SAR Patriot #: P-117498

DAR #: A011989

Qualifying Service Description:

1. Enl 1782 fr Philadelphia for the war in the Light Horse and marched to Carlisle as a Pvt under Colonel Richard Butler
2. He guarded the British prisoners at Lancaster, 1783
3. He applied for a pens in Butler Co, OH, 1819 and it was allowed for two yrs actual serv as Pvt, Pa line (BONNELL, PAUL 1830 , RG002 , P 0210 , V0008)

Married Mary Pierson on 28 December 1783/1784 in Essex County, NJ

Children: Abigail (married James T Morton), Rachel (married Aaron Jewell)

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April 2024:

HAMILTON, Ohio (WXIX) - A piece of early American history buried beneath Symmes Park is getting the spotlight after centuries thanks to an aspiring Eagle Scout.

Symmes Park is named after American Revolutionary War captain John Cleves Symmes, but it's not the captain that Life Scout Zach Kramer is doing a project on. Kramer's project focuses on Private Paul Bonnell.

For the project, Kramer has been researching the private's life. Bonnell is not a name you will find in the history books, but he was a man, well teen, who lied about his age to enlist at just 15 years old.

"He turned in his pension, He said, 'I don't want this anymore, you know, I want to re-enlist,'" explained Kramer. "Ended up being shot in the head by a musket ball and then came out and then he was like, 'I want to re-enlist again,' and he fought again. He fought in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812."

In Kramer's research, he learned Private Bonnell was buried at the old Fourth Ward Cemetery next to his wife Mary.

Their graves there were later dug up and moved to clear the way for the Fourth Ward Park that eventually became Symmes Park.

The only problem is the record of the graves that were moved never made mention of the Bonnell's.

"They moved the majority of them to the current burial grounds, where they lay now at Greenwood, but you don't think of what can be right under your feet and stop to give it the thought and the respect that they deserve," Kramer said.

That's where Kramer and a business, Underground Detective, got to work.

"His daughter had left something, his obituary, and kind of just described the general area as the Northwest Corner or the park, which is Symmes Park now," Kramer said.

Scans of the ground revealed two side-by-side voids, which they think are graves.

Kramer's project includes building a bench and plaque to remember the two believed to be still buried in the park.

"It just didn't sit right with me, and I mean, I'd love to do more, but right now, I'm just focusing on Mr. Bonnell and his wife," Kramer said.

A ceremony to remember Private Bonnell will be held during The Hollow Earth Fest on April 13 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Around 2 p.m., the military-style ceremony will begin to remember him.