Many of the original Bonac families in Springs were among the very early settlers of the town having come from England, possibly Kent or Dorchester, Dorset, in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The family names associated for generations with the term "Bonacker" include Miller, King, Bennett, Conklin, Strong, Havens, and Lester.
Some Bonac men sometimes also worked at the old Smith Meal plant in Promised Land on Gardiner's Bay, manning boats fishing for menhaden.
Today, the Bonac accent is in the process of being lost to the New York City speech patterns of the western portion of Long Island.
In the 20th and now 21st century, nearly all Bonackers were forced out of their traditional livelihoods and found work in support industries for wealthy vacationers and weekenders on the East End of Long Island.
Bonac culture was eulogized in the 1979 book "The South Fork" by Everett Rattray, the longtime editor of the local paper, The East Hampton Star.