An American Family History

"[L]iberty must at all hazards be supported.
We have a right to it, derived from our Maker.
But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us,
at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood."

Sergeant Jacob Bonham was born in Maidenhead, Hunterdon County, (now Lawrence, Mercer County), New Jersey about 1744. His father was Amariah Bonham.

He married Mary. Their children were Ruhamah Bonham Kester (1765, married Paul Kester), Mary Bonham Matthews (1767, married John Matthews), Sarah Bonham (1769), Landon Bonham, 1771), John Bonham (1772), Amariah Bonham (April, 1773), and Patience Bonham (1777). 

In May 25, 1782 he marched with the Washington County Militia under the command of Colonel William Crawford, Captain George Brown's company, into what is now Ohio to defeat the Indians who had been aiding the British. He died on June 9, 1782 while fighting the British and Indians at the Sandusky Massacre in Crawford County, Ohio.

The Crawford or Sandusky expedition of 1782 was on the western front of the Revolution. The goal was to destroy Indian towns along the Sandusky River to end attacks on settlers. Colonel Crawford led about 500 militiamen, from Pennsylvania. About 70 of them were killed with minimal Indian and British losses. During their retreat, Crawford and an unknown number of his men were captured and executed.