This file portion of www.watertownhistory.org website
John
Bonney
John Bonney (or Boney),
carpenter and joiner; born April 15, 1823, in Cornwall, England; was educated
and learned his profession there; came to America in 1849, landed in Quebec,
and stayed in Canada till May 10, 1850, when he came to Watertown and worked
for himself as carpenter and house joiner, till 1863, when he went to Little
Rock, Ark., in Government employ, and stayed there till within ten days of the
close of the war.
In 1865 he entered the
employ of the C. M. & St. Paul Railroad;
in 1873 (source gives 1874), he left them and helped build St. Bernard’s Catholic Church on the west side of the
river. In June, 1878, returned to work
for the railroad company.
Married Miss Sarah Jane
Nettleton, of Watertown, in March, 1858; she died
Members of the Episcopal
Church; Republican.
The History of Jefferson County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company. 1879.
Mr. John Bonney, who for many years
was employed in the carpenter shops of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Ry. Company
in this city, has been appointed to the superintendency of the carpenter and
wood work on the new St. Bernard's Catholic Church. Mr. Bonney is a workman of
fine skill, and excellent judgment, and the St. Bernard's Society are to be
congratulated on obtaining his services.
Watertown Republican, 07 30 1873
[ N.B. Hired as supervisor for carpentry, but later served
as the overall construction superintendent ]
Wallman,
Charles J., Built on Irish Faith,
Impressions, 1994, p 125
____________________________________________________________
Reprinted in Watertown Gazette, 1929
TRIBUTE TO MR. GEORGE BONNEY (son of John)
The following was the tribute paid
to the late G. L. BONNEY by George W. Frankberg at the Elks Memorial services
Sunday:
The comfort of having a friend may
be taken away, but not that of having had one.
And so with our friend and brother, George L. Bonney – though we are
gathered here to do honor to his memory – time nor death can take from us the
ready smile, the kindly heart, the quick sympathy, the faithful and loyal
friendliness, which made George Bonney loved by all who knew him.
George, as we all knew him and like to remember him, was born
in 1860 and was 60 years of age at the time of his death this last fall. Sixty
years young – I might better say – for no man ever lived who kept the heart,
the manner and the strength of his youth, more than he.
He left home at the age of 18, and
at 21 was the first conductor on the Breckenridge division of the Great
Northern – the youngest man honored with that position on the road at that
time. For a number of years he held the
position as conductor – visiting Fergus Falls often and acquiring a host of
friends. How many of us remember when
the word was passed around: “George Bonney
is in town” and the effort his friends made to meet him – to grasp his friendly
hand – to see his cheery smile.
For some time he was gradually given
more responsible charges by the Great Northern, and finally by his wide
popularity and natural ability and faithfulness, he became the head of the
dining and sleeping car service of the road – one of the highest positions with
that company – a position carrying both honor and large responsibility with it.
Later he lived in St. Louis for
seven years, where he held a similar position with the Missouri Pacific.
About 1910, he bought the Grand
Hotel and came to Fergus Falls to manage it and to make his home here among his
old friends. He came here to live
because he liked our people – and lived here and in Pelican Rapids until his
death.
George Bonney did not choose his
friends for wealth or position. He
numbered many high officials and men ranking high in this country among his
acquaintances – yet every newsy on the road knew his ready smile and called him
friend. James J. Hill was very fond of
George, and very often made special request that he take charge of his special
train.
Personally, few men have been closer
to me than he. For twenty years I have
known him as a brother; for so he seemed, though many years my senior. Someone has said that a friend is a bank of
credit on which we can draw supplies of confidence, counsel, sympathy, help and
love. That he was to me – and in all
those years he never failed me once.
I think that if it can be said of a
man that the world is better off because he has lived in it, that this is the
biggest and best monument that a person can leave. This can be truthfully said of Mr.
Bonney. The world is better off because
he lived in it. He was an example of a
successful man – successful in having been able to have lived well, accumulated
sufficient, to have taken excellent care of his family and loved beyond measure
by all of them, to have borne malice towards none, to have numbered as his
friends all the people who knew him, and to have lived a life a cheerfulness
and good nature such as we seldom see or experience. In him were truly exemplified all of the
cardinal virtues of this order – Charity – Justice – Brotherly Love – Fidelity. His death was a big – an unmeasurable loss –
to his family to his friends and to this order.
Such a man was my friend and your
friend – George L. Bonney. Please let it
be so recorded in this Lodge of Sorrow this afternoon, and let us remember, as
Mr. Bonney always did:
“How
little it costs, if we give it a thought,
To make happy some heart each day,
Just
one kind word or tender smile,
As we go on our daily way.
Perchance
a look will suffice to clear,
The cloud from a neighbor’s face.
And the press of a hand in sympathy,
A sorrowful tear efface.
It
costs so little I wonder why,
We give so little thought?
A
smile, kind words, a glance, a touch,
What magic with them is wrought?
The above from the Fergus Falls,
Minn., Journal of Monday, Dec. 6,
1920, will be read with a great deal of pleasure by the many readers of The Gazette who knew our friend and
boyhood schoolmate in Watertown, all of whom we are sure endorse every word of
this splendid eulogy.
