October 18, 2002

My name is Randy Fonner.  I became interested in genealogy about 1990.  I have had a Fonner family web page for several years.  I sent out my first newsletter in August 1996 and I thought issue #2 would come out Dec 1996, but it came out June 1998.  Who knows where Issue #3 is. I have been corresponding with dozen’s of Fonner's around the U.S.A. over the years.  I have searched in libraries in MI, PA, WV, OH, IN, DE, IL for Fonners (also Fawner, Foner, Farner, Fowner, Founer, Fohner, Fahner, Fahrner, Fanner, Faughner, etc.) and have accumulated census info from almost every state that lists a Fonner (or a phonetic Fonner) before 1920.  I have some cemetery records also.

Basically, I have lots of pieces but have not been able to tie them all together or even know whether they should all tie together. I have census info that says a Fonner was born in Ireland, but most information points to Germany or maybe Switzerland.  I freely exchange info with others and mine is not a commercial venture. I have found that there are a lot more living Fonners than I ever thought.  I continue to try and get information from living Fonners to add to my databases. I lack information on Fonners after 1920 other than in my own family line - even though it to has some gaps.  Below is the story of my great-great grandfather.

Fonners in East Central Illinois

Andrew Jackson Fonner Sr. was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, March 15, 1828. He married Miss Lydia Gillogly on March 22, 1851. They moved from their native state to what is now Douglas County, Illinois, in the Fall of 1857 and settled on a farm seven miles northwest of where Newman now stands. A few essential possessions and two sons, James, age five years, and Robert, age two years, were moved by covered wagon. The county was then largely unsettled, especially the prairie portion. They felt many of the wants and deprivations incident to the settlement of a new country for a number of years after their arrival here. On this homestead, the following children were born: Margaret, Spencer, Andrew J. Jr., Marion, Charles, Thomas, George, and three who died in infancy. This farm has always been owned by Fonner descendants, being presently owned by Emmerson Fonner of Deland, Illinois, who is the son of Charles (not sure if this is still true).

The prairie land south of the ridge was drained, and in 1884, Mr. Fonner purchased the farm where the children of Mrs. Ray Wax now reside. At this time, four older children were married and the remainder of the family moved to the new farm. Here Marion died in 1888 of typhoid fever at the age of 19 years. This farm has since been operated and lived on by Fonner descendants. Mrs Wax is a great-granddaughter, being descended from Zala Fonner Maris, who was the daughter of Andrew J. Jr.

In 1890, the family moved to Newman and Mr. Fonner operated a livery stable in the location of the present Grab-It-Here store. He prided himself on fine horses for hire. Surries and buggies were also rented. The home was on Yates Street immediately west of the stable. Here Mrs. Fonner died on March 22, 1895. She had been a rheumatic invalid for years. Following this, Mr. Fonner retired from active business to oversee the operation of his farms.

On September 14, 1898, he married Emily Howard, and they moved to a home in the west part of town. Mr Fonner died February 18, 1908, nearly 80 years of age. Many of his descendants are now living in the Newman vicinity.

Andrew Jackson Fonner, Sr. is my gg-grandfather. His son James garrison Fonner is my g-grandfather and Vernon Jackson Fonner is my grandfather. I hope to be posting pictures of them on my www page soon.

Below is some information about my family.

 

Randy Fonner and his Family

My parents are Robert and Wilma Fonner. They are both from small towns about 30-40 miles south of Champaign. My father retired from the University of Illinois Housing Division after more than 40 years in 1988. My mother did not work outside the home while my two younger sisters and I were growing up. My parents still live in Champaign (they recently celebrated 50 years of marriage) as do both my sisters.

I was born June 6, 1951 in Urbana, Illinois. My childhood was pretty standard with school, sports and church. One favorite activity was Boy Scouts. As a Boy Scout I successfully earned my Eagle Scout award and was voted into Order of the Arrow by my fellow scouts.

When I attended Champaign Central High School, I worked part-time at Eisner Food Stores, played football and golf and tried to stay out of mischief. I graduated from high school a semester early to attend the University of Illinois - Urbana. I continued working at Eisner’s to pay my own way through school. In 1972 I started working full-time on the night stock crew at Eisner’s and two years later I became head of the night stock crew.

In December 1974 I graduated with a degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois - Urbana. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do so I stayed with Eisner’s to see about a career in management. In May 1975, I was transferred to Decatur as night assistant manager and in August 1977, I was transferred to West Lafayette, Indiana as the day assistant manager.

I met my wife, Connie, while she was a Purdue student, handing out pizza samples at the store I worked in. We were married 10 months later in March 1981 and I became an "instant dad" with a 10-year-old daughter. Connie graduated from Purdue University in 1981 and I was transferred to Indianapolis in the fall of that year.

In 1983 Eisner’s sold its stores in Indianapolis. I looked for a position in the financial area in either a bank or the brokerage business. I discussed with a friend of mine at the University of Illinois Employees Credit Union possibilities of positions in Indianapolis credit unions. He asked me to apply for his position (Vice-President), since he was soon to become President. My wife, daughter and I moved to Champaign in November 1983. I had already been working at the credit union for 5 months.

In April of 1984, our son Matt was born. Soon after we moved into a house at 712 W. Washington, 3 blocks north of Champaign Central High School.

Connie worked at the University of Illinois for 4 years and then became Office Manager for local general contractor.

In 1988 the credit union hired a new President and I was history. I began working as President of a hospital credit union in Danville, which required a 2-hour daily commute. After 16 months of 6-7 days a week of driving back and forth, I left the credit union and began looking for a position on campus.

I started working in the College of Education in the Department of Special Education as an hourly worker. A 50% Visiting position in Education and Organizational Leadership within the College later became available and kept me working full-time between the two departments. Soon the position in EOL became 100%. As the grant that was paying my salary was winding down, I applied for a 10 hour a week hourly position in the Department of Agricultural Engineering. As I worked fewer hours in Education, Agricultural Engineering asked me to work more and more hours. Eventually I became full-time as a Coordinator of Research Programs until August 1997. Since August of 1997 I have been a University of Illinois Extension employee – Extension Specialist.  I do workshops for livestock producers about waste-management handling all over the state of Illinois.  For an update visit http://www.age.uiuc.edu/acadprof/ref/ref.html.

Before I left Education I began work toward a Masters degree in Education, specializing in Higher Education Administration. I graduated in May 1995 with a 4.75 GPA. My goal was to learn more about university administration, how universities worked, and about students of the 1990’s.

My wife has worked for the 6 years for A & R Mechanical Contractors in Urbana as their Controller. Heather has graduated from Purdue and received her Master’s in Education at the University of Illinois. She moved to Delaware in the summer of 2002 to learn her grandmother’s business. Matt has finished high school with a good golf resume and reasonable academic success.  Unfortunately he spent more time on golf than the books.  His senior year the golf team went to State finals where they were tied for ninth after the first day and Matt was tied for 39^th.  Unfortunately, rain cancelled round #2.  Now he is playing golf at parkland Community College in Champaign and recently the team advanced to the NJCAA nationals in Phoenix in May 2003.

Connie and I play as much golf as possible during the summer.  I enjoy working in the yard and working on the Fonner family genealogy.  In between I read, mostly American history during the 1800’s (especially the Civil War) and attend the local Champaign County Civil War Roundtable meetings each month. My wife has season tickets for Purdue football and men’s and women’s basketball games. I attend some of the games, but usually take a book to read or work on genealogy in the local libraries.

We moved in December of 2000 to a different house – a ranch with a 2 car garage and we love it.