Loved Ones At Home

with open minds anything is possible


               Family Tidbits



                   (Image above is of a postcard sent by Lon S. Burnam

                   to his parents when he was six years old. It was the 

                  inspiration for this site.)



John Warren BONINE and family
lived in Brown Co. There were
Indian raids there at least
once a month. For safety purposes,
they would move into one house
with three other families, and would
not have light in the house at night.
Lon Stiver BURNAM and the boys
spent many hours fishing in Wanderer's
Creek, a small year-round stream located
just west of Chillicothe. He was a great
fisherman and an expert at cleaning
them. Great tasting catfish was their
Edna Florene BURNAM played the
snare drums in the school band. She
was voted Chillicothe Band
Lon Stiver BURNAM was an
inspector for the railroad. After
inspecting a boxcar, Lon
would draw a bird on it using chalk.



Uncle Henry JOHNSON and Uncle
Little Bill THOMPSON made a
mechanical toy for Earl Henry
BURNAM to try to keep him quiet.
The toy was made of wood and wire.
It was about a foot long and had
three wheels. The two back wheels
had an axle neatly bent to
accommodate a wire attached
to a little wooden man toward
the front, and made him oscillate
back and forth. All Earl H. had to
do was pull it. 


 Minerva Ann TUNE was hauling water near Avis, NM. The horse team was spooked when they stopped to open a gate. Minerva was thrown out of and under the wagon. She died from injuries shortly after.

 "La Senora Minerva Bonine de Avis fue matada en un accidente. Ella estaba en un carro cuando la plancha en que estaba sentada dio contra un arbol echadola abajo é hiriendola tanto que murio poco despues"
This quote was an article in a Spanish/Mexican newspaper.Sonya Wilson found the article at
The article translates something like:
This is how I would translate it… not sure if “iron” is correct for “plancha” as it could mean something different… “Mrs. Minerva Bonine of Avis was killed in an accident. She was in a vehicle when the iron she was sitting on went against a tree throwing her underneath. Injuring her so bad she died soon after. (Translation by Brenda Cova)
This is from Karen Hallock Walker via Richard Walker, grandson of Minerva:  "Sonya, I enjoy reading all of your family history finds. Richard, yes, Ma told me that her mother fell from the wagon and then was run over."

This is what I'd always heard, well somewhat the same anyway. I remembered it as mules, but not surprised it was horses. Anyway, I'm glad to have it verified again.
Karen wrote: "I am going to butt in here. The story I was told by Ma (Edna Bonine Walker) was that her parents were hauling water. Her father got out to open a gate, something spooked the horses and she fell off and the wagon ran over her chest. She died a few hours later."


   Job DAVIES immigrated from
   England. He first landed in Canada
   and then headed south to the USA.
   He hunted buffalo near Wichita,

David Michael FRANCIS spelunked
in Beasely Caves and found an albino
plant near an underground spring so
deep in the earth no one had ever been
there before. He skinny-dipped with
water moccasins in the pond at the old
quarry and saw a white wolf sitting high
up on the quarry cliff next to a full moon,
as he was sitting around the campfire
telling ghost stories. David tracked
mountain lions in the Cedar Flats on
Pease River.

    James Reno Walker, spouse of Mary Ida Bonine Walker, was the first draftee

    of  World War.  He reported for service and although he had been a member

    of the state militia previously, he was rejected due to physical



Jessie FAULKNER was a friend
to Florence Nightingale.
Lon Stiver BURNAM, Jr. was a key
factor in establishing the library
in Hayden, Arizona.
Jonathan Charles PHIPPS and his brother,
David James PHIPPS, could hardly agree
on anything whilst growing up. One such
disagreement occurred in the middle of a
lake on a canoe. It seems they were
arguing over who was going to sit on
which end of the canoe. They stood up
in the canoe, continued arguing and
proceeded to exchange seating. What is
amazing is that they did this with such ease,
they didn't even overturn the canoe.
Dad even put this on his 8mm camera
for all posterity. grinz
Whilst at Dr. Swift's office,
Lynette's ten year old daughter,
needed to have her right ear irrigated.
Whilst waiting for the doctor to begin,
Aislon asked, "Will the water come out
my other ear?" The doctor 'swiftly'
replied, "Oh--yes--will you please use
your finger to plug it?" Aislon quickly
put her finger in her left ear. :D
Wilson Henry JOHNSON worked on
the farms and ranches from the
age of ten so he'd be able to go
to school. He'd get up early and do
morning chores, go to school, come
home and work late. Then he would
work on Saturdays. This is the way
he earned his room and board and
went to school.
When Lon Stiver BURNAM, Jr. was
young, his 'best friend' suddenly
said, "I think I'm gonna cut your
nose off", and proceeded to
pick up an axe and brought it
down upon young Lon's nose.
Lon's nose carried a reminder
of his best friend in the scar, which
the axe had left.
Earl Henry BURNAM was riding in
a small flat bed truck one day
when he was young. He was
sitting at the back with his feet
hanging off. He tells this story:
"The truck was going so slow
that I knew that I could jump
off and run catch it and get back
on. I decided to do it. I stood up
to do it. When you jump from a
moving base, directly away
from the direction of movement,
things don't work out the way you
might think. They said I was spinning
around on my head in the road.
When I came to, Mother said I had
stood up like I was trying to come
up behind the cab when I fell off the
back. Sounded logical to me, so I
never had the nerve to tell her that
I jumped until many years later."
Lon Stiver BURNAM, Jr.
fell off the car's running board in
Mangum, OK and bonked his head.
Edna Florene BURNAM saw her baby
brother, Earl Henry BURNAM, in the
deep end of the swimming pool at
Chillicothe. He was hanging onto
the sides. Edna went running and
slipped on the wet cement. She
bonked her head and was knocked
out for a while. When Gaye Lynette
BURNAM was about 3 years
old, the family was at a Knights of
Pythias dinner. The children were
running around the whole dining area
and outdoors. Lynette ran into the
door facing as she rounded the corner,
hitting her forehead. The next she
remembers is waking up and staring
at the stars. (She was lying down
in the backseat of the car, as her
parents rushed her to the doctors
for stitches.)
One dead cold winter morning,
when the frost was on the ground,
Pearl JOHNSON was out by the wood
pile. Henry hadn't started chopping
the wood yet. He dared Pearl to stick
her tongue to the metal axe head. Pearl
didn't want to be chicken, so she
put her tongue to it. Pearl started
exclaiming, "Y na u u u", as her
tongue stuck fast to the axe. They
had to pour warm water on the
axe until things thawed out and the
tongue came unstuck.
Lon Stiver BURNAM, Jr. used to
say, "The girls in Texas bathed in
Sweetwater, dressed in Plainview,
and the boys went to Seymore."
(All are towns in Texas.)
He also told Jerry and Carol they
"shouldn't go jeep riding whilst Carol
was expecting because they'd 'knock
the ____ off his grandson'. Lon must've
been right about that, as his grand-
daughter, Traci, was born soon after. :)
Lon Stiver BURNAM, Jr. and Nina
Louise BONINE enjoyed square

