- Born
- 1882-11-07
- Died
- 1973-10-26
- Burial
- 1973-10-28 · Holy Cross Catholic Church
- Work
- Irish fiddler · Farmer · Informal Protar-home custodian and guide
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- heritagemusic-folkloredemographyreligion
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
Patrick J. Bonner was born on Beaver Island on 7 November 1882 and died 26 October 1973 at Leelanau Memorial Hospital in Northport, after a ten-day illness. The Beaver Beacon’s obituary opens: “Patrick J. Bonner, Beaver Island’s celebrated Irish fiddler, died October 26th at Leelanau Memorial Hospital”1 – the newspaper’s characterization, quoted here rather than asserted in the archive’s own voice. He learned Irish fiddle tunes as a boy from music his family and neighbors had carried from Ireland, farmed across the road from Feodor Protar’s home, and became the unofficial custodian of Protar’s property, guiding visitors through the log house and to Protar’s fieldstone tomb.1
A public program from a September 1910 farewell event for a departing island priest, reprinted in a 2010 Beacon retrospective, lists a “Violin solo – Patrick Bonner,” the earliest documented public performance held here.2 The Library of Congress independently catalogs Bonner as a performer on five Alan Lomax sound-recording sides made at Saint James on 24 August 1938, matching him by name and birth-death years.3 A separate 1952 recording session by folklorist Ivan Walton also documents Bonner performing with Green.4
History
Family and early years
Bonner’s father, John Bonner, was an immigrant fisherman working out of Mackinac who discovered trout grounds off Gull Island; a family history published in the Beacon in 1963 places his arrival at Beaver Island in 1856, during James Jesse Strang’s rule, and his purchase of 80 acres from James and Nancy Farrell the following year for $200.5 John and his wife Sophia raised eight children; the youngest, Patrick, was born in September 1882 by this account – a month that does not match the November 7, 1882 date in Bonner’s own 1973 obituary, and the discrepancy is not resolved here.51 By 1963 the farm, still occupied by Patrick and his wife Rosie, was recognized as Charlevoix County’s only Centennial Farm that year.5 A separate 1961 Beacon article about the schooner Rouse Simmons – later famous as the Christmas Tree Ship, lost with all hands in 1912 – states that “John Manus Bonner of Beaver Island,” who raised the wrecked vessel in 1903 and sailed her until a 1912 charter to the Schuenemann family, “was the brother of Pat Bonner, Island resident.”6 Whether this John Bonner is the same person as Patrick’s father, or a different relative, is not established here.
Friendship with Protar and civic life
Protar’s 1919 will, excerpted in a 1961 Beacon article drawing on an abstract of title, named Bonner as one of four friends – with Dan P. Boyle, Francis McCafferty, and Francis Mooney – whom Protar hoped would carry out his wish for burial at sea between Beaver Island and High Island; Protar was in fact interred in the fieldstone tomb the site preserves today, so the will documents an intention rather than what occurred.7 A 1955 Beacon report on the newly formed Beaver Island Historical Society describes a tour of Protar’s house with “Pat Bonner serving as guide,” an early, dated instance of the role his obituary later summarized.8 A. J. Roy, the Society’s vice president, credited Bonner and his wife with donating a large photograph of Protar and a hand-made wash stand built by Bonner’s grandfather to the Society’s museum in 1960 and 1961.9 In April 1963 Bonner was elected a Trustee of Peaine Township, alongside Nellie O’Donnell.10
In September 1955, the Beacon reported that University of Michigan musicologist Ivan Walton had invited “fiddler Pat Bonner” to Ann Arbor for a folk-music program broadcast in Detroit.11 Whether this dated invitation is the visit the 1973 obituary later described more generally as an invitation from “the University of Michigan’s Music Department” to tape his repertoire for its archives is not established here.1 In July 1962 a visiting crew taping Islanders for a Chicago radio sports program and a planned television broadcast recorded “Pat Bonner and his violin,” a performance distinct from the Library of Congress and Walton recordings.12
Marriage and family
In 1916 Bonner married the former Rose Boyle.1 The couple celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary on 27 October 1965 with Mass at Holy Cross Church; the Beacon’s arithmetic implies an 1915 marriage, not reconciled with the obituary’s 1916 date.13 Rose Bonner survived her husband and died 24 October 1977 in a Grand Rapids nursing home; she was born in Escanaba on 3 September 1897 and had come to Beaver Island with her parents as a child. Her funeral was held at Holy Cross Church and she was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery, survived by sons John P. Bonner of Milford, Connecticut, and Robert H. Bonner of Lansing, and a daughter, Mrs. Ronald (Mary) Antrim of Grand Rapids.14 The obituary reports that Bonner played an old violin dating from the early 1700s, bearing a Stradivari label that was never authenticated as genuine, and that he continued playing for weddings and celebrations into his later years.1
After 1973
Bonner’s fiddling remained part of the island’s public memory after his death. A 2003 Beacon retrospective column reprints the November 1973 obituary’s account of his death, birth year, friendship with Protar, and the disputed Stradivarius.15 One of Bonner’s barrels – a 54-inch oak olive barrel, its original use unrecorded – was on display at the Historical Society’s Heritage Park by 2005.16 Musician Jewell Gillespie, who played back-up guitar on Bonner’s Lomax and Walton recordings, received a Michigan Heritage Award recognizing that shared musical record; contemporary Beacon coverage of the award describes Bonner as “the late great Island fiddler.”17
Evidence and limits
The 1973 obituary and the 1963 Centennial Farm account together establish Bonner’s family background, marriage, and farm, but the two sources give different birth months and neither is a birth certificate. The Library of Congress catalog and the Walton recording independently confirm cataloged musical participation by name and dates; neither establishes the full repertoire, instrumentation shares among performers on shared recordings, or whether the University of Michigan archive tapes described in the obituary survive. The “celebrated Irish fiddler” description is the newspaper’s own wording, quoted rather than adopted as the archive’s assessment; the violin’s Stradivari label was explicitly reported as unauthenticated. The 1910 performance program and the 1955 Walton invitation are known only through later Beacon retrospective columns rather than the original issues, which are not confirmed held here.
