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The Bushong Tavern
& Lt. John Bushong
A Final Determination
Scan compliments of John Brown Carter University, see original here.
(Click to enlarge)
All of us in genealogy, realize how hard we have to work for every little scrap of information about our ancestors. Every date, place and even initials are important, and we work diligently to prove them all. So when something like this beautiful period engraving, belonging to the Bushong family, comes to light, then it's something worth fighting for. However one internet dissenter, is determined to undermine the credibility of this piece of Bushong Heritage and take it from the Bushongs. In order to do this, they've published reams of digital paper, copying and pasting everything they can find in a misguided attempt to prove it does not belong to the Bushongs, and instead belongs to the different Colonial family, Bosang. Why? The engraving clearly says Bushong.
I have gone through it all and, am fully satisfied with the evidence, that this engraving is just what it says it is: the view from the Bushong Tavern. Further, with the 1775 York County Tavern License, in John Boshong's name, and with just a few eligible Bushong men, the process of elimination, can easily determine that it was indeed Lt. John Bushong, the husband of Elizabeth Sprenkel. This, even acknowledging one conflict, as discussed below.
I won't reprint all of the dissenter's objections. Any that could be valid have been answered in this or the previous articles below. If you wish to read through them, some of the objections, can be seen beginning here. However, I would be remiss if I didn't warn, they are fraught with errors. For instance, a proper source is needed, for the Britania passenger list, because their copied list has become corrupted and Lt. John Bushong was not born on the Britania. He is not on the Britania's 1731 passenger manifest nor other lists. There's two links to legitimate period sources on this very web page, and here from a couple of weeks ago, is one of Rupp's lists, from the 30,000 Names Book, that proves it.
And though I can't say the source, I have Lt. John's birth date as August 30 1732. Regardless, other infants were listed, so he didn't arrive on the ship. He was inevitably born at his parent's home in East Lampeter Twp. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Also, I don't have all of this family's military records, though surely someone proving Lt. John for SAR or DAR will, but I can't locate a source for son John Jr's military service in Pennsylvania, and though son Jacob is listed September 1, 1776, in Capt. Philip Albright's Company part of Col. Samuel Miles' Pennsylvanian Rifle Regiment, it's a different regiment than his father. So they did not serve together. Jacob later was in the Virginia Militia, for 18 months and interestingly, he doesn't mention his Pennsylvania service in his pension application.
It's Not Bosang
But as to the "case" for the tavern license and the subsequent illustration belonging to John Bosang, I outright reject any assertions that it was Bosang's tavern or license. This argument is totally without merit because there has never been any proof presented that he ever set foot in York County. He wasn't there. I also find it totally implausible that a young man just barely 21 years of age and possibly younger, could afford a tavern and then have the wherewithal to run one. Or that his father who was down in Virginia could afford to buy a tavern there as well as an additional one in York County. I also can't believe that on two different documents that the name was supposed to be Bosang and it was misspelled both times. The spelling of the name was Boshong or Bushong, never Bosang. It's all just too far-fetched. Finally, in 1776, Bosang is stated living in Virginia, so he's nowhere close to Pennsylvania.
Early Pennsylvania Bushongs
After Nicholas and family joined the other Bushongs in Pennsylvania in 1732, counting our Lt. John's Pennsylvanian birth, the total American Bushong population stood at only fourteen. The Bushong United Tree has all the Pennsylvanian Bushongs listed through 1940, and in 1775, there are only eight eligible Bushong men, living in Pennsylvania. Using the process of elimination in 1775 for the tavern license, only Lt. John Bushong and his family were in York County. So logically, it can only be Lt. John Bushong. It's obvious, but without a chart or tree, there's no way this process of elimination can be done.
Blacksmith, Tavern Keeper or Both?
But there is one conflicting detail. Lt. John was a blacksmith, or so it says in the bonds for three known land transactions...
- February 8 1763 John sold 100 acres
Know all Men by these presents that I John Bushone of York Town in the
County of York and Province of Pennsylvania Blacksmith in Consideration of the Sum
of Fifty five Pounds Lawful Money of Pennsylvania to me in hand paid by
Henry Harris of the same place Tavern keeper before the Sealing and Delivery of
these Presents the Receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge... ...containing by
Estimation One Hundred Acres be the same more or less Together with all and
Singular the buildings and Improvements thereon erected...
