William Bonnifield

Who was William Bonnifield?

William Bonnifield, also known as William Bounifield and William Bonnefield, born in Randolph County, Virginia, the second son of Rhodham and Sarah Nancy Bonnifield. Sarah Nancy Minear was the daughter of David and Catherine Minear.

William Bonnifield attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania in 1836/7 then joined his family in Iowa where they had moved.

Between 1839 and 1840 several members of the Bonnifield family died in a cholera epidemic, Rhodham and Sarah were among those who died. William, being the second oldest son, cared for his younger siblings on the farm until 1848.

1839: William Bonnifield was the first elected surveyor of Jefferson County, Iowa and helped lay out the town of Fairfield and set the stakes for the first Court House, he also assisted in the construction of the Court House.

1843: William Bonnifield was appointed as U.S. Postmater for Lockridge, Jefferson, Iowa Territory.

1843: 3 Aug 1843 William Bonnifield married Sarah Ann Jackson in Henry County, Iowa.

1846: William Bonnifield was a co-leader of the two democratic mass-meetings in Fairfield, Iowa when a constitution for the new State of Iowa was under consideration.