Print
Permanent LinkSenator Robert Bonson View All Years
ROBERT BONSON was born in Dubuque County, Iowa, January 5, 1868, and died in Dubuque December 13, 1933. His parents were Richard and Harriet (Watts) Bonson. He attended public school, was graduated from Dubuque High School, from the Law Department of the State University of Iowa in 1890, and from the Law School of Columbia University, New York City, in 1892. He began practice in Dubuque, first in partnership with Robert Stewart. Later he had partnerships with H. C. Kenline and R. P. Roedell, and after retiring from the judgeship, with John P. Frantzen. In 1895 he was elected senator to fill the unexpired term of Isaac W. Baldwin and served in the Twenty-sixth General Assembly, 1896, and also in the Twenty-sixth Extra, 1897, the code revision session. He was not a candidate again, and gave his attention to his practice, but in 1906 was elected judge of the Nineteenth Judicial District and served for ten years when he resigned and re-entered private practice. He acted with the Democratic party so far as party matters were concerned. He took much interest in community affairs. He gave unstintingly of his time and talent in the establishment and later in the operation of the Sunnycrest Sanitarium, the county tuberculosis hospital. He stood high in his profession as a lawyer, and made an enviable record as a judge, while his admirable personal and social qualities made him a general favorite of the public.