TENTH GENERATION

912. William BONE II ^{(21)(15) (22) (23)} was born in 1697 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. ⁽⁴⁸⁾ He died in 1760 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. ⁽⁴⁹⁾ He has Ancestral File number K6QQ-K7. Molly Lou Shepard data-


Early genealogical records place the Bone family surname in Scotland in the year 975. Once the surname was le Bon. Originally, it was deBohon. Early family documents, letters and manuscripts written by early Bonegenologists make mention of the Bohon origin of the Bone family.

The surname of Bone is traced by elymologists to an area in the Contention Peninsula of Normandy. This area, known as the De Bohon Fife in the Middle Ages, is located in the district of St. Lo. The two villages of St. Andre-de-Bohon and St. George-de-Bohon, which were founded in the 10th century, are still in existence.

As far as is known, Henry de Bohon and family owned land and were living there in the year 975. Henry's forefathers were Vikings who settled in that area. There is a record of a Henry de Bohon, who during the last quarter of the 10th century was a loyal supporter of Richard 1, third Duke of Normandy (932-96), during border warfare.

Around 1030 Robert II, sixth Duke of Normandy, (1026-35) put down a serious revolt of some of his western vassals. Again, one of his loyal supporters was a de Bon, (probably the son of the Henry mentioned above). His eldest son and heir, Henry de Bohon was betrothed to Margaret, Countess of Eu, a cousin of Duke Robert and a daughter of William, Count of Eu (941-1059) a natural son of Richard I, third Duke of Normandy

When some of the barons in Southwestern Normandy revolted in 1047, Sir Henry de Bohon came to the aid of his cousin William II, 7th Duke of Normandy (1035-87). It was shortly after this revolt that Sir Henry's sons were invited to Duke William's court to be educated as knights and gentlemen.

When William II, 7th Duke of Normandy, sailed for England in 1066, one of his warriors was his cousin, Sr Humphrey de Bohon, the eldest son of Sir Henry and Margaret (of Eu) de Bohon. Humphrey took active part in the famous Battle of Hastings and as a reward was created the first Baron de Bohon. He was the ancestor of most of the Bone family that came to America.

The first Baron de Bohon had six children; Humphrey the Great (1129), a daughter who married and died in childbirth; Maud, who married Raineford, a Saxon from Lincolnshire; William and Robert, both of whom died young; and Richard. Richard had two sons who became prominent; Richard Fitz Richard de Bohon (1109-79), who was Bishop of Coutances, became Chancellor of Normandy for King Henry II, (1151-79); and Jocelyn Fitz Richard de Bohon (1111-84) who became Bishop of Salisbury.

When the first Baron de Bohon died in 1113, he was succeeded by his eldest son Humphrey the Great (d.1129), who became the second Baron de Bohon. He was a friend of and advisor to Henry I, King of England (1100-34).

Humphrey, third Baron de Bohon (1109-87) succeeded his father Humphrey the great in 1129 and became involved in the struggle for the throne of England on the death of Henry I in 1134. When King Henry II became king, Sir Humphrey became Steward of Henry II's household and was later named hereditary Constable of England, a position previously held by his father-in-law and then by his brother-in-law. Humphrey, in 1138, had married Margaret, daughter of Miles of Gloucester, Earl of Hereford and High Constable of England. When Miles sons died heirless, Henry II gave the title of High Constable to Miles' son-in-law, Humphrey, 3rd Baron de Bohon. Humphrey and Margaret of Gloucester had five sons, Humphrey, Richard, John, Miles and Robert.

King Henry II (1154-89) had many difficulties during his reign, including numerous revolts led by his sons. Humphrey (1109-87) the third Baron de Bohon, and his eldest son, Sir Humphrey (1141-83) usually known as the Young Earl of Hereford, remained loyal to Henry II throughout his reign. Sir John de Bohon, the third son, was a very close friend and supporter of Henry II's 4th son Geoffrey as long as Geoffrey lived. Sir Robert de Bohon, the youngest son, was a very close friend of Prince Henry; Henry II's second son and heir.