-
March 1 1767 John buys 100 acres
This Indenture made the thirty first Day of March in the year of our Lord
one Thousand seven hundred and sixty seven, Between William Sprenckel of York
Township in the County of York in the Province of Pennsylvania yeoman of the
one part and John Bushong of York Town in the County aforesaid Blacksmith of
the other Part. Whereas the said William Sprenckel (alias Springle) obtained a
Proprietary Warrant for one hundred acres of Land more or less (then in
Hallam Township Lancaster County but now) Part thereof in York Township and part
in Shrewsbury Township in the County of York aforesaid adjoining Melchoir
Bayard
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June 29 1776, John and Elizabeth sold a Lot in the Town of York
This Indenture made the Twenty Ninth Day of May Anno Domini one thousand
seven hundred and seventy Six Between John Bushong of York township in the
County of York and Province of Pennsylvania Yeoman and Elizabeth his Wife of the
one part and Jacob Schriver of the Town of York in the County and Province
aforesaid Blacksmith of the other part... ....certain Lot of Ground Situate on the West side of Beavers Street in the Town
of York in the County of York and province aforesaid Marked on the General
plan of the said Town with North degree Two Hundred and Thirty Three Containing
in Breath on Beaver Street aforesaid Fifty Seven feet and Six Inches and in
Length two Hundred and Thirty feet to a twenty feet Alley, Bounded Eastward
with Beaver Street aforesaid, Southward with Princess Street, Westward by a
Twenty Feet alley and northward by a Lot of Ground Marked on the General Plan of
the said Town North degree:
First, it was stated by our lone dissenter, that the 1776 property sale meant Lt. John left Pennsylvania and York County, at that time. But it needs to be pointed out, that does not prove it was then that he moved away. It can be seen above that there was at least one other property and maybe more. Take for example the acreage purchased in 1767 from his father-in-law. That property was 100 acres and is a different property than that sold in 1776. So Lt. John just sold one lot in town and he and Elizabeth were likely living out of town. Possibly "five miles from York Town on the Baltimore Road", just as the illustration says? Obviously, he had more than one property. Besides, Lt. John is documented April 5 1778, in York County, still in the Pennsylvania Militia, so he couldn't have left. However, in 1780, John and his family were beginning to be noted in civic activities down in Virginia, having followed his brother Jacob to Shenandoah County. By April of 1782 Lt. John Bushong has transferred to the Virginia Militia and formerly moved to Virginia.
Lt. John was a blacksmith in York County, first and foremost. But during his 48 some odd years in Pennsylvania, he inevitably did many things, and with the 1775 tavern license and the engraving, we have sound evidence that one of his pursuits was a tavern keeper. But why did none of the three known land transactions mention he was a tavern keeper? Because he was known as the blacksmith. The tavern came after his blacksmith trade, and was secondary to it. Or maybe the 1763 land sale mentions it?
Granted we are having to rely on a transcription that contains scant punctuation, but notice there can be more than one interpretation depending where the sentence ends.
...I John Bushone... Blacksmith in Consideration of the Sum
... paid by Henry Harris of the same place, Tavern keeper before the Sealing and Delivery of
these.
Either way, there was a tavern keeper involved in 1763, yet could it be saying John was a Tavern Keeper before the sale? Regardless of interpretations, John was still a blacksmith and a tavern keeper. Because ultimately, with just the few Bushongs around and Lt. John Bushong being proven in York County, through 1778 (in the militia), taken with the unimpeachable evidence in the two period documents, the Tavern License and the illustration, there is more than enough evidence to confirm, Lt. John Bushong of York County, also had a tavern.
 This beautiful engraving can now be considered a part of the Bushong Heritage, use it if you like.
Rick
June 25 2017
 The Beauchamp-Bushong Tree
A Poem
by Mary Bessie Feller-Wickes
Mary Wickes, was a part of the Virginia Bushongs, and is descended through Lt. John Bushong and Elizabeth Sprenkel, the subjects of the illustration and the two articles below. She was a well known and prolific genealogist who began her quest around the start of the twentieth century. Though much of her Hans John Boschung (IV) Tree became the foundation for that branch's modern Bushong genealogy, much of it was also totally wrong. Mrs. Wickes' genealogy has been the subject of prior articles on Bushong United. Read one of them here.
