BONOFF, Samuel (born 1892)

BONOFF, BLONIGAN, WEBER

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 9/28/2011 at 00:13:06

I was born on a farm south of New Haven on March 6, 1907 to Philip and Annie (Weber) Blonigan, the third in a family of four. I lived there until March 6, 1925 when I was married to Sam Bonoff.

He was born in Bulgaria and came to the United States in 1907, working at different jobs in Ohio and New York until, in 1920, when he came to Iowa and worked for a farmer. We rented the Bill Lewis farm in West Lincoln Township and lived there two years, then moved to the Joe Hobkirk farm in Burr Oak Township. We brought our first tractor, an International, in 1926 for $850, also a one row corn picker.

We had three girls: Luella of Clearwater, Florida; Dorothy (Mrs. Matt Niess), living on the first farm we bought; and Mary Kluesner, Edina, Minnesota.

We rented the Hobkirk farm for twenty eight years. We bought the adjoining farm in 1948 and in 1956 we got the chance to buy the Hobkirk farm. We lived there for 54 years.

We had a Ford touring car with side curtains to put on if it rained. The roads were not much more than a path. In the spring they planked the roads and you had to be a good driver to not drive off the planks.

We had a nice team of horses and two blind ones, maybe eight cows so our cream checks were not big when you divided it with the landlord. We had a few chickens and the money from them had to be divided when you sold them or the eggs.

In 1939 the high line came through and we had a refrigerator, radio, and iron and waited for them to turn on the electricity. You had to pay for 250 kilowatts whether you used them or not, soon we had a motor on the separator. It wasn't long and a lot of things were added that were electrical, about the best was our freezer.

Forty one babies were baptized in the baptismal gown made by Annie Blonigan, the first to use it being Anthony Blonigan, Annie and Philip's first child.

(Mrs. Bonoff wrote the above story and gave it to me when I went to interview her, following are a few additional items extracted from courthouse records and newspaper obituaries.)

Samuel Bonoff was born July 13, 1892. The family name was different in the old country. Sam did make a trip back to Bulgaria in 1960 to visit family but his parents were dead by that time. According to the 1925 census his parents names were Barney Bonoff (age 66 in 1926) and Dina Charneva (age 56 in 1925). One brother came to the U.S. for a short time but returned to Bulgaria. Sam and Florence were married in St. Peter's Catholic Church in New Haven.

[ By Florence Bonoff, 1989 Mitchell County History ]

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