Robert E. Bonner

Robert Edwin Bonner (1824–1899) was the proprietor of the New York newspaper New York Ledger and the owner of famous trotting horses. He was a prominent supporter of the Presbyterian Church and Pastor, John Hall.

Bonner was born in Ireland April 28, 1824 near Londonderry; his ancestors were Scottish Presbyterians. He arrived in America in 1839, where his uncle owned land in Hartford Connecticut. Bonner became an apprentice in the printing trade and worked at the Hartford Courant. In 1844 he moved to New York and eventually found work at the Evening Mirror. He began writing and contributed to various newspapers in other cities.

He worked at the Merchant Ledger in the advertising department and became involved with the printing of that newspaper. The owner of the Ledger sold the title to Bonner, who changed the name to the New York Ledger, and sought a wider readership by running articles from well known authors. He also used advertising to raise the profile of the paper and increase the circulation.

In about 1856 he became interested in horses and in particular to a type of harnessed speed event called trotting. He paid large sums for his horses; one of the most famous was Dexter, a gelding that cost him £35,000.^[1] He did not gamble or race for money, but there was a rivalry between Bonner and Commodore Vanderbilt over who had the best horses.^[2]

Bonner was a philanthropist who preferred not to make his donations public, but he was a known supporter of the Princeton University and contributed $131,000 towards the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.^[3] He was also president of the Scotch-Irish Society of America.^[4]

Bonner married Jane McConlis in 1850 and they had five children.^[5] Jane died in 1878, and Bonner died on July 6, 1899.^[6]

Bonner is the namesake of the city of Bonner Springs, Kansas.^[7]

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