It was, after all, Mrs. Wickes who promoted the Beauchamp myth and who was personally responsible for the Strasbourg, France and "Foltz de Hagenau" portion of the John Bushong Myths. So the inclusion of her famous (for Bushongs) poem seemed like it might find an audience. It can certainly be said that Mary Wickes, 1866-1966, who was a daughter of Samuel Feller and Martha Ann Bushong, was enthusiastic! However, genealogists who knew her said she could never change her position. This in spite of new evidence that had been accumulating to the contrary. In 1966, when she sadly passed away, at the grand age of 100 year old, Mrs. Wickes was still fully convinced she was the great great great granddaughter of a French Jean Beauchamp.
Next I've included a letter to Mrs. Wickes which is a copy of the very letter from France that she based "the Strasbourg, France" and "Foltz de Hagenau" parts of her tree. Notice the inscription on the letter is to V. McA. Bushong, who was my uncle, Vernon McAfee Bushong. Since my side is from the Kentucky Branch, we can see how Mrs. Wickes was spreading her Beauchamp Family Lore far and wide.
BUSHONG LINEAGE: Mary Bessie Feller/ Samuel W. Feller and Martha Ann Bushong/ Henry M. Bushong and Mary Ann Wendel/ Andrew Andreas Bushong and Elizabeth Calvert/ John Bushong (V) and Elizabeth Sprenkel/ Hans John Bushong (IV) and Barbara Bushong (the immigrants)/ Hanss John Boschung (III) and Anna Maria Boschung of Switzerland, (immigrated before 1719)/ Hans Boschung (II) and Anna Stocker/ Hans Boschung (I) and Anna Anneler/ Michael Studer-Boschung and Dichti Jaggi.
Beauchamp-Bushong Tree
by Mary Bushong Feller-Wickes
5 March 1929, New Market, Virginia
(Presented for historical interest only.)
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You owe it to your family,
You owe it to yourself,
To have the Beauchamp history
Upon your library shelf.
And with the Beauchamp data,
You have the Bushongs, too,
For Jean Beauchamp and John Bushong
Were one. They were not two.
For Jean & wife came here from France,
In Seventeen Thirty One,
And settled in Pennsylvania where
A great race was begun.
From there they migrated west & south
Many to Virginia came,
And now wherever you may go,
You meet folks of this name.
Some call this name this way- Bo Champ
The French call it Bu-schong,
And so to keep it called that way,
They now spell it B-U-S-H-O-N-G
|
| My mother was a Bushong,
Eldest daughter of Henry,
Who lived near Woodstock, Virginia,
Just twenty miles away.
These two are gone, but of them both
I very often think:
Much more as the years go by,
And we near Eternity's Brink.
So that this name be ne'er forgot
I search in every nook.
For births, and deaths, and marriage dates,
For in my Bushong Book.
Do you have any "Bushong Lore?"
Then rush it on to me--
So from your name a branch may grow
Upon the Beauchamp-Bushong Tree.
The End |
|
A big original source in
Mrs. Wickes' genealogy. |
How could anyone compete with poetry?
June 15, 2017
York County Tavern Owner
Bushong or Bosang?!?
From the internet, there is a comment about the identification of the engraving of the Bushong Tavern's view, mentioned in an article, below. It had been identified as a tavern belonging to Lt. John Bushong, husband of Elizabeth Sprenkel....
 Was John Bushong or John Bosang the York County Tavern Owner? | |
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- John Bushong from York County, PA and Shenandoah County, VA was a blacksmith and farmer...(not a tavern owner)
- There is NO oral history handed down through the Virginia Bushongs who knew their history with John and Elizabeth and for which Edward Mark Bushong shared. ....if the family had a tavern owner in the family it would have been claimed.
- Bosang family were the tavern owners for several generations and that this license in York belong to the Bosang family
Internet comment
| |
Further, there are many missing pieces for Bosang. For instance, if John Bosang's father died in Virginia? In 1777? Wasn't son John Bosang in Virginia to take over his father's affairs? In 1776? Long before the illustration? Our Lt. John Bushong was still in York County, though. And while we're at it, how old was John Bosang in 1775? No one seems to know when or where he was born, with dates ranging from 1754 to 1770. Is there any proof of John Bosang's age in 1775? The oldest estimate puts him just at age 21 in 1775. So assuming it could be proven he was in York County in 1775, the oldest he would be was 21? Regardless, there were the three John Bushongs who are actually proven to be in York County. They're ages, 19, 21, and 43. And a simple observation, young men of the ages 19 to 21 rarely start or buy their own bars (taverns) but they are often in them. Logically this leaves the eldest, the 43 year-old John Bushong as the most likely tavern owner.
