OBITUARY: William Bonner, 16 May 1873 - Smith County, TX Submitted by Vicki Betts 10 Oct 2002 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ***************************************************************** AUSTIN DEMOCRATIC STATESMAN, May 20, 1873, p. 2, c. 1 Mr. William Bonner, a promising young son of Judge W. H. Bonner, of Tyler (formerly of Rusk), died in the former place on the sixteenth instant. TEXAS CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, June 25, 1873, p. 13, c. 2-3 Bonner—William Hubbard Bonner, eldest son of Judge M. H. and Mrs. E. P. Bonner, of this city, was born in Rusk, Texas, Aug. 4, 1850, and died in Tyler, Texas, May 16, 1873. He was baptized when an infant, and reared in the church; professed conversion in August, 1865. It may be said of dear William as it was of Timothy—he knew the Holy Scriptures from a child. He was a student at the University of Virginia three years, and graduated in several schools there, among them that of moral philosophy, history and literature, and took the degree of B. L. June 29, 1871. He was duly licensed to practice law in the district and supreme courts of Texas, and in the United States courts, and was, at the time of his death, junior member of the law firm of Bonner & Bonner. He was married by the writer to Miss Kate Dickinson, at Rusk, February 26, 1873. Never did I marry a more lovely couple, more equally yoked, and with a brighter prospect for usefulness, happiness, and distinction. They had loved each other from childhood, and had sacredly kept an engagement made in tender years. William was sacredly impressed with a call to the ministry. The writer had interviewed him repeatedly on that subject, and had his pledge of fidelity to the sacred calling. His heart was not in the law, but in the gospel. Death never struck a brighter mark, nor made a deeper wound. It was so sudden! The dear pair were in their places at church at 11 o'clock, and at night, the Sabbath before his death. So happy, so pious, so admired! He was more than a son—he was the companion of his father, and the idol of his mother; and what was he to that angelic bride, whose every hope in life, and whose hearty affection clustered around and concentered in her newly allianced l ord? O Death, how cruel thou art! Monday he was in his office, and pledged increased fidelity to his pastor. Tuesday morning he was sick, and Friday, at 6 o'clock A.M., he slept in Jesus. When he was dying his mother sang: "O sing to me of Heaven when I am called to die!" and he died in the midst of the hymn. The mother stopped to offer the prayer, "Lord Jesus, receive the soul of my dear boy;" and Col. Thomas R. Bonner, uncle to William, finished the hymn—two verses remaining: "Then close my sightless eyes, And lay me down to rest, And clasp my cold and icy hands Upon my lifeless breast. "Then round my senseless clay Assemble those I love, And sing of Heaven, delightful Heaven, My glorious home above." The family are deeply stricken, the religion of Jesus is magnified, and the church and society have lost one of their brightest ornaments. R. S. Finley. Tyler, Texas, June 18, 1873.