When Prince Henry revolted against his father in 1173, Sir Robert de Bohon was one of his associates. In the next year, the situation became critical when Prince Henry persuaded William, the Lion King of Scotland, to join him in war against his father in return for the promise of Northumberland, the northernmost Shire of England. Humphrey, third baron de Bohon, led the English King's army, which met and repulsed the rebels at Fordham in Suffolk in 1173, and along with Sir Richard de Lacy, met the forces of Scotland and Prince Henry on July 13, 1174. The battle ended in the complete rout of the rebellious forces. King William was captured and imprisoned. Sir Robert de Bohon fled to Scotland and Prince Henry was forgiven. King William's sister, Princess Margaret of Scotland and the widow of Conan IV of Bretagne, Earl of Richmond, (d. 1170), was married to Humphrey de Bohon, the young Earl of Hereford was who heir of the third Baron de Bohon.

Sir Robert le Bon died in 1183, four years before his father Baron Humphrey de Bohon's death. Consequently, when Humphrey the third Baron died in 1187, he was succeeded by his 12 year old grandson, Henry (1176-1220) as fourth Baron de Bohon. Upon coming of age, Henry was knighted and made High Constable of England and held manor houses and castles at Caldicot, Haresfield, Oaksey and Walden in addition to the main Hereford holdings.

A number of months after Sir Robert de Bohon fled to Scotland, King William signed the humiliating Treaty of Folaise and was released from his prison in Normandy. Upon returning to Scotland, he awarded some of his followers including Sir Robert de Bohon, some land south of Glasgow. Sir Robert spent little time on his land as he was with Prince Henry who had been forgiven by King Henry II. Unfortunately for Sir Robert de Bohon, young Henry the crown prince, died six years before his father. Sir Robert was with him at Martel in Aquitaine on June 11, 1183 when it happened.

As far as it is known, Sir Robert de Bohon never returned to England but lived out his life (d. after 1210) on his Scottish land and became a highly respected manorial lord. Legend has it that he was called "le Bon" ( the good). His son and heir had similar characteristics so that he too was known as Sir Richard "le Bon" de Bon.

About 1295 an important and interesting marriage took place between distant cousins of the English and Scottish branches of the de Bohon families. Sir Richard le Bon de Bohon (1271-1325), the Governor of Winchester and his second wife, Lady Joanne de Quincy, had a daughter Margaret who married a prosperous landowner of Devonshire named William (?) Brewer. It was their daughter, Lady Anne Brewer who in 1295 married Sir Richard le Bon de Bohon. Although there was hatred felt between the English lord and the Scottish people at this time, there appeared to be no problems concerning the marriage. However, the marriage of their son Sir Richard le Bon de Bohun II ( b. 1297-d. 1352) created a serious problem. In 1323 young Sir Richard went to England on a special mission and visited second cousins, the family of Humphrey 7th Baron de Bohon, whose aunt was Sir Richard's grandmother. Humphrey the 7th Baron was an important man in England, having been brother-in-law of King Edward II and was credited with having saved the king from capture by King Robert the Bruce of Scotland in 1314.

Young Sir Richard le Bon de Bohun fell in love with the 17 year old Margaret, one of the children of Sir Humphrey 7th Earl de Bohum and Princess Elizabeth Plantagenet de Bohun. They were married and had a son John in 1324. In as much as Sir Richard II and Margaret were second cousins, it would have been necessary to obtain papal dispensation such as King Edward I had obtained for his daughter Elizabeth when she married her second cousin Humphrey, 8th Baron de Bohon.

Evidently this dispensation was either not asked for or was not granted because in 1324 Lady Margaret was forced to leave her husband and infant son John, just a few months old, and marry Hugh de Courtenay, Earl of Devon. (Margaret was the granddaughter of Edward I and Queen Eleanor). Margaret and Hugh had 17 children. He died in 1377 and she died in 1391 and both were buried in the Cathedral of Exeler. Records indicate that Sir Richard and Margaret's marriage was annulled by the family and possibly by papal decree.

Research records in 1870 indicates that Lady Margaret de Bohun's son John le Bon de Bohun dropped the de Bonhun and began using le Bon as his surname by the mid 14th century. By the last part of the 15th century the le Bon or le Bone is rarely found but there are numerous persons by the name Bone on record. Other records show that the John le Bon family dropped the surname le Bon in the early 16th century when they began using the name Bone.

