Edward Bonney
Edward Bonney | |
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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 August 26, 1807 |
| Died | February 4, 1864 (aged 56) |
| Cause of death | war disability |
| Resting place | Bonneyville Cemetery, Bristol, Elkhart County, Indiana |
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| Employer(s) | U.S. government, self-employed |
| Military career | |
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| Rank |
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| Unit | Captain John S. Williams, Company G, 127th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment |
| Battles / wars | American Civil War
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Edward William Bonney (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.