580 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (BONNER BOSWORTH.) 



till his death he neither neglected an opportunity 

 nor spared an effort to induce the House to pass 

 an out-and-out free-coinage measure. 



Bonner. John, author, born in Quebec, Can- 

 ada : died in San Francisco, Cal., May 5, 1899. 

 In early life he removed to New York city and 

 en<'a<'ed in literary work. He was connected for 

 some time with Harper's Weekly, and for several 

 years was the Wall Street reporter of the Herald. 

 His experience in the last post induced him to 

 become a stockbroker. In 1878 he failed for a 

 large amount, and soon afterward he returned 

 to literature. Since 1882 he had resided in San 

 Francisco, where he had been connected succes- 

 sively as leading editorial writer with the Call, 

 the Chronicle, and the Bulletin, and had also cor- 

 responded with Eastern newspapers. He prepared 

 a series of popular child's histories, covering 

 France, the United States, Greece, Rome, and 

 Spain, the last being published in 1894. 



Bonner. Robert, publisher, born near London- 

 derry. Ireland. April 28. 1824; died in New York 

 city.' July 15, 1899. At the solicitation of an uncle 

 who had* become a prosperous fanner near Hart- 

 ford. Conn., he came to the United States in 1839, 

 and first found employment in the composing 

 room of the Hartford Courant at $25 a year and 

 " found." In 1844 he removed to New York 

 city to take the place of proof reader and assist- 

 ant foreman on the Evening Mirror. While hold- 

 ing this place he also became the New York 

 correspondent of the Hartford Courant and of 

 newspapers in Albany, Boston, and Washington. 

 He also while here displayed such originality and 

 attractiveness in setting up advertisements that 

 he made a handsome contract to do such work 

 for the Merchants' Ledger, a small business peri- 

 odical. Seven years after reaching New York he 

 had saved enough money to buy the Merchants' 

 Ledger plant. The name was changed to the 

 New York Ledger, and the paper passed from a 

 purely commercial to a literary publication. His 

 first bold venture was to engage Fanny Fern to 

 write a story at a cost of $100 a column; the next 

 was the spending of his last dollar in advertising 

 the fact. Both proceedings were unprecedented 

 at the time. Fanny Fern was paid $1,000 for 

 her story Fanny Ford, Henry Ward Beecher re- 

 ceived $30,000 for his Norwood, Alfred Tennyson's 

 check for a very short poem was $5,000, and 

 Charles Dickens received a like amount for the 

 only story he ever wrote for an American pub- 

 lication. Mr. Bonner often spent $25,000 a week 

 for weeks at a time in advertising his paper. He 

 maintained his direct management of the Ledger 

 till 1887, when he transferred the property to his 

 three sons and retired. Mr. Bonner was widely 

 known as an owner and driver of fast trotting 

 horses, which constituted his chief recreation. 

 He aspired to be the owner of the fastest trot- 

 ting horses in existence, and whenever he pur- 

 chased a record breaker the animal was at once 

 withdrawn from all public racing. He owned a 

 large stock farm near Tarrytown, N. Y., where 

 he bred some remarkable horses. His expenditure 

 for fast horses exceeded $600,000. The most 

 notable ones and their cost were: Pocahontas 

 $40,000; Dexter, $35,000; Edward Everett, $20,- 

 000; Maud Macy, $10,000; Edwin Forrest $16- 

 000; Rarus, $36,000; Maud S., $40.000; Sunol 

 $41,000; and Russell, $10,000. Mr. Bonner gave 

 Princeton College $19,000 for its gymnasium fund, 

 the sufferers in the Chicago fire $10.000, and the 

 Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church $130,000. He 

 was known as a generous supporter of many 

 charitable institutions and causes, but his aver- 

 sion to publicity placed an injunction of secrecy 



on most of his benefactions. Toward the close 

 of his life he attributed his worldly advantages to 

 three rules he had steadfastly observed : " Never 

 bet; never borrow money; never give a note." 



Boone, Thomas Carroll, telegrapher, born in 

 Annapolis, Md., in 1876; died in Boston, Mass., 

 March 19, 1899. He was a direct descendant of 

 Daniel Boone and of Charles Carroll of Carroll- 

 ton. He became an expert telegrapher, and under 

 President McKinley's call for volunteers he en- 

 listed in the 2d Massachusetts Regiment and went 

 to the front as first corporal of Company K. 

 While the regiment \vas at Tampa awaiting trans- 

 portation to Cuba he was detached and appointed 

 a sergeant in the United States Signal Service. 

 When the land movement toward Santiago was 

 begun he was one of three men who volunteered 

 to go up in the observation balloon and telegraph 

 'signals. He discharged this perilous duty during 

 the battles at El Caney and San Juan Hill, and 

 again during the subsequent fighting on the out- 

 skirts of Santiago till the balloon fell, pierced by 

 the long-range Mauser rifle bullets of the Span- 

 iards. All three occupants of the car were se- 

 verely injured in its descent. One received wounds 

 that caused his death soon afterward, and an- 

 other became hopelessly insane from the shock. 

 Boone was sent to the field hospital for treat- 

 ment, and then taken to Boston. His injuries 

 made a delicate surgical operation necessary, and 

 from this he had not sufficient strength to rally. 



Booth, Henry Matthias, educator, born in 

 New York city, Oct. 3, 1843; died in Auburn, 

 N. Y., March 18, 1899. He was graduated at 

 Williams College in 1864 and at Union Theological 

 Seminary in 1867, and was pastor of the Presby- 

 terian Church in Englewood, N. J., from 1867 till 

 1891. He resigned because of impaired health, 

 and, after spending a year in European travel, 

 became associated with the Rev. Henry Van 

 Dyke, D.D., of the Brick Presbyterian Church, 

 New York city. In 1893 he was elected presi- 

 dent of Auburn Theological Seminary, where his 

 work was marked by much success till his death. 

 Dr. Booth received the degrees of D. D. and LL. D. 

 from Williams College, and was a trustee of 

 Princeton and Union Theological Seminaries. He 

 published The Heavenly Vision, and Other Ser- 

 mons (New York, 1885) ; The Sunrise, Noonday, 

 and Sunset of the Day of Grace (1888), and other 

 works. 



Born, Peter, educator, born in Lycoming Coun- 

 ty, Pennsylvania, July 3,1820; died in Selinsgrove, 

 Pa., May 29, 1899. He was educated in the institu- 

 tions at Gettysburg, Pa., being graduated at the 

 college in 1848 and the theological seminary in 

 1850. In the following year he was ordained by 

 the East Pennsylvania Synod. He was pastor of 

 the Lutheran Church at Sunbury, Pa., in 1851- 

 '59; principal of the classical department of Mis- 

 sionary Institute (now Susquehanna University), 

 Selinsgrove, Pa., in 1859-'81; superintendent and 

 first Professor of Theology in the same institu- 

 tion in 1881-'95, when he retired as professor 

 emeritus, continuing, however, to lecture in the 

 theological department. He received the degree 

 of D. D. from Wittenberg College in 1879. He 

 was a frequent contributor to church and other 

 periodicals, and his articles, signed " Rhadaman- 

 thus," in the American Lutheran, attracted special 

 attention. 



Bosworth, Benjamin Miller, jurist, born in 

 Warren, R. I., Jan. 17, 1848; died there, Feb. 9, 

 1899. He received a public-school education, 

 studied law, teaching evening school in the mean- 

 time, and was admitted to the Rhode Island bar 

 in 1873. In 1874-76 he was trial justice of War- 