In 1610, Robert Bone migrated to Northern Ireland with a group of Scots sent over to colonize a section of Ulster. Two of Robert's five sons migrated to the British colonies; Thomas to the west Indies in 1651 and George to Kent County, Virginia in 1652. The other three remained in Ireland. The eldest was William Bone (d.1674). He lived in the County of Ulster and had only one son as far as is known. He was John of Ulster (1649-1720). He had five sons; Humphrey, William, John, Henry and one whose name is not known who was the youngest and died in Ireland between 1693 and 1697 at age 15. William, John and Henry sailed for the colonies around 1692. They landed in Philadelphia and settled in that part of Chester County which in 1729 became Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This William Bone (1670-1728) is the ancestor of many of the Bone families in the United States.

While there seems to be little question that William Bone married Jane McWilliams, the place and date have not been verified. It is known that William had a number of children. There are brief records concerning three sons and also the records indicate that Jane was his only wife and the mother of the three: John (1693-1760), Alexander 1695-17??), and William II, (1697-1760).

Jane McWilliams was the daughter of the remarkable Scottish minister John McWilliams, born in Scotland and died in Chester County, PA. John McWilliams parents were of Scot-Irish descent, Presbyterian.

William Bone II (1697-1760) married a Miss Houston, daughter of John Houston in Chester County, PA about 1721. John Houston, gentleman, was born near Johnson in Renfrewshire, Scotland, and was a descendent of Sir Hugh de Padivan, a Norman who accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066. On one occasion Sir Hugh aided Malcolm King of Scotland (1059-93). Grateful for the act which he felt saved his life, he awarded Sir Hugh an estate west of Glasgow in Renfrewshire. He married a Scottish lady and identified with the scots. The natives had difficulty pronouncing Padivan and in time used the name they gave the village around the de Padivan manorhouse, Hugh's town (Houston).

A grandson and namesake, John Houston, Sir. migrated to the Pennsylvania colony by way of Northern Ireland. John married prior to 1687 and shortly migrated to Ireland where they had a number of children. John Houston and his family joined the others in Chester County, PA and joined some scottish friends in Western Virginia. A number of the scot-irish were leaving due to increased taxation, religious restrictions and to the large increase in foreign speaking settlers in their area. John Jr., his wife, most of his children and his widowed mother moved to the area of Augusta and Rockbridge Counties, Virginia. Mrs. John Houston Sr. (Mrs. William Bone II's mother) died there in 1747 when she was around 90. John Jr., died there about 10 years later and left land to his sons. His eldest son Robert, increased his land in Rockbridge County and called it Timber Ridge Plantation. It was about 10 miles from the city of Lexington. Robert's son, Samuel Houston Sr., (1754-1806), inherited Timber Ridge. In 1782 he married Elizabeth Paxton of a prominent family in the area and they had 9 children. Samueul had fought under George Washington in the Revolution. After the war, Samuel was named a Brigadier Inspector (Mayor) in the Virginia State Militia. Major Houston's great interest in his military position caused him to neglect his farm. In 1805 realizing that he might lose it he acquired some bounty land in Blount County, TN. He lost his farm in 1806 and died shortly thereafter. His 5th son, Samuel Jr., 1793-1863) became a congressman from and a governor of Tennessee. He went on to become President of the Republic of Texas and later became a United States Senator and a governor of the State of Texas.

The name Bone appears in the records of Colonial America a number of times in the 17th century. One of these was a Scot who settled in Chester County, PA around 1692. This Scot was William Bone I, son of John of Ulster, who was in the woolen trade in the northern part of Ireland in 1610 when the English invited a large number of rugged individuals to settle on the land they had recently taken from the rebellious Irish. Between 1689 and 1720 large numbers of these Scots from Northern Ireland left there for economic as well as religious reasons and settled in the new colonies in North America. Most of these migrated to Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina.

One of these colonists was William Bone, the ancestor of thousands of American Bones. Accustomed to hardships and difficult times in Ireland, they turned into capable pioneers. These Scot-Irish were often younger sons of poor or middle class families; they came as indentured servants and as colonizers willing to work. They sought their own land and the right to think, to speak and to meet when and as they wished. They moved about and participated actively as rebels in the American Revolution. They were among the pioneers who moved across the Appalachians Mountains into the frontiers of Tennessee, Kentucky, as well as Ohio in the late 1780's and 90's.

A large percent of the early colonists came to the colonies as indentured servants. While the early settlers found plenty of land, it was largely timbered along the seacoast and it took an immense amount of hard labor to prepare these wild regions for homes and cultivation. It took hardy men using primitive implements. Obtaining sufficient numbers of men was not easy. The result was the "Headright System" and the "Indentured Servant:. In general, fifty to one hundred acres of land was given to any land owner who would import a laborer and pay for his transportation; then maintain him for five to seven years. At the end of this period, he was again a free man.

