James Bonar was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie, and was educated in London, England. Bonar came to the United States in 1884 and was employed in the machine shop of the Carnegie Steel Company for twelve years. When the Pittsburgh Gage and Supply Company was organized in 1893, Bonar, along with William Rogers, was a principal organizer and was selected to act as secretary of the company. Several years later, Bonar organized the firm of James Bonar and Company for the handling of all kinds of steam appliances and conducted this business for fifteen years. After the outbreak of World War I, he was made superintendent of expediting with the U.S. Steel Corporation. In 1919, Bonar was selected as Superintendent of Buildings by the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education. James Bonar was also an artist and served for many years as President of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. His paintings were exhibited at the Corcoran Art Gallery, St. Louis Museum of Art, the Memorial Hall in Philadelphia, and in Pittsburgh. Among his paintings were those entitled Eliza Furnaces, Clinton Furnace, Hubbard Furnace, October in the Alleghenies, Ligonier Fall Scene, and Across Sixth Street Bridge. In the forward to the program note for the 1920 Bonar Exhibition of Painting at the J.J. Gillespie and Company Gallery in Pittsburgh, John L. Porter wrote, "but some there were of such undaunted courage and perseverance, that by steady, unrelenting effort, they were able to turn the thoughts of some of these people into seeing a weird beauty in the great steel plants with their ever-changing halos of steam and smoke, in bridges, river activities, cliffs, inclines and hillside frescoes."
From the description of Papers of James Bonar, 1886-1924. (University of Pittsburgh). WorldCat record id: 30049489