Open questions
- Do the University of Michigan archive tapes described in the 1973 obituary survive, and where are they held?
- Which birth month is correct – the obituary’s November 7, 1882, or the 1963 family account’s September 1882?
- What survives of the July 1962 WBBM/television recordings?
- Was the September 1955 Ivan Walton invitation to Ann Arbor the same visit the obituary later described, or a separate event?
- Is “John Manus Bonner,” owner of the schooner Rouse Simmons until 1912 and reported as Patrick’s brother, the same John Bonner recorded as their father in the 1963 Centennial Farm account, or a distinct family member?
- Does an original copy of the 1916 (or 1915) marriage record survive to resolve the discrepancy between the obituary and the 1965 anniversary report?
See also
Footnotes
-
Beaver Beacon, November 1973, “Obituaries: Patrick J. Bonner.” ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6
-
“One Hundred Years Ago,” Beaver Beacon, September 2010, reprinting a September 1910 farewell program. ↩
-
Library of Congress, AFC 1939/007, Lomax recordings of Patrick Bonner, Saint James, August 24, 1938. ↩
-
Ivan Walton recording, AFC SR127, Bonner and Green sessions (1952). ↩
-
Beaver Beacon, July 1961, “Rouse Simmons Story.” ↩
-
Beaver Beacon, August 1961, “Dr. Protar’s Last Will and Testament.” ↩
-
Beaver Beacon, September 1955, “Beaver Island Historical Society Is Formed.” ↩
-
Beaver Beacon museum-donation notices, 1960-1961. ↩
-
Beaver Beacon, April 1963, Peaine Township officers report. ↩
-
“Fifty Years Ago,” Beaver Beacon, September 2005, retrospective on September 1955. ↩
-
Beaver Beacon, July 1962, radio and television taping report. ↩
-
Beaver Beacon, October 1965, “Pat & Rose Celebrate 50th.” ↩
-
Beaver Beacon, October 1977, “Mrs. Patrick Bonner” (obituary of Rose L. Bonner). ↩
-
“Thirty Years Ago,” Beaver Beacon, November 2003. ↩
-
Beaver Beacon, November 2005, Heritage Park progress report. ↩
-
Beaver Beacon, February 1996, Jewell Gillespie Michigan Heritage Award coverage. ↩
Sources
- The Historical Society announced Bonner’s induction into the Michigan Irish American Hall of Fame and summarized his lifelong Beaver Island fiddling, dance, wedding, and community performance. This is an honoring organization’s retrospective, not the Hall of Fame’s independent citation or a complete performance biography.forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 09 · t009353
- Reports Bonner’s birth, death, Irish-fiddling and farming life, marriage to Rose Boyle in 1916, University of Michigan archive-tape invitation, friendship with Feodor Protar, and role guiding visitors through Protar’s home and tomb.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1973-11_Beaver-Beacon
- The held ten-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1973-11_Beaver-Beacon
- LOC catalog metadata identifies Bonner, Patrick, 1882–1973 as a performer in Saint James, Beaver Island. It does not establish the exact division of performance within the semicolon-separated catalog title, repertoire transmission, or a complete performance history.audio · lomax_michigan_1938_beaver_island · afc1939007_afs02269a · item
- LOC catalog metadata identifies Bonner, Patrick, 1882–1973 as a performer in Saint James, Beaver Island; the bundled item title is not silently split into separately attributed performances.audio · lomax_michigan_1938_beaver_island · afc1939007_afs02269b · item
- LOC catalog metadata identifies Bonner, Patrick, 1882–1973 as performer on both sides of the recorded item at Saint James, Beaver Island. It does not establish authorship, the song’s historical events, or performance context beyond the catalog.audio · lomax_michigan_1938_beaver_island · afc1939007_afs02271a · item
- LOC catalog metadata identifies Bonner, Patrick, 1882–1973 and Andrew E. Gallagher as performers at Saint James, Beaver Island. It does not allocate the four catalog-title components between performers or establish instrumentation without listening and further documentation.audio · lomax_michigan_1938_beaver_island · afc1939007_afs02272b · item
- Reports that Beaver Island's only 1963 Charlevoix County Centennial Farm belonged to the Bonner family: John Bonner, an immigrant fisherman working out of Mackinac, purchased 80 acres from James and Nancy Farrell in 1857 for $200 after arriving in 1856; John and his wife Sophia raised six sons and two daughters, the youngest of whom, Patrick, was born in September 1882 (the family account's month conflicts with the November 7, 1882 date in Bonner's own 1973 obituary). Patrick and his wife Rosie were still living on the farm in 1963, marking over a century of continuous family residence.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1963-09_Beaver-Beacon