Nevertheless, let's examine their "evidence" such as it is, starting with Lt. John Bushong's stated occupation as a blacksmith. I think we all could agree that changing occupations, during one's life often happens. John's first cousin, in the Kentucky Branch, Andrew Bushong was at one time, a cooper, but he sure did a lot of other things, too, explorer, farmer and land speculator. And personally, I can't think of anyone who could be more motivated to branch out and find an easier occupation than a middle-aged blacksmith, our John Bushong.
On top of that, a Tavern was a "Public House" and a center for meetings, which was extremely important, leading up to the American Revolution. Because in Colonial America, the tavern owners, often filled leadership rolls in their communities. It was after all, in their taverns where the very discussions occurred that brought American's together, to fight for a new nation. And logically, young men 19 or 21 years old simply don't have the money to buy one, nor would they have the gravitates to manage a "Pub". But our John Bushong would not only have had time to acquire the money to purchase a Tavern, but he would also have the experience and leadership skills needed to run one. Such a man would also have had the gravitates to become an officer in the York County Militia, because they sure didn't make just anyone a Lieutenant.
Next, cited as evidence we have a real doozy... (there is) "no oral history handed down through the Virginia Bushongs who knew their history" "....if the (Bushong) family had a tavern owner in the family it would have been claimed." I only hope everyone can fully grasp the irony in this statement. They knew their history? These are the very same "Virginia Bushongs", who forgot all of their heritage! They were the ones running around claiming they were French and Beauchamps a hundred years ago. They're the ones who renamed Hans' youngest son "Pierre Beauchamp"! And didn't someone, attached to the same Virginia Bushongs, also try and say Bosangs were Bushongs? After all of that, if they had any oral history at all, who would believe them? However, more specifically to the point, just because the family didn't remember a tavern keeper, doesn't mean there wasn't one, after all, they couldn't even remember their family name or that John was a son of German immigrants, so this seems a small thing to have forgotten. And ultimately, history forgotten is not proof of anything at all.
And lastly it was claimed that the Tavern License in York County was John Bosang's. Where is any proof?
Otherwise, for this, I think we all can agree, the proof is the original York County officials who issued the license and the transcriptions by the author, John R. McGrew, in his book Indexing Pennsylvania's Tavern Owners. They all said it was John Boshong and not John Bosang. Incidentally, in 1763 John sold some York County land and according to a transcription, he also used the exact same spelling when he signed the bond, "John Boshong" And the final confirmation is this delightful drawing, where the artist James Trenchard, carefully identified the tavern owners name, "Bushong". The artist was the last eye-witness, and there can be no doubt he would have checked the spelling! Which pretty well settles it.
And as far as the Bosang's Virginian Tavern ownership? Nobody cares. They're Bosangs! They're a completely different family to the Bushong! The Bosang may have a tradition of owning taverns, but it has nothing to do with Lt. John Bushong, who, according to the tavern license, had a tavern in 1775 in York County, when he was around 43 years old. Obviously, when he later to moved to his Virginia farm, the tavern was closed or sold.
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- Two period sources give the Tavern owner's name as Bushong or Boshong, never Bosang.
- John spelled his name "Boshong", in 1763 same as 1775.
- In 1775, Bosang was too young to own a Tavern.
- John Bosang is not proven in York County, Pennsylvania
- Tavern ownership, provided skills and proves the community stature John Bushong needed, to become an officer.
- Lt. John Bushong was a York County Tavern owner and a blacksmith.
|
It's simple, and after all, there can be only one truth in Bushong genealogy....
For those who accept this evidence, that this fine illustration is the view from Lt. John Bushong's Tavern, they get an excellent piece of Colonial Bushong Heritage for their trees and family history. Those that don't? They don't get to use it. But possibly more of a loss is they don't get to visualize their ancestor plying a different trade other than blacksmith. They're unable to accept their ancestor performed the unique leadership roll of Colonial Tavern Owner, which was surely a stepping stone to the Lieutenant's rank he later earned.
Rick
June 14, 2017
Lt. John Bushong's
York County Pennsylvania Tavern
The Oldest Bushong Illustration
Click to enlarge (larger available).
Titled: View from Bushong's Tavern 5 miles from York Town on the Baltimore Road
By James Trenchard, published Colonial Magazine 1788
Image compliments of John Brown Carter University, see original here.
