What is the Bunker Family Association’s ID numbering system?
As a surname society, the BFA was organized to compile and preserve the Bunker lineage, back in 1913. Originally, membership was open only to descendants from the three main branches from Charlestown (Bunker Hill), Nantucket and Dover, New Hampshire. The bylaws were changed several times, the latest opens membership to all Bunker, or anyone related to a Bunker. Several members trace their connection back over 8-10 generations before they find an ancestor named “Bunker,” so just about everybody is eligible.
However, we still remain a surname society and our primary function is to record Bunkers. The numbering system set up ages ago, reflects this ideal. As there were three main Bunkers who came to the colonies in the mid-1600s, the organizers of the BFA assumed all Bunker were related to them, thus the first George of Nantucket became N1; the first George of Charlestown became C1 and James of Dover became D1. All the children, grandchildren, great grandchildren etc, were numbered in the order of their birth. All children received their father’s ID # plus their birth order number. Thus D1-III is the third child of D1. If and when a son married and had children he would receive a new number, different than his father’s. When a daughter married, she still carried her father’s # and her spousal information was added to the file. We did not record the children of these marriages, because we would then stop being a surname society. In certain instances female Bunkers were given separate #s, i.e. one married, had children, then divorced, and reverted back to her maiden name of Bunker, legally changing her and the children’s names. Adoptions and some intermarriages of cousins necessitated different #s for clarity. Today we have many Bunkers not directly descended from these main branches and these have U or unconnected #s.
If you receive a number and it is your great great-grandmother’s #, it is because she is your closet ancestor with the Bunker name. Example: your gr gr grandmother Bunker marries Smith. She would retain her father’s ID# plus her birth order #, thus if you are descended from Smith, your # is identical to your great great-grandmother.
A few years ago, our historian thought it would be nice to add the lineage of all the female Bunkers, however that task remains beyond the scope of a surname society function. We are collecting information on the female Bunkers, making footnotes of the files and storing the hardcopies for future researchers reference material.
This page was intended to solve the puzzle of the BFA numbering system. If you have questions, please contact the BFA President, Gil Bunker.
3:43 pm on April 12th, 2008 1
I have been entering all the female descendants that I can find for several years now. The D,N and U numbers are still in the database but have not been added to for several years and a lot of the unconnected Bunkers with a U number are now connected through DNA research.