- Reports that a visiting production crew made tape recordings of several Islanders in 1962, including "Pat Bonner and his violin," for the Art Mercier Sports Show on WBBM Chicago radio and a planned television program; it does not establish whether the tapes survive or were broadcast.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1962-07_Beaver-Beacon
- Reports a Historical Society tour of Dr. Protar's house with "Pat Bonner serving as guide," an independent, dated instance of the custodian-and-guide role the 1973 obituary later describes. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1955-09_Beaver-Beacon
- "One Hundred Years Ago," Beaver Beacon, September 2010.Reprints a September 1910 farewell-entertainment program for a departing island priest listing a 'Violin solo -- Patrick Bonner,' the earliest documented public performance found in the held corpus; the original 1910 publication is not separately held. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
- Reprints excerpts of Feodor Protar's 1919 will, obtained from an abstract of title, naming Patrick Bonner, Dan P. Boyle, Francis McCafferty, and Francis Mooney as the four friends Protar hoped would carry out his wish for burial at sea; Protar was in fact interred in a fieldstone tomb, so the will documents an intention rather than the outcome.
- States that John Manus Bonner of Beaver Island, who raised the wrecked schooner Rouse Simmons in 1903 and sailed her until a 1912 charter to the Schuenemann family, was 'the brother of Pat Bonner, Island resident'; it does not establish this John Bonner's relationship to the John Bonner recorded elsewhere as Patrick's father.
- Lists Pat Bonner as an elected Peaine Township Trustee alongside Nellie O'Donnell, under Supervisor Jack Connaghan.
- "Fifty Years Ago," Beaver Beacon, September 2005.Retrospective on September 1955 reports that University of Michigan musicologist Ivan Walton invited 'fiddler Pat Bonner' to Ann Arbor for a folk-music program broadcast in Detroit; whether this is the same invitation the 1973 obituary attributes more generally to the University's Music Department is not established. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
- Reports the Bonners' fiftieth wedding anniversary on 27 October 1965, marked by Mass at Holy Cross Church; the implied 1915 marriage year is not reconciled with the obituary's 1916 date.
- Reports Rose L. (Boyle) Bonner's death on 24 October 1977 in a Grand Rapids nursing home, her birth in Escanaba on 3 September 1897, her funeral at Holy Cross Church, interment in Holy Cross Cemetery, and surviving children John P. Bonner, Robert H. Bonner, and Mrs. Ronald (Mary) Antrim. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
- "Thirty Years Ago," Beaver Beacon, November 2003.Retrospective column reprints the substance of the November 1973 obituary, corroborating Bonner's death, birth year, friendship with Protar, and the unauthenticated Stradivarius attribution. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
- Beaver Beacon, November 2005, Heritage Park progress report.Reports that 'Pat Bonner's ancient open top barrel' was on display at the Historical Society's Heritage Park by November 2005. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
- Describes musician Jewell Gillespie as back-up guitarist on Ivan Walton's and Alan Lomax's field recordings of 'the late Island fiddler, Patrick Bonner,' in coverage of Gillespie's Michigan Heritage Award. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
- Opened and checked: a seated middle-aged man in a pinstriped suit playing a violin in a wood-panelled room, with a microphone stand at his right. No third-party collection watermark. The identification is the Beaver Beacon gallery's own caption, cited as theirs; the sitter is taken to be Patrick J. Bonner (1882-1973), whom the Beacon's obituary calls "Beaver Island's celebrated Irish fiddler". The King Strang is a venue on the island, not a reference to James Jesse Strang - this photograph was rejected for the Strang article earlier for exactly that reason.
Added 1 August 2026 · revised 5 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Patrick J. Bonner”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/people/patrick-j-bonner/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Island Historical Society, “ISLANDER PAT BONNER - MI IRISH AMERICAN HALL OF FAME,” Beaver Island Forum, September 3, 2015. (and 20 further sources listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-05. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.