Saturday, March 22, 2008

Billy Bonnell


OK CV fans, your online researcher at work here. The first photo is the wedding photo of Billy (b. July 19, 1885, at Marysville, Kansas) and Mary (b. January 13, 1881, at Mineral, Illinois) Bonnell.

The second photo has the following caption: "W. S. Bonnell, when he broke the world's record at Cedar Vale, Kansas, August 30, 1909. Time 9.5 seconds." Also shown is his horse, Romeo. (The calf is unidentified.)

(Click on the photos to see an enlarged view.) Enjoy!

6 comments:

Phil Foust said...

Well, Gary ... your research continues to amaze and just verifies that this isn't your first rodeo.

Unknown said...

Hey, Dude, Whass sup?? That is really neat that you found the info on Billy Bonnell. I guess I kind of always thought that was just a big bunch of bull-s--t that Ralph's grand-dad was some kind of international hero.

Gary White said...

I had heard that story all my life and it was right there in "CV One Hundred and Five," photos and all.

Unknown said...

I was talking with a roper here today, and he says that 9.5 seconds is still good, would win some money, but is not a world record any longer.

Gary White said...

Yes, I checked that out and the current best times are down in 6 second range.

Jessica said...

Thank you for posting these! Where did you find them? Are there more? Billy is my husband's 2nd-great-uncle. I would like mention that Billy's gravestone says that he was born in 1876, not 1885.