Angela Gay BURNAM, Heather
Louise BURNAM, and Tiffany
Marie BURNAM were all foreign
exchange students in South America.
As a seventh grader, Aislon
over $2000.00 to aide the victims of
the Oklahoma Bombing.
William Thomas (W.T.) BONINE was
struck by lighting whilst resting under
a tree. He lived to tell about it, but his
hair had a white streak where the
lightning had hit.
Walter DAVIES developed the
plans for the road system of Lubbock
TEXAS. There is a main road which
circles the city. All other roads lead
to and come off of this main road.
Many other towns have taken this
idea to heart.
It has been rumored that Jonathan
Charles PHIPPS was known as
"Bossy Boots" at a very early age.
I also have it on good authority that
Jonathan was found climbing
through the coal bunker. His mum,
not wanting to get her nice clean
house covered in soot, stripped him
naked and proceeded to wash
him down with the hose. Needless
to say, Jonathan was a bit
em'bare-assed'. hehehehe


The Burnam's were quite the head bonkers:
(One might even say they are a bit 'hard headed'. :)
Stories have it that Helen Steiner RICE, 'poet laureate of inspirational verse', 'Ambassador of Sunshine', was married to a cousin of Lon S. BURNAM.

Gaye Lynette BURNAM was an educator, or as she liked to say, a tamer of dangerous minds.  She feels that even more strongly now after she was battered by one of her students which caused her to retire early.  

    Nanaimo had an earthquake in 2001. At the time, Gaye Lynette BURNAM
    PHIPPS was upstairs sitting upon the family 'throne'. The floor swayed,
    the 'throne' moved and water swished. One could say she would have been
   a bit em'bare'assed had the floor given way completely. Aislon Rae
   BURNAM-SHEETS was outside sitting on the carport cement.
   It shifted somewhat, and she came in asking, "Was it me, or did the
   earth move?" Jonathan Charles PHIPPS happened to be downstairs.
   The hanging decorations swayed a bit, but otherwise nothing much  occurred.
   He responded to Aislon by saying, "Welcome to earthquake country!"
   Needless to say, we had a very 'moving' experience! :D



 A story which Sonya Wilson shared about her great grandmother, Mary Walker:


My grandma Verna Parson Walker on the left. Her mother-in-law Mary Bonine Walker on the right. Here is a little something that my grandma told me her mother in law told her. I was shocked that she my grandma Verna told me this. lol Great Grandma Walker told her just to flip her skirt up and give it up. Grandma told her right quick that was not going to happen. lol Lord grandma made me laugh.




 As per Sonya Wilson Walker: 
James Reno Walker was given his momma's maiden name Mary Clementine Reno. She had a Cousin in Custer's last stand. Maj. Marcus Reno. it is scandalous story but never the less Custer died that day and Marcus and his troops made it out. They have even showed the story on the history channel. I love the stories the facts that find to prove all that i have. I have a blast and this is why I do it because of the family ties and the history. Did you also know that Reno Nevada is named after the Reno family and every place there after. But Janet Reno is not a true Reno she is something else her family just chose that name because it was easy to spell when they came over from Germany.



Betty Thomas (View posts) Posted: 23 May 1999 11:36AM GMT

My father, Roy King, (eldest son of 9 boys, 5 lived) of Annie Ada (Bonine) & Robert E King talked about an uncle Will Bonine that I believe was an Angora goat rancher in New Mexico or Ariz. Synthia Anderson had a brother Reese Anderson who was a Texas Ranger,for about 20 to 25 years. He had a son Aren. Some of the Bonine's went to White Sulphur, Montana, I believe. The book "A History of Crosby County, Texas" published in 1952. Has some information in it. I can remember my grandmother & great Aunt Lena Bonine talking about information for this book. John Warren Bonine was a Confederate soldier, serving 4 years under General Sterling Price. His father was a Union soldier from what I have in notes. John Warren Bonine's cattle brand BO9. Thought this might interest you.

 Interesting fact from Jerilyn:






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