|
Asahel Bush
(1824-1913)
|
|
|
Asahel Bush, a publisher, banker and political
leader, was raised on the East coast. Taken by “Oregon
fever” he came west in 1850 and settled in Oregon City.
Bush founded the Oregon Statesman and moved the paper and himself
to Salem in 1853. He was active in politics and was named state
printer in 1859. Bush entered the banking business in 1867,
founding the Ladd & Bush Bank. Both the bank and the newspaper
(now the Statesman Journal) survive. The Bush family played
a major role in the political, business and social history of
Salem. He and his wife Eugenia had four children and later in
1877 built the Bush House. This home and 86 acres of Bush’s
land became Salem’s Bush Pasture Park in 1953.
Asahel Bush was born in Westfield, Massachusetts in 1824. The
early death of his father forced Asahel to leave school when
he was fifteen to find work. He learned the printing trade,
studied law, and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar. In 1850
he was encouraged to come to Oregon to publish a Democratic
paper in the new territory.
The party was successful in its selection: during the next decade
the influence of the Statesman was such that only Democrats
were elected to office. In 1853 Bush moved the paper to Salem.
During the civil war, Mr. Bush and his paper were loyal
to the Union.. In 1863 he sold his paper and retired from the
newspaper business. He entered banking and in 1867 founded the
Ladd & Bush bank (still in business on the corner of State
and Commercial Streets.) He managed and directed the bank for
45 years until his death in 1913, at the age of 89. In 1854,
he married Eugenia Zieber, the daughter of one of his printers.
They had four children: Estelle, Sally, Asahel III (known as
A.N. Bush) and Eugenia. The young and beautiful wife and mother
died of consumption in 1863 at age 30, and Mr. Bush raised the
family with the help of servants. Mrs. Bush never lived in the
Bush House constructed in 1877-78
The handsome mansion at 600 Mission Street, known as the Bush
House, boasted such rarities as indoor plumbing with hot and
cold running water, gas lights and central heating in addition
to the ten marble fireplaces. After graduating from
Smith College in 1882, Miss Sally Bush became mistress of the
of the house and hostess for her father, living in the home
for more that 60 years. The house has been open to the public
since 1953 and remains a cultural center and a source of pride
to the community. As founder of the first bank in Salem, Asahel
Bush was a important player in Oregon finance and as one of
the authors of of the State constitution and an influential
newspaper publisher, he was a major figure on the political
landscape.
Researched and written by Suzanne B. Morrison
|
|
|
