| About The Bushong United Family Tree Project |
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About the
Bushong United Family Tree
Project
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Way back in 1987... |
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Hello,
My name is Rick Bushong and I believe, with a surname as unique as Bushong, it is possible to chart every Bushong in the United States, back to their immigration and beyond. To that end I have created the Bushong United Family Tree, and have documented over 7300 individuals born with the Bushong/Bushon surname, plus several hundred with the original spelling of Boschung and variants. Along the way, I charted the Bushongs for the entire 1930 Census, going through records for over 1600 individuals and their families, recording it into the tree. Also, I am a firm believer in charting from cradle to grave, and the over 3000 Bushongs (and other spellings) as well as their wives, from FindaGrave.com, are also indexed and recorded in the tree. The result, is the Bushong United Family Tree, the world's largest and most complete Bushong database.
In Switzerland, where the surname originally came from, as well as Europe, over 200 Boschungs from the 16th century, on into the 19th century have also been charted, going back as far as 1525. Through, research, the Boschung surname represents three or maybe four unique families, of which most of them adopted the name later. With such a unique name and so few lines, targeted research and charting, fairly easily determined the true ancestral Boschung line for the American Bushong family. The American Bushong family came from the original ancestral Boschung line in Oberwil, Switzerland, started by Michael Studer.
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I began researching genealogy in 1980, and published a family book for my line in 1989 (now out of print). Back in the 80's, we worked with notebooks and charts, and scheduled visits to the National Archives, to pour over microfilm, which we did for hours. Also, beginning in 1984, we had the Bushong Bulletin, where a dedicated group of genealogists and historians, worked together and shared all they could find out about the Bushong family. Now, things are a little easier. We have notebook computers instead of a notebooks, and relational databases in the form of genealogy software instead of family trees on paper. That and the internet, which may not have that old library smell, but it'll do. With these tools, it is now possible to chart and keep track of huge numbers of individuals.
I was a professional photographer and photo finisher for years, having been trained, at the Naval School of Photography in Pensacola, Florida during the Viet Nam War. I love old photographs and am the recipient of my paternal Great Grandparent's photo albums as well as the Bushong family Bible. For years I had a large, full service custom photo lab, and one of our services was old photo, copy and restoration. What a difficult process that was compared to what is now available in the digital age.
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The old days of notebooks and charts are over. |
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Now retired, I live, with my wife, on a deserted part of a beautiful island in Belize. The closest town is many miles away and except for internet, our home is off the grid, complete with solar power and rain water collection. With the barrier reef in front of us and the deserted stretches of beach, I have found its isolation helpful, to concentrate on research.
Sincerely,
Rick Bushong
On the pier, with the dogs and boat in 2012.
That's the second largest barrier reef in the world behind.
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