Doing Internet Research for your Historical Novel? Author Beware!
George Bonga circa 1870. From the Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society
For better or worse, we all use the internet for research. It’s extremely fast, convenient, and contains an almost limitless amount of information. The problem is that anyone, anywhere, can publish just about anything. And we do. In the content-driven world of Search Engine Optimization, information is published and shared at an astonishing pace, most of it never being held up to review or scrutiny. If we’re not careful, we could share false or inaccurate information and become part of a problem that grows and grows until it’s too big to stop. Recently, I encountered this problem firsthand when I set out to write a blog post about the Afro-Indigenous fur trader George Bonga. Born around the year 1802 to a black father, Pierre Bonga, and an Ojibwe mother, Ogibwayquay, George became a fur trader in northern Minnesota successfully navigating between white and Indian worlds. Bonga is an interesting and important historical figure deserving of our attention, maybe even a novel. But, while researching George Bonga, I noticed a discrepancy I couldn’t ignore.
Though I didn’t notice it right away, after reading several blogs it occurred to me that the date of Bonga’s death is disputed, or at the very least, unclear. Some sources report that he died in 1874, others 1880, and still others 1884. It wasn’t just that the sources differed, but that they reported the date of his death without any ambivalence. (With one exception; The St. Paul History Theater stated, “Sources differ as to the year Bonga died, with some stating 1874, 1880, or 1884.”) In some cases, sources have differing death dates listed on the same document or webpage without even acknowledging the discrepancy. This made me curious. When did George Bonga die? And why do the sources differ?
I started by doing an internet search for the following terms: “George Bonga 1874”, “George Bonga 1880”, and “George Bonga 1884”. Below I’ve listed a handful of results for each search term along with any corresponding information related to Bonga’s death found within the source. You’ll notice that many sources also tried to determine his age at the time of his “reported” death. Direct quotes are italicized.
Google Search “George Bonga 1874”
https://www.mnopedia.org/person/bonga-george-ca-1802-1874
Bonga died at Leech Lake in 1874.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/82501366/george-bonga
Reports death as November 30, 1874 (aged 72)
Also reports death as 1880 (age 78)
Guests would recount his yarn spinning and after-dinner singing until he died near Leech Lake in 1880 at 78.
https://www.geni.com/people/George-Bonga/6000000041048627515
Death: 1874 (66-75)
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/genealogy/records/george-bonggaa-bonga-24-37w0zcb
He passed away on 30 Nov 1874 in Leech Lake, Cass, Minnesota, United States.
https://www.myheritage.com/names/george_bonga
Reports date of birth as 1803.
George passed away in 1874, at age 71 at death place, Minnesota.
George passed away circa 1884, at age 82
Google Search “George Bonga 1880”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bonga
Bonga died there when he was around seventy years old. (Interestingly, while reporting his death in 1880, which would have made him 77 or 78 years old, the author cites the MNopedia article which reports his death as 1874.)
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/bonga-george-1802-1880/
https://peoplepill.com/people/george-bonga
Reports death as January 1, 1880
George Bonga died in 1880.
Bonga died there when he was around seventy years old.
https://wcif.org/blog/community/black-history-month/
https://aaregistry.org/story/george-bonga-an-early-settler-in-minnesota/
George Bonga died in 1880.
Google Search “George Bonga 1884”
When Bonga died in 1884, notice of his death appeared in newspapers in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York.
https://edu.glogster.com/glog/george-bonga/1x4j28ji11q
An extraordinary man George Bonga lived until 1884 a very old age at the time of his passing.
Bonga died in 1884. Notice of his death appeared in newspapers in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York.
https://theweeklychallenger.com/george-bonga-african-american-fur-trader/
Bonga died in 1884. Notice of his death appeared in newspapers in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York.
In 1884, Bonga died. His death was mentioned in newspapers across the country and noted by the U.S. Congress.
https://kentakepage.com/george-bonga-african-american-fur-trader/
Bonga died in 1884. Notice of his death appeared in newspapers in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York.
While much is still unclear, I’ve been able to draw a few conclusions. First and foremost, George Bonga most likely died in 1874. While this still needs to be corroborated, I was able to find a report in The St. Cloud Journal, December 10, 1874, stating that, “The Sauk Rapids Sentinel learns that George Bonga, the well-known mixed blood Indian trader at White Earth, is dead.” Below is a screenshot of that report. The website Find a Grave reports the exact date of his death as November 30, 1874. I reached out to the author of the Find a Grave post asking for the source of the November 30th date. Unfortunately, in her reply she stated, “I can’t recall where I got the exact date of death.”
It appears to me that the reported death date of 1884 stems from an article published in the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer Magazine in 2010, which is a periodical produced by the Minnesota DNR. Toward the end of the article the author states, “When Bonga died in 1884, notice of his death appeared in newspapers in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York.” The exact same language appears in multiple sources that were published after 2010. When I reached out to the author of the DNR article to inquire about his sources, the author replied, “Though I referenced that quote regarding Bonga’s death, I didn’t confirm the original source. Had I been doing academic work I would have.” It’s my guess that whatever his original source was, that source mistakenly reported Stephen Bonga’s date of death, which occurred in 1884, in place of George’s date of death.
I’m uncertain of the original source reporting George Bonga’s death in 1880. However, it’s likely that, since Wikipedia is such a widely used source, many subsequent sources relied on the date reported by Wikipedia. It’s possible that the same mistake that might have happened between George and his brother Stephen also happened between George and his sister Margaret who died February 6, 1880.
Regardless of when George Bonga actually died, this provides an excellent case study regarding problems that can arise while reading and writing about history. If an author, at any point, makes a mistake, that mistake has the potential to be multiplied until it becomes recognized as fact. Furthermore, this also shows a lack of care shown by many online authors. In several instances, the authors used conflicting sources but didn’t recognize the discrepancies within their own article. I’m not writing this to cast aspersions on any of these authors. In today’s digital age where content is king, writers are under a lot of pressure to add new content all the time. This can make it challenging to balance the urgency of adding more content with the necessity of verifying and corroborating your information. And, admittedly, I am guilty of many of the same mistakes.
Let this be a lesson then. Even if you’re writing a fiction novel, if it’s based on history readers will assume some of the information is true. So, be careful to verify important information such as birth and death dates. This may not mean tracking everything back to its original source, but at least verifying your information with more than one source while also thinking critically about that information so that you’ll recognize when there is a potential mistake. And finally, readers, don’t commit to any one source as true and reliable information. Accept the information you read, but, like the writer doing their research, seek out multiple sources while also thinking carefully and critically about the information you’re taking in.
Sources:
Eric Weber, “Bonga, George (ca. 1802–1874).” MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. http://www.mnopedia.org/person/bonga-george-ca-1802-1874 (accessed February 18, 2022).
“George Bonga,” Wikipedia, accessed February 17, 2022, last updated January 14, 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bonga
William Durbin, “Who Was George Bonga?” Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, (November-December 2010), Pp. 41 – 50, https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/mcvmagazine/young_naturalists/young-naturalists-article/george_bonga/george_bonga.pdf