In the Bushong Bulletin, I spotted a listing for a Tavern License in 1775 in York Township, for John Boshong. Source: Index of Tavern Licenses allowed by York County, Pennsylvania: 1749-1806 Compiled by John R. McGrew [Special Publication No. 48] York PA: South Central Genealogical Society, 1992, page 8. As found in the Bushong Bulletin, Winter 1992, page 65.
Then when I recalled seeing the above engraving, I knew I could identify which Bushong it was and who had the Tavern...
There were two brothers with families consisting of a couple of dozen Bushongs living in York County until sometime before 1775 when Jacob left. Following his service in the Pennsylvania Militia, John also moved to Virginia. So looking in the Bushong United Tree, in 1775, there are three John Bushongs, living in York County who were old enough or close to old enough, and that is John Bushong (V), 1732-1808, husband of Elizabeth Sprenkel and his sons, John Jacob Bushong, 1754-1830, husband to Eva Catherine Bossert and John 1756-bef 1796, husband of Elizabeth Wendel. In 1775, one son would be close 21 years old and the other, age 19. So their father at age 43 was inevitably the tavern owner in 1775.
In 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, John served as a Lieutenant in the York County Militia, and according to military tradition, he would retain the right to be called by his rank or, Lt. John Bushong. In the period that he lived, there was no photography so there can be no photographs and there are likely no illustrations either, so we can't see John or his "likeness". But with this drawing, we can see what John saw. This was Lt. John Bushong's view from his tavern. And what we can see is his community, on a peaceful countryside, with a settlement of log cabins, each with neatly fenced landscapes all fully cultivated. York County certainly looked idyllic.
BUSHONG LINEAGE: John Bushong (V) and Elizabeth Sprenkel/ Hans John Bushong (IV) and Barbara Bushong (the immigrants)/ Hanss John Boschung (III) and Anna Maria Boschung of Switzerland, (immigrated before 1719)/ Hans Boschung (II) and Anna Stocker/ Hans Boschung (I) and Anna Anneler/ Michael Studer-Boschung and Dichti Jaggi.
This American engraving is from The Columbian Magazine which was published in 1788, but the actual illustration was likely made prior to John Bushong moving to Virginia which was between 1780 and 1782. Nevertheless, the license and illustration are both credibly identified. The license transcription by the author, John R. McGrew, and in the illustration, by the artist, James Trenchard. And viewing Mr. Trenchard's work, it shows a distinct talent for detail, so he surely spelled the name correctly, at least in his sketch. It was Bushong's Tavern and Lt. John Bushong who had the York County Tavern License. And that makes this illustration, the oldest art, ever associated with the Bushong family. There is a larger scan available through the above link.
You may not be able to see John, but you can see what he saw...
Rick
June 7 2017
Updated June 24 2017: Artist identified, also better and larger scan.
The German Hans John Bushong
And the Letter of Lore
The Making of a Mythical Ancestor
With the Pennsylvanian Governor's proclamation, of John Bushong's German heritage (published a few days back), there is no doubt about "Old German" Hans John Bushong, 1692-1749, the man who immigrated in 1731. We always knew he was real and existed since his family tree had grown into the thousands, proving it. However through the years, as memories faded, so did his German heritage. Bits and pieces were mistakenly added until he became virtually unrecognizable. This has all been discussed, before, but the changes began over 170 years ago when he was first called a French Huguenot, then he was Jean Beauchamp, then he was from Strasbourg, France. In all this mythology, some had even promoted this old German farmer all the way to a French Count..Count Beauchamp! Inevitably his wife, Barbara got the treatment. She wasn't just Barbara, she became Barbara Foltz de Hagenau. As the myth progressed, even Hans' youngest son, Jacob, who was born in 1735 in East Lampeter Twp, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania had "Pierre" tacked onto his real name, Jacob Bushong.
It's funny, I've always found in genealogy, as in life, when a wrong turn is taken, you usually don't get to where you were going. So is it any wonder the European Bushong genealogy never advanced?
And since then, these myths have been accepted, and repeated hundreds if not thousands of times. I think the blame can fall squarely on Professor Rupp's original mistake, because everyone afterwards just repeated or embellished it. But how did it originally happen? How did Rupp make such a mistake?