John of Ulster had a business connected with the wool industry. His eldest son, Humphrey, became a partner in the business as was customary in families. Two items caused William, the second son, to decide to come to America. The Glorious Revolution of 1689 resulted in a serious economic depression which greatly affected the wool industry. The second was a colonization brochure which William read concerning the new colony of Pennsylvania. In 1682, Charles II, King of England, had granted a large area in the new world as a fief to William Penn. While the latter was the absolute proprietor, he was a Quaker and established some very humane and tolerant policies for those who settles on his fief. In order to encourage colinization, he offered each head of a family two hundred acres at a rental of one penny an acre and an additional fifty acres for each able bodied "head".

It is said that William Bone decided to go to Pennsylvania and acquire land by going as the "Head of a family", and by transporting two younger brothers (John 18 and Henry 15). They selected some timbered land north of the village of Philadelphia in that part of Chester County which became Lancaster County in 1729. William Bone married Jane, daughter of Rev. John McWilliams. There he settled amid the oak, the chestnut beech and hickory. There he found wood, water and fertile land for "the clearing".

In 1697 a ship from Norther Ireland brought some news that greatly changed the lives of the Bones. John of Ulster wrote that he wanted one of his three sons to return to Ireland. Humphrey had died suddenly and the younger son who had remained at home had died two years earlier at age 15. The depression was over and John wanted help.

The Pennsylvania land was in William's name, furthermore he had two children with a third on the way. Consequently, it was decided that John would return to Ireland. However, when John returned to Ireland, his brother Henry, age 20, went along. John remained in Ireland and became his father's partner and then full owner upon the death of John of Ulster in 1720. Henry returned to the colonies, landed in Virginia and went to New Kent County to visit his cousins. It is believed Henry married and settled there.

William I and Jane had three sons who grew to maturity and about whom we have some information. The eldest, John, was born in Chester County in 1695 and William II in 1697. In 1714, the two elder sons returned to Ulster to visit grandparents and relatives. John married and had two children in Ireland, John II (1715-81) and a daughter. These four returned to Chester County in 1720. There were other children but the only one we have any data on is John II. During the 1760-61 Thyphoid Epidemic, John I died as did a number of his children and grandchildren and in-laws, including John II's wife. When a large caravan of relatives and neighbors left for North Carolina in 1765, John II and his 19 year old son were amoung the group.

William Bone II spent all of his life in Chester-Lancaster County Pennsylvania. He improved his land and paid his quit rent and joined with the Scot-Irish residents in resisting increased rent and taxes. About 1721 he married a daughter of John Houston who had migrated to Pennsylvania from Scotland.

The first of Williams II's children to leave the area was in 1749. By 1765, only Henry and his family were left in the Chester County Area. John A. Bone, fourth child of William II, in 1749 took his wife Margaret and infant daughter, Elizabeth along with his good friends and neighbors Tom and Henry Potts and migrated to some newly opened land in the western part of North Carolina. John purchased three hundred acres of land in Bladen (became Anson in 1750) County on October 11, 1749. On April 4, 1750 he purchased three more acres and three years later again bought more acreage.He eventually accumulated around 1000 acres. The plat book of Rowan County shows that in 1800 William Bone (probably William IV, 1741-1828,) was one of the larger land owers in the area.

It was probably the 1760-61 epidemic which caused most of William II's family to migrate. The toll of the epidemic, evidently Typhoid Fever, was particularly high in Chester County. William II and his older brother John both died. The family of William II was very badly hit; among the victims were his daughter, Mrs. Jane Bone Gillespie, her infant son; two daughter-in-laws, wives of William III and James, and numerous grandchildren. Between 1761 and 1765 most of the Bones in the Chester-Lancaster area migrated, leaving only Henry Bone and a few other Bones.

James Bone moved west with his motherless sons in 1762, settling in the western forests of Cumberland County. He remarried and had four children.

