Louis Bonard

1809 (age 62)

Rouen, France

About 1849 Louis Bonard left France and after successful trading operations in South America and California, settled in New York City where he invested his gains in real estate. He was an eccentric individual, something of a genius in a mechanical way, parsimonius, but known to a few to be kind of heart. In the cellar of one of his tenement houses in Mulberry Street he had a workshop, equipped for doing the odd jobs necessary to keep his property in repair. The newspaper report, which appeared after his death and has been perpetuated, that he was a miser, living in squalor in a single room, was unfounded. His apartment was in a large modern brick house in Wooster Street, and was clean, though modestly furnished. Bonard’s agent declared that he was generous to unfortunate tenants, and fond of animals, his indignation being aroused by any act of cruelty toward them. Having watched with admiration the activities of Henry Bergh, founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Bonard, at his death, left all his property, amounting to about $150, 000, to that society. The will was contested by alleged heirs in France, and by two persons claiming as legatees under a previous will, one of the grounds being that the testator entertained an insane illusion that upon his decease his soul would enter into the body of some animal, and that, influenced by this delusion, he executed the will with a view to the better security of his future existence. The case attained some celebrity. Ultimately the property went to the society, which erected a monument to his memory in Greenwood Cemetery, New York City, where he was buried.

Louis Bonard

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Businessman inventor

Background

Louis Bonard was born in 1809 in Rouen, France.

Career

About 1849 Louis Bonard left France and after successful trading operations in South America and California, settled in New York City where he invested his gains in real estate. He was an eccentric individual, something of a genius in a mechanical way, parsimonius, but known to a few to be kind of heart. In the cellar of one of his tenement houses in Mulberry Street he had a workshop, equipped for doing the odd jobs necessary to keep his property in repair. The newspaper report, which appeared after his death and has been perpetuated, that he was a miser, living in squalor in a single room, was unfounded. His apartment was in a large modern brick house in Wooster Street, and was clean, though modestly furnished.

Bonard’s agent declared that he was generous to unfortunate tenants, and fond of animals, his indignation being aroused by any act of cruelty toward them. Having watched with admiration the activities of Henry Bergh, founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Bonard, at his death, left all his property, amounting to about $150, 000, to that society. The will was contested by alleged heirs in France, and by two persons claiming as legatees under a previous will, one of the grounds being that the testator entertained an insane illusion that upon his decease his soul would enter into the body of some animal, and that, influenced by this delusion, he executed the will with a view to the better security of his future existence. The case attained some celebrity. Ultimately the property went to the society, which erected a monument to his memory in Greenwood Cemetery, New York City, where he was buried.

Achievements

During his life Louis Bonard did lots of inventions, which included a circular loom for weaving hats, a brick-making machine, and a machine for casting iron, all of which he patented.

Religion

Louis Bonard had a religion of his own, he confessed, "based upon justice and humanity. "

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Louis Bonard

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