Bondi, August, soldier and patriot, one of John Brown's men, was born at Vienna, Austria, July 21, 1833. His father, Hart Immanuel Bondi, was a Jew manufacturer of cotton goods. August was educated at the Catholic college of the order of Piarists. When only fourteen years of age he became a member of the Academic League and fought under Kossuth during the Hungarian war for liberty. For this he was exiled and in 1848 the family came to America. August spent seven years in teaching and in mercantile pursuits in Missouri and Texas. In 1855 he came to Kansas at a time when the opposition to slavery was crystallizing, and became an intense anti-slavery partisan. After remaining two weeks at Lawrence, he went down the Missouri river and back by land to acquaint himself with affairs on the border. With a partner, he "squatted" on a claim on the Mosquito branch of the Pottawatomie, in Franklin county. In the fall of 1855 he became acquainted with John Brown, and after the burning of Lawrence he joined the company of John Brown, Jr. When this force disbanded he did not return to his claim, but joined John Brown, Sr., and took part in the engagement at Black Jack. He was then with Brown in different raids along the border and at the battle of Osawatomie. In Feb., 1857, he laid out the town of Greeley, Anderson county, and was appointed postmaster there. From that time to the outbreak of the Civil war he kept the "undeground[sic] railway" station at Greeley. In Oct., 1861, he enlisted in the Fifth Kansas regiment and was present in nearly all the actions in which the regiment was engaged. On Sept. 14, 1864, he was seriously wounded and made prisoner by the Confederates near Pine Bluff, Ark., but was left on the field. He was discharged in Dec., 1864, and in 1866 he located in Salina. Mr. Bondi held many offices in Saline county, such as probate judge, district clerk and postmaster, and was appointed a member of the state board of charities. He was a Mason, a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On Sept. 30, 1907, Mr. Bondi fell dead on the street in St. Louis while on a visit to his sister.