Thomas Reuben Bonner

Thomas Reuben Bonner

Full Name: Thomas Reuben Bonner
Date of birth: September 11, 1838
Date of death: August 30, 1891

Terms of Service top

Chamber District Dates of Service Legislatures Party City/County Note Counties in District
H 15 Apr 18, 1876 - Jan 14, 1879 15th   Democrat Tyler / Smith Speaker   Smith
H 12 Aug 6, 1866 - Feb 7, 1870 11th (1) (2)     Rusk / Cherokee   Cherokee

(1) In 1866 Bonner had represented Cherokee County in the Texas legislature . . . [he] impressed his colleagues with his loyalty to the Democratic party." American Legislative Leaders, 1850-1910, 1989.
(2) Roster of 11th Legislature, House of Representatives, "Texas Legislative Proceedings," 8/11/1866, p. 1. Galveston Daily News.

Terms of Service top

House District 15
Apr 18, 1876 - Jan 14, 1879
Legislatures: 15th  
Speaker
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Tyler / Smith
Counties in district: Smith
House District 12
Aug 6, 1866 - Feb 7, 1870
Legislatures: 11th (1) (2)  
Home City/County: Rusk / Cherokee
Counties in district: Cherokee

(1) In 1866 Bonner had represented Cherokee County in the Texas legislature . . . [he] impressed his colleagues with his loyalty to the Democratic party." American Legislative Leaders, 1850-1910, 1989.
(2) Roster of 11th Legislature, House of Representatives, "Texas Legislative Proceedings," 8/11/1866, p. 1. Galveston Daily News.

Biographical Information top

Resolutions and Journal entries

  • Presentation of cane to Speaker from members of the House of Representatives, 15th Legislature, 8/21/1876, pp. 992-995. House Journal.

Biographical Sketches

  • Biographical sketch. American Legislative Leaders, 1850-1910, 1989.
  • Mentioned in Chapter XIIL, p. 84, Thomas R. Bonner. "In either 1876 or 1878, I am not sure which, probably the earlier year, Thomas R. Bonner of Tyler, Smith County, was Speaker of the House. He was a man of ability, and impressive appearance, and a very accomplished parliamentarian, and elegant gentleman." Governors Who Have Been, and Other Public Men of Texas, 1921.
  • BONNER, THOMAS REUBEN (1838-1891). Handbook of Texas Online.
  • Col. Thomas R. Bonner, mentioned in biographical sketch of brother Micajah H. Bonner, p. 652. "The other members of the firm of Bonner & Bonner were F. W. Bonner, Col. Thomas R. Bonner, who was Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Fifteenth Legislature. . ." Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, 1890.
  • 24th Speaker of the House of Representatives: Thomas Reuben Bonner. Photo and biographical sketch. Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature, 1846-2016, 2016.
  • Biographical sketch, pp. 75-77. Sketches of Legislators and State Officers, Fifteenth Legislature, 1876-1878, 1876.

Military Service Notes

  • Confederate States Army, Colonel, William B. Ochiltree's 18th Texas Infantry. "He entered Confederate service in April 1862 as captain, Company C, of Col. William B. Ochiltree's Eighteenth Texas Infantry. He was subsequently major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel of that regiment, which served in the Trans-Mississippi Department as an element of Walker's Texas Division." Handbook of Texas Online.
  • Biographical sketch, p. 74. Texans Who Wore the Gray, 1907.
  • Thomas Reuben Bonner. Texas Burial Sites of Civil War Notables: A Biographical and Pictorial Field Guide, 2002.

Other Resources

Photographs

Composite Photographs on Display in the Capitol

Committee Information top

11th R.S. - 1866
Jefferson Davis, Petition to Release, Select  
Judicial Districts, Select  
Judiciary  
State Affairs  

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