I have a theory, which I've mentioned before, and the more I think about it, the more likely it seems. It's based on the old Bushong Family Lore about a letter that someone had once seen that said Hans had to spend seven years in France, prior to his arrival in Philadelphia. What if it's true? Then what if someone jotted a noted on one of the many passenger lists, saying of Hans Boschung that he was "from France" it would be true too. However, I think Mr. Rupp misinterpreted an annotation to mean he was French instead of a German immigrant, who happened to spend some time in France.
Thankfully, Professor Rupp did not repeat the mistake, and in 1875, in his 30,000 Names book, there's no mention of Hans Boschung's nationality. Yet there is something different for Rupp's listing of the Boschungs. At the end of the various lists of the Britania's passengers, Rupp included Hans' family and their ages. It was just added with no explanation, at the end of the (males) Under Sixteen List....
From what I can tell Professor Rupp only did that one other place in the book, three ship arrivals after the Britania, (in 1732, Ship Samuel for Johann Sebald Kremer and family). Rupp got the Boschung's ages from the other passenger lists that were not used in his book. Want to read them? For Dr. William H. Egle's book, Names of foreigners who took the oath of allegiance to the province and state of Pennsylvania, 1727-1775, with the foreign arrivals, 1786-1808 click here, (opens in new tab). They list the ages for many of the arriving passengers, including those on the Britania, but Professor Rupp, noted only "--Hans Boschung 39 years old, Barbara Boschung 37, Hans Philip Boschung 9, Anna Barbara Boschung 6, Christianna Boschung 3." So why would he do that? I think that it's possible he had remembered in his book 31 years earlier, John had been determined to be "from France"? So he checked an alternate list. We don't know or not if there was anything about France on that list. But regardless, it shows he was checking. He couldn't find the evidence, and didn't mention France. Then perhaps, while the list was in front of him he made note of their ages in his book.
So it must be considered, that Rupp got the France idea from someplace, and that leaves us with the possibility that as family lore says, they did live in France. That there was an old letter and Hans Boschung and family may have lived in France for seven years, too. Seven years back from the 1731 arrival, puts it at 1724. If that's true, then Hans' and Barbara's daughters, Anna Barbara and Christianna may have been born in France. According to the Null family genealogy, Anna Barbara Bushong's husband Philip Null was born in Alsace, Lorraine, France. That would lend credence to Anna Barbara having been born and initially raised in France.
Where in France? We can't say. It could be the Strasbourg area, per the "Wickes-Myth". But remember there's no actual proof a Boschung was ever in Strasbourg, and it's just as likely to be any other place, in France too. This also means that older daughter Mary Magdalene and son Hans Philip were born in Germany, possibly in the Trippstadt area, the same as Nicholas' children. Which brings up the question, why would Hans move to France, while Nicholas, his inevitable brother, stayed in Germany? But regardless of how long John stayed in France, he was still German, and he retained his language, customs and traditions. But those would probably be of the German-Swiss variety of his parents.
Hopefully in the future, you can get a good chuckle when you see someone's Bushong Tree, or a book that leads back to France or French Beauchamps, or perhaps Barbara Foltz de Hagenau. Because you know it's wrong and it shows they did zero genealogy on their own. They just copied a bunch of myths which makes it mythology not genealogy. But on the other hand, if it's your tree? Don't be embarrassed, just fix it.
Now if we could only find that letter of Bushong Family Lore...
Rick
June 7 2017
John Bushung 1739 Naturalization
Subject of the Emperor of Germany
In Ben Franklin's 1742 Book
The Charters of the Province of Pennsylvania and City of Philadelphia
and a Collection of Laws of Pennsylvania
Printed and Sold by B Franklin MDCCXLII (1742)
To read the entire book. click here, (off-site opens in a new tab).
It's always amazing what can be found in the Bushong United Tree. This Colonial Act, discussed below, has been in the tree in Hans' notes for several years, and before that all the way back to Benjamin Franklin's 1742 book. Yet sometimes just a good read, can shine a different light on things. And this Naturalization Act reveals, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Hans John Bushong, was German and not French. Then Mr. Franklin's book, turned up in a search. Seeing and reading his Colonial report, which was at the time, just three years old,
helped with the interpretation of the wordy proclamation and put things into context...
BUSHONG LINEAGE: Hans John Bushong IV and Barbara Bushong/ Hans John Bushong (III) and Anna Maria Bushong/ Hans Boschung (II) and Anna Stocker/ Hans Boschung (I) and Anna Anneler/ Michael Studer-Boschung and Dichti Jaggi
An Act For The Better Enabling Divers[sic] