Springfield-Greene
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IRA CARL BON. It has been by close application and persistent, honest work that Ira Carl Bon, general foreman of the reclamation department of the South Side Frisco shops, has risen from a machinist's apprentice to his present responsible position, and not by the influence of friends or the inscrutable working of fate. He is a man of personal worth and popularity and enjoys the confidence of all with whom he comes in contact. He is enterprising and progressive by both word and example and seeks to infuse that spirit into those with whom he is associated.
Mr. Bon was born May 3, 1876, at Centerville, Iowa. He is a son of George Bon, who was a native of New York, from which state he came to the Middle West when a young man and entered railroad service, and is at this writing coach inspector at Centerville, Iowa, for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, having been employed by this road for a period of thirty-three years. He helped build the shops of this company at Centerville and has remained there ever since. He is sixty-seven years old. He has charge of the superintendent's office and the depot. He is a member of the Christian church and is a thirty-second degree Mason, and belongs to the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; also belongs to the Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His wife was known in her maidenhood as Eva Swearengin; she is fifty-five years old. Their only child is the subject of this sketch.
I. Carl Bon's grandfather was Henry Bon, a native of Germany, from which country he immigrated to America when a young man. He was a cigar maker by trade, and later in life became a railroad contractor, and was for years a builder and contractor in the state of New York and in Iowa, maintaining his home for some time at Centerville.
The subject of this sketch grew to manhood at Centerville, Iowa, and there attended the common schools until he was sixteen years old, when he began serving his apprenticeship as machinist in the shops of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad at that place, remaining there from 1898 to 1905, then worked for the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad at Canton, Ohio, as storekeeper in the supply department, from 1906 to 1910. In 1910 he went in business for himself, as agent for several standard makes of automobiles. He continued in this field with success until 1914, in March of which year he secured employment with the Frisco Lines at Springfield as general foreman in the reclamation department, and he is discharging the duties of this responsible position in a manner that reflects much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned. He has under his direction three hundred and fifty men.
Politically, Mr. Bon is an independent voter. Fraternally, he belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a member of the Christian church.
He was married in 1908 to Alice Harvey, a daughter of William E. and Mary M. (Streepy) Harvey, of Centerville, Iowa, in which city she grew to womanhood and was educated. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, her grandfather having been a soldier in that war.
To our subject and wife one child, Maxine Bon, has been born, whose birth occurred June 20, 1910.
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