1915. (Plot showing proposed location. It accompanied the "Application..." as page 2). In Chapter 2. "Bonny Dam Dedication; June 1, 1952" [Sketch of area] (in) Bonny Dam Dedication; Hale, Colorado at Bonny Reservoir, June 1, 1952. p. back cover. In Chapter 5. [Colorado State Highway Dept. Map] 1924. Seen in the Denver Public Library by the Action on the Plains staff. (Bonny, Colorado shown as an established community). In Chapter 4. "Early Day Post Offices". [Map] (in) History of Kit Carson County... p.75. In Chapter 2. Nell's Topographical Map of the State of Colorado. [Map] Denver, CO: Hamilton and Kendrick, 1902. (From Erwin H. Engert. Published before Bonny was founded by Isaac [1865]). In Chapter 2. North Republican Unit. USBR Map 58-D-488, March 15, 1944. House Doc. 191. In Chapter 5. Post Route Map of the State of Colorado Showing Post Offices... in Operation in 1916. Published by order of Postmaster General A. S. Burleson. [Dated 1 January, 1916]. Source, Denver Public Library Western History Department. (From Erwin H. Engert. Note Morris location). In Chapter 2. Whistle Stops... History of Kit Carson County... p. 75. (Note Morris location). In Chapter 2. [Winfrey Homesteads] "Eastern Colorado 1964 Map - Area Where The Winfreys Homesteaded". (From Alice Jacober. Note Morris location). In Chapter 6. [Yuma and Kit Carson County Towns] [Map] (in) Action on the Plains, p. 199. In Chapter 5. Page iv Chapter Four THE BARNHARTS AT BONNY Kansas Nebraska Roots The Barnharts at Bonny Mail Recipients at Bonny Neighbors The Morris "Cottage House" Post Office Obituaries of Charlie and Jennie Barnhart Hale, Yuma County, Colorado & Other Post Offices Ira and Louise Smith Barnhart at Bonny Obituary of Ira Barnhart A Bonny, Colorado Chronology Chapter Five THE BONNY DAM AND RESERVOIR Early History How the Name "Bonny" Was Chosen Flood of 1935 Dedication Program Chapter Six SINCE BONNY, COLORADO The Bonnys When Velma Was Wiser Bonnv Genealogy The Barnharts Letter from Alice Jacober The Barnhart-Winfrey Family Everett and Vivian Barnhart Barnhart Genealogy APPENDICES 1-Ash Rock and Bonny Land Holdings 2-A Few Early References To the Name Bonny 3-Some Recent Bonny References 4-Personal Information Sources and Assistants 5-A Few Letters A-Department of the Interior B-Yuma Museum 6-Permission To Copy A-History of Kit Carson County Colorado B-Government Materials C-Yuma Museum D-Ash Rock and the Stone Church E-The Burlington [Colorado] Record ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX COLOPHON Page iii DEDICATION Bonny Dam, Sapphire jewel of the plains, we salute you --we welcome all you represent! To the future belongs the fulfillment of the dreams of the many who have worked long and faithfully for the betterment of our prairie home. * * We dedicate this day, this souvenir program, our aims and hopes TO THE PIONEER HOMESTEADERS, their wives and children, who valiantly withstood privations, floods, droughts -- hazards innumerable, to get and keep this country settled. TO THE DWELLERS WHO CAME AFTERWARD, stayed and paid the taxes that, after all, make possible every project like beautiful Bonny Dam. TO THE STATESMEN, who include engineers, wise men of government, business, and farm and profession -- far-sighted and imaginative whose efforts were fruitful, perhaps even beyond their aspirations. TO THE UNFORTUNATE ONES of the flood years, who lost their lives not in vain -- to point up the drastic necessity for life saving Bonny Dam and similar conservation undertakings. TO THE ARMED FORCES, who kept America the land where fishing and boating go hand-in-hand with freedom and voting. TO THE EVER-PRESENT ONE, Whose help we seek in preserving this grassy land of beauty and opportunity to keep it safe for generations yet to come. Of Him we ask a blessing on these unborn who will need dauntless courage no less than the brave souls of yesteryear, whose problems, though different, may have been easier to resolve than those yet to come. * * So as we dedicate and celebrate, the prayer is offered that the coming generations who bask on the banks of Bonny Dam, reap the wealth of its waters and feel the comfort of its protection may live better, richer, happier, lives, fulfilling the dreams and accomplishments of all of us here today1. Bonny Gould Bonny Gould's "Dedication" fits the Barnhart and Bonny families, who were among these pioneers, very well indeed. 1 Bonny Dam Dedication... p.l Page v The Country Post Office The post office stood in the back of the store, Behind the old stove and the crude cuspidor. The old stove was burnt to a dull dingy brown And the cuspidor welcomed the men of the town. When the mail arrived, the whole town was there- The matron, the merchant, the maiden so fair. Back in the office, distinctly we'd hear Them sorting the mail, full of trouble and cheer. And when the window went up with a wham, We crowded around in a sociable jam. All eager to hear from the folks that we knew, Or hoping perhaps for a check, overdue. A place for a smile, but no place for a frown. The post office stood in the dear old hometown. Author Unknown1 1 From Alice Jacober. 1/31/95 Page vi INTRODUCTION The principal characters in this little history are Isaac Bonny [1865], his wife Laura Van Dyke, Charlie Barnhart, and his wife Jennie Teel. Velma Bonny Jacobs is the reason this publication was undertaken. Her Bonny relatives are usually described by their relationship to her. She has guided the presentation of the Bonnys. The Barnharts are described through their relationship to Charlie and Jennie. Alice Barnhart Jacober has guided their organization here. This little volume attempts to present facts still available about the Bonny families, the Barnhart families, the store/post office both families operated, the little community of Bonny, Colorado and its namesake, Bonny Dam. The stories presented here may be understood a little more clearly if one remembers that the Bonny family stories are seen through the eyes of Velma Bonny Jacobs, but are written up by Andy. Without her no work would have been done; Alice has brought us the Barnharts; and Andy Gibbons, wanted to present the community of Bonny, Colorado, to Velma's, and to Charlie's descendants. In the years between 1910 and 1915 Isaac William Bonny [1865] and his wife Laura moved their family west from Ash Rock, Kansas, to Colorado. According to the census records of 1910 for Bonny, Colorado, their son Isaac [1886] and his wife Floa Elizabeth were already living there. Lela Bonny assures us her mother-in-law's name was actually Floa1. Floy was a nick name, however the 1910 census has Floy. One genealogical source had Flora, an error. Later, in 1918, Charlie F. Barnhart and Sarah Jane (Jennie) Teel Barnhart moved to Colorado. Charlie replaced Ike as postmaster at Bonny, Colorado. Since Isaac is a common name in these families, birth years will be added if needed when Isaac is mentioned.