John A. Bonney -- Notable early citizen of Pocahontas

Many early residents of the area around Pocahontas in Cape Girardeau County were German and Austrian immigrants or immigrants from the mid-South. A notable exception was perhaps the best known resident of the area, John A. Bonney. Bonney was born in West Walton, Norfolk, England, on April 26, 1826, one of seven children of John and Sarah Watts Bonney. The family came to Cape Girardeau County in July 1838, and John's father died three months later.

Perhaps the early loss of his father drove John to succeed. John became a prosperous farmer northeast of present-day Pocahontas. The development of the village in 1861 presented the opportunity for Bonney to open a store. He later sold this successful venture to Lehner & Schoen. Bonney had established his reputation as a "wide-awake and shrewd" businessman.

Bonney was a plain, unassuming man who was frugal in his financial affairs and dressed simply. He read widely and was interested in current events. His keen business sense resulted in few severe financial losses.

He had also earned the respect of his neighbors and became a justice of the peace for Shawnee Township. Over the years, "Squire" Bonney officiated at the weddings of many area couples and settled disputes and minor suits. He frequently served as executor of neighbors' wills or administrator of their estates, and was active in the Republican Party.

Bonney was county treasurer and public administrator in the mid-1870s. One of the saddest duties he performed was recovery of money from the bodies of victims of the sinking of the steamer Stonewall. A notice in the Jefferson City Tribune of April 24, 1875, lists a total $1,184.94 recovered from 10 victims, three unidentified, and deposited with the state treasurer. Other public service jobs he held included acting coroner, election judge and committee co-chairman for the 1876 Centennial. The citizens of Pocahontas chose him to be their first mayor when they incorporated the town in 1893.

John Bonney married twice, first to Mary Starrett. Mary was the mother of John's five children and died in 1873. Five years later, Bonney married his second wife, a widow, Sarah Phillips Whittaker. The Whittaker family knew the Bonney family as neighbors and friends for many years. Sarah died in 1902.

John Bonney's financial career reached its apex when he and other stockholders organized the Bank of Pocahontas on Feb. 21, 1910. He became the bank's first president and served in that capacity until his death on July 19, 1918.

The financial challenges of the Great Depression were too much for the Bank of Pocahontas, although it survived until Cape County Savings Bank absorbed it on Jan. 11, 1932. It had $42,484.41 in assets and liabilities at that time. Today the bank building survives as the Pie Safe Bakery and Cafe. Another name for the building is the Bonney Bank, a name adopted by a local craft group. It is fitting that the building survives to commemorate the bank's first president and dedicated public servant -- John Bonney.