Bonner farm tells story of Lake County agriculture

With the passing of Howard "Shorty" Bonner (1918-2009), another connection to Lake County's agricultural heritage fades away.

Shorty was a fourth generation Lake County farmer and dairyman, and the great-grandson to homesteaders William Bonner and Margaret Gordon Bonner.

William and Margaret immigrated from Aberdeenshire County, Scotland, in 1840, and purchased property on Sand Lake Road in Lindenhurst two years later. Four generations of Bonners lived and worked the property until 1995, when Shorty Bonner donated 8 acres of the original farm with buildings to the Lake County Forest Preserve District.

Today, the farmstead is known as the Bonner Heritage Farm.

The farm is remarkable for its ability to tell the story of the evolution of farming in Lake County over 150 years.

William purchased the property for its "good supply of trees" for his carpentry business. Most of the trees were cleared to build homes and barns in the area, while the rest were cleared for farming. The first building on the farm was the main barn used for housing five cows and storing hay, and was constructed with hewn oak and hickory from the property.

The main barn is the most important building on site, and is possibly the oldest surviving "great barn" in Lake County. The term "great barn" refers to the period between 1840 and 1910 when many large barns were constructed in the United States.

Over a 100-year time span, the barn was expanded with five additions and two silos. Each generation added onto the barn to accommodate more cows and refrigeration equipment, reflecting the farm's growth from a small herd of dairy cows to a herd of up to 100 cattle.

Other structures built by William Bonner include two farmhouses (one for his family and one for his brother James' family) and a carpenter's shop. The homes are of Federalist and Greek Revival styles, and the carpenter's shop has original blacksmith forged iron hinges and handmade nails. The smallest structure on site is a 19th-century outhouse, probably built by William.

In 1965, the family sold off the dairy herd to spend more time with their children and become more active in community organizations. The Bonners continued to actively farm the property until 1991.

Since 2004, the Lake County Forest Preserve District has offered self-guided, interactive exhibits at the farm to encourage visitors to the historic site. The exhibits showcase the Bonner family's history, architectural features of the farm buildings, and facts about agriculture.