Edward Bonney

Edward Bonney
An illustration of Edward Bonney at 38 years old, sitting, wearing a top hat and holding a walking cane, from his self-written 1850 book, The Banditti of the Prairies: or, The murderer's doom, a tale of Mississippi Valley and the Far West. Bonney was a bounty hunter and amateur detective who in 1845 posed as a counterfeiter, ironically having been arrested in Indiana for counterfeiting himself a few years earlier, to infiltrate a faction of the "Banditti of the Prairie" and track down the infamous murderers of Colonel George Davenport.
Born
Edward William Bonney[1]

(1807-08-26)August 26, 1807
Hittsboro, Essex County, New York, US
DiedFebruary 4, 1864(1864-02-04) (aged 56)
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, US
Cause of deathwar disability
Resting placeBonneyville Cemetery, Bristol, Elkhart County, Indiana
Occupations
  • Miller
  • hotel keeper
  • city planner
  • counterfeiter
  • church officer
  • livery stable keeper
  • bounty hunter
  • private detective
  • postmaster
  • merchant
  • soldier
  • author
Employer(s)U.S. government, self-employed
Military career
Allegiance
Rank
UnitCaptain John S. Williams,[4] Company G, 127th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment[5]
Battles / warsAmerican Civil War
Edward Bonney moved from New York in 1837 to the frontier with the intent of founding the city of Bonneyville in Elkhart County, Indiana. Bonney constructed a hotel and saw mill but when the settlement failed to grow into bustling town, he sold his land holdings in 1841 and left. Present-day Bonneyville Mill County Park is all that survives of Bonney's dream.
The Spanish silver peso was the most common currency found on the American frontier. Edward Bonney was arrested in 1842 for counterfeiting in northern Indiana. Ironically, from 1845-1846, as a detective and bounty hunter, Bonney posed undercover as a counterfeiter to infiltrate a faction of the Midwestern, outlaws known as the "Banditti of the Prairie" and track down the infamous murderers of Colonel George Davenport. The "Spanish milled dollar" was minted in México and was considered U.S. legal tender. As a result of this, the Spanish coin became one of the most counterfeited coins in the United States, until the Coinage Act of 1857.
Edward Bonney in 1844 was the aide-de-camp of Lieutenant General Joseph Smith the supreme commander of the Nauvoo Legion and a member of the Mormon Council of Fifty
The Banditti of the Prairie outlaws in an illustration from Edward Bonney's book The Banditti of the Prairies including Robert H. Birch and his accomplices attacking and murdering Colonel George Davenport at his home on July 4, 1845. Bonney went on a man-hunt pursuit for the fugitive murderers from Illinois to Ohio to Chicago and back to Rock Island, Illinois, bringing them into custody.
In his pursuit of the Banditti of the Prairie William Bonney posed as a phoney counterfeiter and was arrested and searched by law officers in Indiana along with real outlaw William Fox. Note: Bonney was quite tall and had a muscular physique
Edward Bonney in top hat and dark suit in front of gallows at the 1846 execution of the Long brothers And Granville Young for the torture-murder of Colonel George Davenport and members of the Banditti of the Prairie
Title page of the 1850 first edition publishing of the Banditti Of The Prairies by Edward Bonney
Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, May 19, 1863. Private Edward Bonney serving with the troops in 127th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the Union Army participated in the long campaign against the Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, from U.S. Army Center of Military History painting in "US Army in Action" series

Edward William Bonney[1] (August 26, 1807 – February 4, 1864) was a 19th-century adventurer, miller, hotel keeper, city planner, counterfeiter, livery stable keeper, bounty hunter, private detective, postmaster, merchant, soldier, and author. He is best known for his undercover work in exposing the "Banditti of the Prairie", resulting from his investigation of the torture-murder of noted Illinois pioneer and frontiersman Colonel George Davenport.

  1. ^ a b "Edward William Bonney – Biography". www.josephsmithpapers.org.
  2. ^ "Military Appointment of Edward Bonney, 18 June 1844, Page 1". www.josephsmithpapers.org.
  3. ^ "Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database". www.ilsos.gov.
  4. ^ "Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database". www.ilsos.gov.
  5. ^ "Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database". www.ilsos.gov.