#bonyun

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What You Need to Know About Critical Role's Mighty Nein

The Legend of Vox Machina has been so successful that it was no surprise when Prime Video announced a third season of Critical Role’s animated fantasy was in development—or when the streamer confirmed that the beloved TTRPG’s second campaign, The Mighty Nein, is now getting an adaptation of its own. Read more…

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Great-greats #3: Henry Charles Bonyun (aka ”Harry”)

While preparing to write this blog, I found a DNA connection to a cousin who is also descended from Harry Bonyun, which is pretty neat! It is a family connection that was a bit lost, it seems, as contact between the branches was last in the 1970s. So it is really great to be able to find family out there and share information. 

Henry Charles Bonyun was born 9 August 1882 to Joseph Evanson Bonyun and Agnes Victoria (or Victorine) Griffith. His baptism follows on 12 August 1882. He appears to have been the youngest of 6 children, all born in Speightstown, St. Peter’s Parish, Barbados. I don’t have much information on his younger years on Barbados, but I will add more detail in if I come across it. 

Harry went back and forth between Barbados and the US (via New York) several times in his life. His brothers and sisters also traveled between the two extensively. 

The first trip I have documented is when Harry is 21, 14 December 1903. He arrived in New York on the ship Fontabella, as a single man. I found a mention in the Atlanta newspaper of his departure 20 Mar 1904 that he had been visiting his brother. The only brother i know of is Morgan Evan Bonyun, with whom he lived in Atlanta at a later date. 

The second trip that I have documented is 11 November 1907, when he arrives with his new wife Elcie PLUMMER Bonyun. They left Demerara, Barbados on the S.S. Guiana - a ship that will take many Bonyuns back and forth over the years. 

Harry and Elcie’s daughter, my great-grandmother Kathleen Elizabeth Bonyun, was born in Georgia 4 November 1909. At this time, I cannot find a record either in Georgia or Barbados for her birth, but I will keep digging! 

In the years between Kathleen and Eric’s births, the Atlanta newspaper contains a few interesting notices regarding Harry and Elcie. The first on 2 October 1910 talks about a party they attended. On 14 December 1910, Harry is listed as playing a chorus character in the musical Mikado at the local theater. And in January of 1912, they are again listed as attending an indoor picnic party. (It seems that social media has always been with us -- old newspapers are FULL of who is going where, doing what and with whom, including what they were wearing, and how others felt about it!) 

In the 1910 census, Harry is recorded as Henry C Bonyun, age 27, married, brother of the head-of-household, a clerk with the telephone company. His naturalization status at that time is “Alien” and he has been married for 3 years. Also in the house are his older sister Thalia, his brother Morgan, and his niece Margaret. Not in the household are Elcie and Kathleen. I do show them coming on a ship through NY in January of 1911, so perhaps they went back to Barbados after Kathleen was born and Harry stayed behind to work. 

25 March 1912, Harry’s son Eric Vaughn Bonyun is born. It is not clear from the records I have whether he was born in Atlanta or in Barbados. Per his granddaughter, he was born on the island, and in a later passenger list, he is listed as being West Indian. I didn’t find much in the way of census records on him, so it is hard to know what he indicated earlier on as to his birth location. Our family lore has also always said that Elcie died giving birth to him, but she didn’t die until September 1913, so this is sounding less likely. 

Elsie (sometimes Elcie) Plummer Bonyun, his first wife and my great-great-grandmother (subject of the next blog post) dies 17 September 1913. There are several funeral notices in the Atlanta Constitution announcing the funeral. Harry makes another trip back from Barbados on 5 January 1914, on the ship Vasari and this time is listed as widowed. The children are not listed on the manifest with him, which leads me to believe that he may have taken them back to Barbados to live with family while he returned to Atlanta. 

On 20 March 1915, Harry remarries to a woman named Beatrice Osborn. The stories my great-grandmother told were not pleasant. She reported being stabbed in the hand with a fork if she did not ask for food to be passed, and other “unbalanced” actions on the part of her stepmother. As far as family lore goes, she and Eric spent most of their youth in Barbados. I do not see Kathleen or Eric on a census record, or otherwise living with their father at any point. 

Harry and Beatrice show up in the newspaper again a few times in relation to parties and other social happenings over the next few years. Shortly after their marriage, Beatrice was in the hospital (St. Joseph’s Infirmary) for 2 months, according to another newspaper clipping. During this time, Harry also gave his declaration of intent for naturalization, on 18 June 1917. 

In the 1920 census, he and Beatrice are still living in Atlanta. He is 37, an accountant with the telephone company, and they have two boarders living with them. The next year, a notice with photo of Beatrice announces that these “charming Atlantans” will be moving to Philadelphia, PA. 

In 1930, Harry and Beatrice are living on 42nd Ave in Philadelphia. He is still an accountant for the phone company. To show how confusing census data can be, he reports (or perhaps someone else reports for him -- not sure) that he is born in Georgia, and his parents were born in New York. This gave me pause, as well as his name being written as “Harry E Bonyun”. However, his wife is “Beatrice O Bonyun” which is more convincing than birth locations. From what I have read, other people often reported to the census takers, so the neighbor, or his wife might have mixed up details, or reported what they thought was true, or what seemed most expedient in the case of immigrants. 

Unlike the social life they led in Atlanta, not much is seen in the papers of Philadelphia regarding Harry and Beatrice. In fact, it is unclear what happens to Beatrice after 1930. 

The 1940 census reveals a further mystery. Less than 1 mile from his location in 1930, we find a Harry C. Bonyun, married, general office worker with the phone company, of the correct age, but listed as being born in New York. In addition, while he is listed as “married”, the other person living in his home is Esther Serfass, a widow, aged 50, relationship to head of household “Partner”. My, my, how modern! She is a beautician, and they both report living in the same place in 1935. While some of the details don’t make sense, the address matches what is on his death certificate, so I am fairly confident this is the same guy. I’m curious what happened to Beatrice, but I cannot find her listed in the census anywhere either. 

On the 1940 census, Harry is also recorded as being unable to work due to illness. Per his death certificate, he suffers from hypertensive cardiovascular disease for three years prior to his death from a cerebral hemorrhage on 29 April 1943. His daughter Kathleen is the informant. Of note, on the certificate it includes his marital status (married) and his spouse’s name and age if still living. She lists Beatrice Osborne, age 60. This would lead me to believe that she is still alive at that point. Hence more mystery regarding Ms. Esther Serfass. 

I’m curious if Harry was just unlucky in love, losing his first wife, marrying again to someone who was, perhaps, unstable, and perhaps finding love again on more modern terms? Although his children did not seem to spend much time with him when they were young, they all ended up in Philadelphia in later years -- what were those relationships like? Questions that the records don’t quite tell us.