Robert William Bonynge (September 8, 1863 – September 22, 1939) was a lawyer in Denver and New York City. He was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, member of the

National Monetary Commission The National Monetary Commission was a U.S. congressional commission created by the Aldrich–Vreeland Act of 1908. After the Panic of 1907, the Commission studied the banking laws of the United States, and the leading countries of Europe. The ...

, and the Tripartite Claims Commission. He was chief counsel of the New York State Industrial Commission.

Early life and education

The son of Robert and Susan (Burchell) Bonynge, he was born in New York City and attended public schools. He graduated from the College of the City of New York with a Bachelor's Degree in 1882 and later graduated with a Master's Degree. He graduated from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1885. He was a member of the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...

fraternity.

Career

He began to practice law in New York City. He moved to

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, in 1888 and passed the bar in Colorado and continued the practice of law, with his law firm, Bonynge & Hatheway, and Bonynge & Warner. His office was in the Equitable Building. A Republican, he served as member of the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distr ...

in 1893 and 1894. From 1894 to 1896, he served on the Colorado Board of Pardons. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1900 to the Fifty-seventh Congress. In 1902, confidence men Sam and

Lou Blonger Lou Blonger (May 13, 1849 – April 20, 1924), born Louis Herbert Belonger, was a Wild West saloonkeeper, gambling-house owner, and mine speculator, but is best known as the kingpin of an extensive ring of confidence tricksters that operated fo ...

engaged in election fraud for Bonynge. Bonynge successfully contested the election to the 58th Congress of

John F. Shafroth John Franklin Shafroth (June 9, 1854February 20, 1922) was an American politician who served as a representative, member of the United States Senate, and Governor of Colorado. Early life Born in Fayette, Missouri, he attended the common schoo ...

, and served the remainder of the term. He was reelected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the Fifty-ninth and 60th Congresses, and served from February 16, 1904 until March 3, 1909. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1908 to the

61st Congress The 61st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., Washington, DC from ...

. He served as member of the National Monetary Commission from 1908 to 1912. He spoke about

monetary reform Monetary reform is any movement or theory that proposes a system of supplying money and financing the economy that is different from the current system. Monetary reformers may advocate any of the following, among other proposals: * A return t ...

around the country in 1912. He resumed the practice of law in

. He moved to New York City in November 1912 and continued the practice of law with his brother Paul; Their law firm was Bonynge & Bonynge. He was chief counsel of the New York State Industrial Commission from 1916 to 1918. He was appointed United States agent to the Mixed Claims Commission (United States and Germany) in 1923 and before the Tripartite Claims Commission (United States, Austria, and Hungary) in 1927. He settled claims against Germany to compensate for losses of 114 American people who died in the sinking of the ''

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusita ...

'' in May 1915. By 1930, he resolved 24,000 claims totally over $300,000. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' stated that he accomplished "bringing order out of chaos left by the World War". Fourteen years after the

Black Tom explosion The Black Tom explosion was an act of sabotage by agents of the German Empire, to destroy U.S.-made munitions that were to be supplied to the Allies of World War I, Allies in World War I. The explosions, which occurred on July 30, 1916, in New Y ...

(1916), after years of stating that Germany was at fault for the explosion, he made his case against Germany for that explosion and an explosion in Kingsland, New Jersey. He asked for a total of $40 million in damages. Germany won the case. He appealed the case and in 1937, Germany was found guilty. He was awarded the Townsend Harris Medal by City College in 1939.

Personal life

On January 20, 1886, he married Mary Alida Riblet in New York City. Her father was Col. William H. Riblet. The couple had one child, a son, who died soon after his birth in Denver, Colorado. Mary traveled overseas with her husband as part of his duties. They had an apartment in New York overlooking

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

. He was a member of the

Woodsmen of the World WoodmenLife (officially Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society) is a not-for-profit fraternal benefit society founded in 1890, based in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that operates a large privately held insurance company for its members. ...

Masonic Temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history In ...

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

, Royal El Jebel Shrine, and

Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soci ...

. In New York, he was a member of several organizations. The couple lived at Hotel Bretton Hall. He was an Episcopalian. His wife died on August 8, 1937. He established a memorial in her name with the

New York Community Trust The New York Community Trust is the community foundation for New York City, with divisions in Westchester and Long Island. It is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the United States and one of the largest funders of New York Ci ...

. He died in New York City, September 22, 1939, and was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonynge, Robert William Columbia Law School alumni 1863 births 1939 deaths Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Colorado Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)