The Learned family ancestry comes from our Mary Bonney Kaler's mother, Irena Larned (Learned). Mary's mother died when Mary was about 5 years old. And our 2nd Great Grandmother Mary Bonney Kaler died when she was only 35 years old. I do believe she may have died by suicide, as she died in the Jacksonville State Hospital on Christmas eve. She had a pretty hard life. According to what I have learned she was held responsible for the death of her youngest child, who died of consumption just before Mary went to the hospital. Her mental state was reported as insane with the first episode in 1850. The year of 1850 is when our 2nd great-grandfather Joseph Kaler decided to leave his family without any means of support and go to California. He was gone over a year. Mary was left to try to care for the four young children alone. According to one report she sometimes took the children to the home of family members who would give the children some bread and butter before bedtime. Mary would only have been about 28 years old and trying to care for four young children alone and no means of support. She may have also been pregnant, as some time between 1850 and 1854 another child was born and died. I can only imagine the life she had.

No grave was found to determine exactly when the fifth child of Joseph and Mary was born or died.

When Juries Bonney and his second family traveled West to Oregon, Louisa Bonney, Mary Bonney and Juries Bonney III remained behind in Fulton Co., IL. They were already married and settled in Fulton Co., IL.

Mary Bonney, b. Conneaut, Ohio, 11 Sep 1822, was only five years old when her mother died. Mary's father remarried when she was eight years old. The Juries Bonney family moved from Fulton Co. IL to Oregon, leaving behind Mary and her brother, Juries Bonney Jr. Juries had married Sophia Goodell in 1840. Mary was hospitalized after her father and his family moved to Oregon. Her father died in Oregon in May 1856, while Mary was in the hospital in Jacksonville. I believe the loss of her father was extremely difficult for Mary, who was separated from her children and her family.

Joseph F. Kaler Sr., would leave his family for years at a time to walk from Illinois to California and other areas in the U.S. It has been told that Mary would have no means of support during Joseph's absences. and eventually became so upset with her husband, she wanted nothing to do with him. Some believe this is why he had her committed into the hospital. Mary (Bonney) Kaler, was admitted to Jacksonville State Hospital in Oct 1854 and died on Christmas Eve., just three years later at the age of 35. Mary was buried in an unmarked grave on the hospital grounds (Red Barn Burials).

CENSUS: 1850; Fulton Co, IL; Lewistown; line 178
Joseph Kaler age 27 Cooper 400 PA
Mary Kaler age 25 OH
Henry Kaler age 5 IL
Joseph Kaler age 3 IL
William C. Kaler age 8 mos. IL (William is later shown on Census as Oscar. His middle name is probably Oscar)

SOURCE:
1. Kaler Ancestry statistics came from family memories and "Jesse Braman and Nancy Ward" histories.
2. 1988 Fulton County Heritage Book, Fulton County, Illinois; article written by Ella Kaler Bolon.
3. Old Kaler Bible filed with the General Society of the Mayflower Descendants, (coded as SMD#60.768) provides documentation of descendancy for Alden Kindred of America, Inc.
4. Mary Bonney is documented as an eighth generation descendant of John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden.
5. Old list of Jacksonville State Hospital patients and burials1850-1880, Jacksonville, IL.

 (Sharon Bearce)