Oliver Alexander Bonner, ninth child of Oliver Young Bonner and Sarah Hope Robinson, was born at Bonnerville, Texas July 10, 1900 and attended school at Burnett's Chapel. He married Lulabel McAdamson December 20, 1919 in Fairfield by Rev. Bell, Methodist minister. Ol, as he was known, took up the professions of farming and carpentry; he was less out-going than some of his brothers and enjoyed being and working alone. Ol parternered with Lulabel's brother, Homer McAdams, and built houses in and around Fairfield. Nephew John recalled, "Uncle Ol taught me to drive a Model-T car. He brought us to school for a long time till I learned how and then I drove. He was a good feller. Him and Albert used to get out in the spring and catch pigs. They'd run them down. He was pretty fast on his feet." He and Lulabel made their home just east of his parents' first home at Bonnerville. They were parents of two sons, Oliver Alexander, Jr. and Roy Stanley. Ol and Lulabel were members of Fairfield-Harmony Presbyterian Church. Ol also held memberships in Fairfield Lodge No. 103, A.F.&A.M. and other Masonic organizations. Ol died March 21, 1953 when he fell into Tehuacana Creek and drowned while attempting to cross the creek on a log to repair fences on the other side. When he did not return home, a search party was organized and they tracked him from his pickup. Tuck was told that Ol was wearing rubber boots and carrying a roll of barbed wire, a wire stretcher, and an axe when he slipped from the log and fell into a deep hole of water. John, who was a member of the search party, gave this recollection. "Tehuacana was about half bank, maybe a little more, with water in it down there. That tree fell cross the creek and it was about as far as from here to that bed [about 5 feet] and he cut a little sapling and laid over that to get on the big log to walk over there to see about his cattle. His foot was in that mud and all I guess slipped. He had a roll of wire around his neck and he had a hammer and an axe….I got in. The creek had a little curve over there just below where he went in. I don't know why I went over there, but I walked straight to him. They found his hat way down the creek…We tied a rope on him and drug him out. But, I'm the man that put the rope on him."

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Fairfield Recorder - May 22 (AP) 1953

"Missing Man's Body Discovered in Creek

May 22 (AP) - The body of Oliver A. Bonner, 53, farmer and carpenter of Stewards Mill, near Fairfield in East Central Texas, was found in a creek after a search of several hours. Justice of the Peace R. H. Bradley said indications were Bonner died between 4 and 5 p.m. Thursday. It was believed he tried to cross the creek on a log, slipped and drowned. He had gone out to repair fences in mid afternoon. A member of a prominent Freestone County family, Bonner is survived by his wife, two sons and six brothers."

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Texas Death Certificate: #24289

Name: Oliver Alexander Bonner
Death date: 21 May 1953
Death place: Near Stewards Mill, Freestone Co., Texas
Gender: Male
Race: White
Age at death: 52 years 10 months 13 days
Birth date: 10 Jul 1900
Birth place: Stewards Mill, Freestone Co., Texas
Marital status: Married
Father name: Oliver Young Bonner
Father birth place: Freestone Co., Tex.
Mother name: Sallie Hope Robinson
Mother birth place: Freestone, Co., Tex.
Occupation: Farmer & Rancher
Residence: Fairfield, Freestone Co., Texas
Cemetery name: Bonner cemetery, Freestone County
Burial place: Stewards Mill, Texas
Burial date: 23 May 1953
Informant: Oliver Bonner, Jr.
Cause of Death: Inquest Held due to accidental drowning