Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998
From: David Smith to Becky Smith

Hi Becky,

Bonnie Price was born January 10 or 11, 1914 in Livingston, TN.

Her mother was Sylvia Price. Born out of wedlock, Bonnie never knew her biological father. She was adopted, informally, by my father, David M. Smith, when he married Sylvia in about 1922.

My father and mother lived in a small home on the Price home farm in Livingston in my childhood. The farm had three homes located some 200 yards apart on the 27 acre farm. My grandparents, the Prices lived in one home, my mother's sister and her family lived in one house, and we lived in the other house.

We were one large extended family, working and playing together, visiting each others home frequently, and sharing the work and problems.

The homes were small by modern standards and lacked modern amenities. None had indoor bathrooms nor running water. All had electricity. I recall that my Dad and friends installed electricity in our home when I was about six years old.

In our home there were Sylvia and David's three children; Kenneth, my younger brother, Jeane, my younger sister, and I. Sometimes Bonnie and Nora, my father's youngest daughter from his first marriage, lived with us and, I recall that Dad's son, Tom, was sometimes there.

Our small home of a kitchen with a small eating area, a bedroom, and a larger family room was very crowded. Later when I was six or seven years old, a fourth room built over a large basement was added.

My Uncle and Aunt, Ben and Mae Price Dailey, Sylvia's sister, and their four children lived in a slightly larger house.

Bonnie lived most of the time with her grandparents who had no children living at home. Tom and Nora were older children of my father's first marriage (his first wife died) and they soon moved away.

My grandparents moved to Johnson City, TN in about 1930(?) and Bonnie moved with them. From that time, she visited with us on special occasions and in the Summer. My fondest memories are that she was very energetic, she held me in her arms to see the Graf Zepplin pass over our farm in 1925(?) and made the best chocolate pie I ever ate. Her visits were festive occasions. I associate the song "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain When She Comes" with a visit from Bonnie. One of the happiest days of my youth was a Summer when Bonnie was visiting. We got together one Sunday with the Dailey's and some other children and together and walked about a mile to the Price farm and had a picnic by a small stream which flowed out of the side of a cave in the green hill. The cave and stream was on the Price's farm (not their home farm) of about 250 acres but the tenants living in the small house there didn't know who we were and asked us to leave. Bonnie was outraged. I remember seeing her very mad and, with bare legs flying, charging up the hill to the house and "telling off" the folks who had protested our presence.

In Johnson City, Bonnie married (name unknown) and moved to Georgia. Her husband died of natural causes after a few years. Bonnie then moved to Kingsport, TN and went to work for Eastman Kodak(?).

She met and married Bill Hawkins there in 1942 (?) Bonnie and Bill moved to Fontana, Ca in 1944. Bonnie went to work for Bornes Corp., a computer software manufacturer, near Fontana. Bill worked for a contractor doing work on high voltage transmission power lines. Bill served in the US Army for a year or two and was discharged for medical reasons. Bonnie and Bill bought a house in Fontana where they lived and retired. They had no children.

In Fontana, they played golf and had a circle of friends and relatives. Bill’s brother, Bruce Hawkins, and his family lived in Fontana where several family members worked at the huge Kaiser Steel mill. Bonnie retired in 1988 (?). She has lived alone in Fontana since retiring.

Love,

Dad

PS ? I spent a happy four months in Spring 1945 living in Fontana near Bonnie's home while I worked for Vinnell Construction Company. This was for a time to see some of California and earn a little money after discharge from the Air Force in Walla Walla, WA in February and starting school at Vanderbilt that June.