A sizable caravan left Lancaster, Chester and York Counties in 1764-65 for the area of North Carolina, where John A. Bone had settled 15 years earlier. This group consisted of the Bone, Cannon, Gillespie,Hill, Ireland, Knox, Lanaden, Patts, Purviance, Stevenson and Wasson families. Among the BOnes were John II and his 15 year old son, John Crawford; William Bone III, a widower with his 7 children, aged 3-20, Thomas with his wife Mary and their 2 children (they had 6 more in North Carolina). It would appear that the Bones and their relatives belonged to the Presbyterian Church and histories of the church give some information about them. Before 1753 people met to worship at "stands" a board between two trees to hold the Bible, the Catechism, the tuning fork and a bucket of water and gourd for the servant of God while he read the scripture, taught the Catechism and raised the tunes.

By the beginning of the Revolution, William Bone I's grandchildren were scattered. Some of Jame's family were in western Pennsylvania and northwestern Virginia; Henry's were still in the Lancaster, Chester, York and Burks counties area of Pennsylvania. The rest were in North Carolina.

In 1768 when Governor Tyron began to enforce some of the British regulations throughout the colony of North Carolina, he ran into strong opposition from the Scot-Irish in the area where the Bones lived. Many of the group became ardent Rebels and strongly supported the revolutionary leaders against the government. In 1774 in an attempt to appease the Regulators, the colonial government appointed John A. Bone as Constable of the Mecklenburg District. John held the job throughout the Revolution, but by 1776 for the new Carolina government rather than the "old" royal one, which had fled. John held the position until 1789. It is believed he died that year.


The group of families were then attacked by marauding Indians and men in many areas joined the armies and particiapted in battles and skirmishes to protect their families, especially in the "frontier areas". There is also a historical record connected with the Fourth Creek Presbyterian Church in 1781, where all the men in the congregation were said to have taken up arms and followed Rev. James Hall, their pastor, to Charlotte to fight Cornwallis. It is a matter of record that William Bone, John Bone, Thomas Bone and their families belonged to the Fourth Creek Church.

The Presbyterians were the first to bring the gospel to the Cumberland Country. Atheism was quite common. The Presbyterians started with prayer meetings at the homes of Thomas and Abner Bone, two and one half miles southest of Statesville, Tennessee, about 1804. The area of Sumner, Wilson and Rutherford Counties became a mecca for the members of the Bone family and their kin between 1785-1806.

William Bone III died at the age of 65 in 1787. By his will dated July 10, 1787, he remembered each of his children, four sons and two daughters. To his oldest sone William IV, he wrote, " I bequeath and devise to my son William all that tract or parcel of land with my mansion house and all improvements. William IV lived in this family home the rest of his life, as did his son James Bone and his wife Eliza Gunn Bone, who died there on March 31, 1807. James was the only son who remained in North Carolina. In 1787 the younger twin sons of William, John and James Abner, migrated to Sumner County, Franklin, (later Tennessee). There are occasional references to these brothers in the records of Tennessee. James Abner Bone served on a jury in the spring of 1788; and on January 12, 1790, he was named Constable in Sumner County. John Bone was a witness to a will dated March 15, 1788. About 1810 John and his 6 children moved to Hopkins County, Kentucky, then in 1829, moved to Hickman County, Kentucky, where he died. His twin brother, James Abner, also left Tennessee in 1810, moving with his 9 children to the area which became Ballard County, Kentucky.

In 1805 a number of the Bones, including Thomas, a son of William III,moved with his wife and 6 children to Wilson County, Tennessee and later to Davidson County. At the same time, 1805, three of William's grandchildren moved to Wilson County, William IV; Mrs. John (Margaret Bone) Wasson with her husband and children and Mrs. Josian (Artimicia Bone) Wasson with her husband and children. A few years later William oved to Dickson County and the Wassons moved to Maury County. The Josiah Wassons left Maury and settled in Lawrence County, Alabama ( a short distance south of the John Wasson farm in Tennessee). After the death of William Bone IV in Iredell County, Tennessee in 1828, his widow Elizabeth Potts Bone went to the home of her daughter, Artimicia Wasson in Maury County, Tennessee, where she died.
He was married to Margaret HOUSTON about 1721. ⁽⁵⁰⁾

913. Margaret HOUSTON^{(15) (22)} was born in 1701 in Pennsylvania. She died before 1761 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. WFT, Vol. 22, Tree 0318 says she was born in Northern Ireland. Children were:

i. William BONE 3rd was born about 1722. His descendants listed in
http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/a/l/l/Elaine-m-Allen/ODT5-0001.html
456 ii. John A. BONE Sr..
iii. James Abner BONE⁽¹⁾ was born in 1725 in Chester, England.