[Bonner,] James H. Connelly, Jane Aug. 21, 1834 Reubin C. Estes, J. P. A 101
I have no concrete evidence of her parentage, but I have noticed a couple of things which lead me to strongly believe that she is the daughter of James D. Connelly (of various spellings, such as Connolly, Conally, Conley, etc.). The first thing is the 1840 Census of Randolph County, Alabama which gives the Bonner family and the Conally family in consecutive order. One entry reads:
Bonner, James: 10001-10001
And the entry next to it reads:
Conally, James: 0100001-0101001
I have taken this James Bonner to be the one mentioned in the marriage record. And further, I take this James Conally to be the same person given in this 1850 Census entry:
1850 Census, Randolph County, Alabama, Beat 12, Page 365(B), HH#1247/1247:
Conley, James D. 62 M farmer 200 SC
Conley, Nancy 59 F SC
Conley, William 23 M SC
Conley, Augustus 20 M [I think should be F] SC
This alone would not compell me to believe that Jane was the daughter of James, except for the other bit of information. Namely, there is a grave (Wedowee Masonic Cemetery, Township 20, Range 11, Section 3, Randolph County, Alabama) near the grave of Virgil T. Bonner (son of James H. Bonner and Jane Connelly) of one "Mrs. J. D. Connelly", born 28 Mar 1791 and died 09 Jul 1876. So this fits nicely with the 1850 Census record. I have not confirmed it, but I found on the internet the suggestion that Nancy is Nancy Aiken.
James D. Connelly seems to have died prior to the 1860 census, when his wife Nancy was listed in the household of her son:
1860 Census, Randolph County, Alabama, Southern Division, handwritten page 113, Page 739, HH#765/765:
Connelly, William E. 32 M school teacher 400 500 GA
Connelly, Nancy B. 26 F school teacher SC
Connelly, Francis A. 5 F AL (attended school)
Connelly, James A. P. 3 M AL
Connelly, William P. 1/12 M AL
* Connelly, Nancy 68 F housewife 225 SC
Connelly, Augusta A. 25 F househand GA
From the tombstone inscription of Nancy (Aiken) Connelly, it would appear that she should be found in the 1870 census, but I have yet to find that record.
James Bonner and Jane (Connelly) Bonner were listed together in the 1860 and 1870 Census:
1860 Census, Randolph County, Alabama, Southern Division, handwritten page 226, Page 852, HH#1578/1578:
James H. Bonner 44 M Farmer 500 200 GA
Jane Bonner 46 F Housewife SC
Virgil T. 19 M Farmhand Ala
Martha E. 17 F Househand Ala
Mary A. 15 F Househand
Augusta A. 13 F Ala (attended school)
Benj H. 11 M Ala (attended school)
Frances C. 8 F Ala (attended school)
1870 Census, Randolph County, Alabama, Township 21, handwritten page 85, Stamped Page 545(A), HH#630/630:
Bonner, James 53 M W Farmer 800 300 GA
Jane 56 F W K. H. [keeping house] GA
Virgil 30 M W Farm L. [farm laborer] Ala
Martha 27 F W at home Ala
Mary 25 F W at home Ala
Gusta [Augusta] 23 M W at home Ala
Benjamin 21 M W at home Ala
Clem 19 M W at home Ala
Donna [?] 4 F W at home Ala
James Bonner died in 1879, and Jane (Connelly) Bonner was listed in the 1880 Census in the household of her son:
1880 Census, Randolph County, Alabama, Wedowee (Beat 6), ED#110, handwritten page 6, Page 292(B), HH#49/49:
Virgil T. Bonner W M 39 (widowed) Farmer Ala GA/SC* GA
Mary C. W F 18 daughter works in house Ala Ala GA
Jane W F 66 mother (widowed) SC SC SC
Martha E. W F 37 sister works about house Ala
Mary A. W F 35 sister works about house Ala
Augusta A. W F 33 sister works about house Ala
Frances C. W F 26 sister works about house Ala
Jane (Connelly) Bonner died 26 Feb 1899, ending my direct line of the Connelly Family.
If you have any information about these folks, please e-mail me.