Colonel Thomas R. Bonner

Thomas Reuben Bonner began as a printer's apprentice on the Cherokee Sentinel in Rusk at about age twelve and educated himself from there. The Handbook of Texas gives his birth as September 11, 1838. He rose from captain to colonel of the 18th Texas Infantry, a Confederate regiment, then read law under his brothers in Rusk and was admitted to the bar in 1867. In September 1872 he moved to Tyler and went into banking with E. C. Williams. Voters in Smith County sent him to the legislature in 1876, and he became Speaker of the House.

What the plaque says

Colonel Thomas R. Bonner (Star and Wreath) (1836-1891) Born in Mississippi. Came to Texas 1849. In Texas militia at start of Civil War. Elected captain Co. C, 18th Tex. Infantry, C. S. A., 1862. Commanded 18th as Colonel, 1863-65. Gallantly led unit in battles at Bourbeau, Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, La. and Jenkins' Ferry, Ark., all being vital actions to prevent Federal invasions of Texas. After the war, admitted to bar and practiced law in Tyler. Served in 11-15th Texas Legislatures and as speaker of the house in 1876. Founded the first bank in Tyler. Leader in building Tyler Tap Railroad. Established an insurance company. Trustee East Texas University. Grand Master of Masons in Texas, 1875. Texas made an all-out effort for the Confederacy after a 3 to 1 popular vote for secession. 90,000 troops, famed for mobility and daring, fought on every battlefront. A 2,000-mile frontier and coast were successfully defended from Union troop invasion and savage Indians. Texas was the storehouse of Western Confederacy. Wagon trains laden with cotton - life blood of the South - crossed the state to Mexico to trade for medical supplies, clothing, military supplies. State and private industry produced guns, ammunition, wagons, pots, kettles, leather goods, salt, hospital supplies. Wives, sons, daughters, slaves provided corn, cotton, cloth, cattle, hogs, cured meats to the army, giving much, keeping little for themselves. (1963)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Goodman-LeGrand House and Museum — 0.8 mi
  A Tyler house begun in 1859 as four rooms, enlarged by the Goodman family over 73 years, and left to the city in 1939 with its furnishings, in a garden that fills a city block.
• Tyler Rose Garden and Rose Museum — 1.9 mi
  More than 38,000 rose bushes of about 600 cultivars in a free city garden, beside a museum of the Texas Rose Festival, which began in 1933, and of the rose industry.
• Camp Ford Historic Park — 3.6 mi
  A free county park north of Tyler on the site of the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi, with a kiosk, an interpretive trail and a historical society museum downtown.
• Tyler State Park — 9.3 mi
  A 985-acre park eight miles north of Tyler, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1935 to 1941 around a 64-acre spring-fed lake, with more than 13 miles of trails.

More markers nearby

• Henry Miller Morgan — 0.6 mi
• Smith County, C. S. A. — 0.7 mi
• Tyler Tap Railroad — 0.7 mi
• First County Agricultural Extension Agent — 0.7 mi