Husband Emanuel James Bonbrake 1
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Father: John Bonbrake (1796-1866) 2
Mother: Susanna Weyant (1796-1835) 3
Marriage:
Wife Eliza Belle Oaks 4
AKA: Eliza Belle Oakes 5
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Father: John Oaks ( - ) 4
Mother: Rebecca Snively ( - ) 4
Children
1 F Jessie Snively Bonbrake 5
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Spouse: Peter Brough Montgomery (1862- ) 6
Marr: 28 Nov 1889 6
2 F Lillian Bonbrake 7
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Spouse: James Ross Snively ( -Aft 1905) 8 9
3 M Norman Leroy Bonbrake 10
Born: Sep 1874 10
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General Notes: Husband - Emanuel James Bonbrake
He received his early education in the public schools and became teacher of the Mt. Vernon school in Washington township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, in 1849. With the money thus obtained he entered the preparatory department of Marshall College in the spring of 1850. He graduated at Franklin and Marshall College in 1855. In the meantime he taught school several terms in the winter, and not only retained his class work in college, but was accorded the valedictory oration, which then went to the best writer and speaker, if of respectable rank in recitations. He won this distinction by his display of oratorical powers at the exhibitions of the Diagnothian Literary Society. "As an orator," wrote the Rev. Joseph H. Dubbs, D. D., Audenreid Professor of History and Archaeology in Mr. Bonbrake's Alma Mater, "he was regarded as peculiarly gifted. He delivered an oration at the Diagnothian anniversary in 1854 on 'The Wane of the Crescent' which attracted wide attention. He also spoke at the anniversary in 1855, and delivered the valedictory on the day of graduation." In regard to the latter Society oration the Rev. Walter E. Krebs, D. D., of Littlestown, Pennsylvania, wrote: "One fact I most vividly remember is the stroke Mr. Bonbrake made at a Society Exhibition. The Goetheans had held their anniversary, and it was good. The Diagnothian Society at that time was very low in number of members, so much so that it was feared that they would not have material enough to make up anything like a respectable program. But by selecting some performers from the lower classes they got one up, and Mr. Bonbrake had the closing oration. His subject was 'The Last Fall of the Curtain,' and it fairly took the house down. The speaker carried everything before him. It was considered the finest oration ever delivered at college. It won for him the valedictory. The Diagnothians were jubilant." And a final citation is taken from a Yale College man's review of the Diagnothian exhibition of 1854, Mr. Bonbrake being then in Junior class at college: "The next oration was by E. J. Bonbrake, subject 'The Wane of the Crescent.' We had been taking notes of the previous performances, but this speaker so enchained the attention of the audience, as well as ourselves, that we forgot to take notes. The speech was well written and the delivery was charming. The clear melodious voice of the speaker yet rings in our ears. Such a speech on such an occasion, took all by surprise. We have been to the Junior exhibitions and college commencements of some of the best colleges in this country, and we can not recollect of ever having been so delighted. Mr. Bonbrake has oratorical power, and, with a little tact, will become a very popular speaker." * * * And, in speaking of the epilogarian who followed Mr. Bonbrake, "the gentleman deserved more praise than he received, for the fine tones of the preceding speaker were yet lingering in the ears of the audience."
In his college course he was called before the public five times-much oftener than usual-twice as representative of his society's exhibitions, once as spokesman for all the students in the reception of Dr. Gerhart, the new president, then as Senior orator, and finally as valedictorian. In all these appearances, if it could be fairly done, he was put down as the one to speak last. It may be imagined that it was a brievous disappointment to Mr. Bonbrake that soon after leaving college his health became so greatly impaired as practically to compel the disuse of the oratorical gifts that had made such a deep impression on his fellow students. The malady (hemorrhages) fell like lightning from a clear sky, and, as he says, "It came with such sudden and overwhelming force that a hot and fevered perspiration broke over me, which through sheer mortification and chagrin soon became as cold and clammy as the sweat of death."
After leaving college he taught an academy for boys at Camden, Delaware, 1855-56, and the academy at Mercersburg, previously the preparatory department of Marshall College, 1856-57. He studied law with Cessna & Shannon at Bedford, and was admitted to the Bedford County Bar, in May, 1858. He subsequently made a tour of the West, but came to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1859, and was admitted to the Franklin County Bar, Aug. 8, 1859. Capt. George Eyster, then district attorney, afterward United States treasurer at Philadelphia, at once kindly invited Mr. Bonbrake to share his office, and in a short time the law firm of Eyster & Bonbrake was formed. By winning one of his early cases, against the opinion of some of the oldest and most astute members of the Bar, indeed almost the whole Bar, he sprang almost at a bound to high rank as a lawyer, but his health breaking down through close confinement and severe study he felt compelled to lay aside ambition and confine his practice to the Orphans' Court and as a general office counselor.
To him more than anyone else Chambersburg owed the location there of the Wolf works and the Taylor Works, later the plant of the Chambersburg Engineering Company. He always took unusual interest in agriculture, horticulture, arboriculture and stock raising. His versatility, taste and culture, as well as the survival of the habits of study and research acquired in early life, could be best illustrated, perhaps, by his collection of the woods of the Cumberland Valley. He had specimens of nearly every tree or shrub that grew in the valley, and on the adjacent mountains, one side of each specimen showing the natural grain of the wood, and the other side being highly polished. What rendered this collection unique was the fact that for every species and almost every variety he had found in the broad domain of English and American verse a line, a couplet or a stanza descriptive of its beauties, qualities and characteristics.
Mr. Bonbrake was very successful in business, though often a heavy loser in assisting the needy and unfortunate. In 1882 he formed a law partnership with W. J. Zacharias, Esq. His son, Norman L. Bonbrake, was also a member of the firm. He was a member of the Board of Regents of Mercersburg College for many years, and its treasurer for twenty-five years. He was a member of the Reformed Church. In politics he was a steadfast Republican, but never sought office and only filled such positions as burgess or school director, in which he considered it his duty as a citizen to serve. He was an extensive owner of real estate, one purchase being the famous old Hollywell paper mill, near Chambersburg.