New Congressman
lie will represent the First Con¬
gressional Hist riel as its reprt»-
senlafive after October I. Tin*
people down in tliat part of flu*
state feel Ilia! a fine selection
lias been made.
LIST Friday the Congressional
Committee of the First District
■ met at Kdenton and nominated
Herbert * Bonner to succeed Lindsay
C. Warren bis bass for sixteen
years as Congressman from that
district.
Mr. Warren, as you know, has been
appointed Coiupt roller General of the
I llitcd States and will assume hi* du¬
ties of office Oil October 1.
It’s quite an honor to be a < 'on press¬
man. It'.* a distinction which ninny
people crave, but comparatively few
attain. So you'd naturally think t but
Mr. Bonner would be greatly delight
ed and a very happy man over hi* np
I «ointment.
Not so, however.
We saw him up in Washington,
I). C., last week ami he expressed him¬
self somewhat as follows (This wa-
before he had been officially ap¬
pointed) :
"If I should get the appointment, I
would naturally appreciate the honor
very mneh. I reckon there arc a whole
lot of folk* who are saying: 'I’ll bet
obi Bonner is tickled to dentil over
the fact that Lindsay lias
1нчч1
ap¬
pointed Comptroller General and lie
can step in as Congressman.’ But
they've never been more mistaken. I
don’t mind telling von frankly and
sincerely, that I’d rather Ik- right here
in my present position, serving as
Lindsay's secretary, than be CoiiglONS-
man for the rest of my life. The First
District is going to suffer a great loss,
and I doubt whether the folks down
there ever will have another repiv-cnt-
ative who will look after their iniere*t*
a- conscientiously as he has."
And when he made that statement.
Herbert was telling the absolute
truth.
They never talk about this, but we
don’t know of any other two men who
are as closely bound by the tic* of
loyal friendship as are Lindsay War¬
ren and Herbert Bonner. Either of
them would go through hell for tlm
other if it were necessary.
Mr. Bonner was born in Washing¬
ton, N. G. So were his father, hi*
grandfather, his great-grandfather.
bis great-great-grandfather and other
generations before t belli. The original
Bonner in this country was one of the
early settlors of Beaufort County and
owned vast tracts of land. A part of
Washington is still known as "Bon-
nertown.” Herbert's father is dead,
hut his mother is still living down
there, and so are other iiieiul»crs of his
family. The senior Mr-. Bonner had
a family reunion a couple of weeks
ngn at which 1-1 children and grand¬
children were present.
Herbert was educated in the pub¬
lic schools ol Washington mid also
spent some time at Graham Academy
up in Warrentou. Hemming to Wash¬
ington, lie accepted a position ill S. K.
Fowlc's store. Then be went on the
road, starting his travels during the
Imrse-and-buggy days. Ilis territory
was in Eastern North Carolina. Later
he got a jolt — still on the road— with
hi* brother-in-law, Colonel W. II.
Williams.
Game the World War, and Mr.
Bonner was one of the lirst to volun¬
teer his services, lie spent several
mouths in France, saw plenty of ex¬
citement and, after his discharge,
joined Colonel Williams as a partner
in the Williams- Bon ner Tobacco Com¬
pany. lie was head of the sales de¬
partment, which meant more travel¬
ing on his part through Beaufort,
Hyde, Martin and other counties in
that section.
In 1924 Hallet S. Ward, of Wash¬
ington, announced that lie wouldn't
lie it candidate for reelect ion to Con¬
gress. Several candidates immedi¬
ately 111111011111441, among them being
Lindsay Warren.
That’s when Mr. Bonner started
traveling more extensively than ever.
True, he still continued to sell a few
vigors, cigarettes and tobacco, but for
several months that was only a side¬
line. Most of his time was devoted to
selling Mr. Warren to the people of
the First District, lie and other indi¬
viduals did such a good job that Liml-
sav didn’t have any trouble getting
the nomination.
When Mr. Warren went to the na¬
tional capital as Congressman. Mr.
Bonner went along with him a- Secre¬
tary, and he ha* held that position
ever since.
Some fourteen years ago he mar¬
ried. Fora number of years Mrs. Bon¬
ner has been working in Mr. Warren's
office as head of the clerical force.
They have no children. They mvn an
attractive homo in Washington I’nrk,
and when they go to Washington.
D. they close it up.
Personally, he's genial and likable.
He doesn't particularly care to par¬
ticipate in athletic pastimes, except
as a s|44*talor; and he goes to as many
baseball and football games as hi*
work will |M>riuit him. Golf lias never
updated to him. but lm‘s a great fish¬
erman and hunter. It doesn't make any
dilToronec to him whether lie's li-li
ing for perch up Bear (’’reek. <*r for
drum down in Oregon Inlet; ns long
as he's got a fishing pole in his hand-,
he's happy. Same thing with hunting
(Conti nurd on i"ige trenly-urtn)
7
