> WANTED <
$200.00 REWARD Offered

Due to a Common Concern for Historical Accuracy, this is Co-Sponsored by:
The Bunnell / Bonnell Newsletter
and The BNL_dna Surname Project.

The reward is offered to any person. Texas Historical Commission personnel and Sponsor Members are not excluded
and are encouraged to apply for this reward offer. The Texas Rules of Evidence shall apply. Opinion, legend, rumor, speculation, and hearsay are not admissible and are not considered to be conclusive. However, circumstantial evidence, supported by a sufficient quantity of corroborating evidence, may be considered to be conclusive.

The official Texas Historical Commission marker on Mount Bonnell in Austin, Texas states that:
“Mount Bonnell ... was named for George W. Bonnell ...”
A $200 reward is offered to the first person who can provide
conclusive evidence that Mount Bonnell was truly named for George W. Bonnell.

Why the concern about the Namesake of Mount Bonnell in Austin, Texas? Steve Bonnell, Administrator of the BNL DNA Surname Project, provides the following background.

This came to me quite by accident. The beginning was in 2006, after being given an old prayer book, or Bible, that belonged to a Lydia Bonnell of Philadelphia, PA. My intent was to find a living relative of Lydia, if possible.

Within the Bible was information about her brother: “Captain Joseph Bonnell, of the 8th Regiment of Infantry, a native of Philadelphia, who died on Sabbath morning, September 27th, 1840 in his 38th year”. After perusing Claude Bunnell’s Database for as much information as possible, I then did an Internet search. Well, it turns out that Joseph, a Lieutenant at the time, and well known by General Sam Houston, was the only Active Duty U.S. Army Officer who was a Hero of the War for Texas Independence. The Republic of Texas thought so much of Joseph, that a special Historical Marker was provided for his grave site in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia – on Memorial Day 2005!

Other information found brought up the possibility that Mount Bonnell could be, more than likely, named for Joseph Bonnell, instead of the traditionally assumed George W. Bonnell. One specific document, author unknown at the time, had exposed some very compelling information. After contemplating this concept, and eventually, some hands-on research in Austin, Texas, the author was identified as a Lawyer and retired Army Colonel, Seldon B. Graham, Jr. After tracking Seldon down (he happened to live in Austin), he agreed to meet with me. After discussing the probability and known facts with him, I’m convinced that this very well is true - Mount Bonnell was named for Joseph and not for George - the Mount Bonnell marker appears to be wrong! For historical accuracy’s sake, this should be corrected.

I’m in the process of collecting and organizing this information - my original info has already been on-line at http://www.kbsb.com/lydia_joseph_bonnell and a special webpage, referenced on the Reward Poster, is under way.

I am covering the funding for the reward myself - but if any of you are interested, donations will be gladly accepted! However, let’s wait until the proof is provided - I truly do not think it exists - but this may be the only way to pull it to the surface. If the ‘proof’ is not found for George, this will help solidify the issue for Joseph. Any information, comments, suggestions, or help, will be appreciated. And, feel free to ‘spread the word’, or do some digging yourself - this is a puzzle for all of us.

Additonal information is available at www.KBSB.com/reward. Applicants for this reward should contact Steve via e-mail at Reward@KBSB.com or postal mail at: Steven Bonnell, 1523 Good Shepherd Rd, Montoursville, PA 17754.