I went to the Alamo...again

The Alamo

 I have been to the Alamo on several occasions and have always thought that I was related to James Butler Bonham.  Thru some research and several kind individuals I am now able to prove that indeed James Butler Bonham is my 4th cousin 6x removed.

James Butler Bonham

Now that I know we are related I decided that it was time to go back to the Alamo with different eyes.   It was different to me.   A shrine to Texas Heroes and to someone that I was related to: even distantly.  I looked at the walls of the mission and could see the men and women that sacrificed their lives there and wondered how it was that so many are still drawn to the Alamo.

I think that we are drawn because it is the story of men who against all odds stood and died because of what they believed in. The other side of the coin is that it can be looked at as another example of taking something that really wasn't ours.  I can see both sides of the battle.  In my heart, they were heroes.  James Bonham rode back to the battle that he believed in and it cost him his life.

Monty, the volunteer at the desk was very knowledgeable and only because my husband told him that I was related to hero of the Alamo, I was invited to sign the descendents book!  Monty told me that I was to closest thing to royalty that Texas had.  It made me chuckle a little to think that because of some DNA I now could be counted as Texas Royalty!

 

 He left South Carolina and joined Travis in Texas. Born in the same place, boyhood friends, they died together in battle.

 

 

 

James Butler Bonham

Probably the most warmly regarded of the Alamo defenders, James Butler Bonham's life before he came to Texas had already been colored by his dedication to defending the rights and honor of himself and others. He became committed to the Texan cause by October 1835, and the following month he helped to organize the Mobile Greys.

Bonham arrived in Texas in November. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Texan cavalry on December 20. Unattached to a specific unit, Bonham came to San Antonio January 19, 1836. He soon became active in the garrison's political life, running unsuccessfully for delegate to the 1836 convention.

The Old Oak at the Alamo

On February 16, 1836, Col. William B. Travis sent Bonham to seek aid for the army at San Antonio. He returned to the besieged city on March 3, making his way through enemy lines, and bringing news from Robert M. Williamson that relief efforts were underway. He died defending the Alamo March 6, 1836, possibly manning one of the cannons in the interior of the Alamo chapel. 1

1. From the Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Veteran Ancestors

It is hard to know the heart and mind of another individual.  It is harder still to understand the reason that they made the decision that they did.  So many of my ancestors were military men.  As I read about their lives some were famous and others not so much and I wonder did they join the military for patriotism, honor, duty, or as a means of income.

I am sure that my earlier ancestors were not in in for the income.  In fact, being in the military is not the way to make a lot of money, unless of course you write a book and a movie is made.  Some just seem destined to fall in line and become part of the history that is America's Military men and women.  For some the idea is what drove them.  For some it was a way to escape and see distant lands.  For some it was what you did.  Some were caught up in world events.  World events that took over what they wanted to do.  Uncle Sam had other ideas.

It is easy to forget that the earliest veterans were in the eyes of others traitors and not patriots.  They raised their fists against what they considered tyranny and helped to build a new nation.  How horrific it must have been to see brother fight brother across the blue and grey line.  Can we understand the fear of being a dough-boy or a GI?  How did they survive the years of separation and the horrors of World Wars? How lonely it must have been standing guard in Korea in the winter or laying in the rice paddies of Viet Nam. 

Now the desert of the Middle East and the War on Terror are making new veterans.  Each war is different as each veteran is different.  Each serves his or her country, the reason known to them alone.  On this Veteran's Day take a moment to remember those that came before and are serving still.  It is because of them that we are FREE.

Robert Marion Smith

Phil Young

George Richard Smith

Jessie Osborne

Arthur Bonham

Gerald Joseph Bonham

Elias Babcock

Milledge Luke Bonham

Romulus Calhoun Bonham

To Those Who Served: Remembered and Forgotten

Can I find a Bonham in the Phone Book?

Growing up in the military we moved around a lot.  One of the first things I did when we arrived in our new town was to look in the phone book to see if there were Bonhams.  It was unusually to find one unless we were in Texas.

I came to believe that there were not a lot of Bonhams out there.  Boy, was I wrong!  It appears that there are tons of Bonhams all across the United States.  There are some in Europe too, but I can't even get my head around that fact.

I grew up think that I was a Yankee.  Turns out that was wrong also.  We come from proud Southerners.  The truth...my ancestors are Southerners.  I am a product of the Mid-West.

 I am trying to get my head around the fact that during the Civil War two brother ancestors fought on the opposite side and never spoke to each other for the rest of their lives.

Romulas Calhoun Bonham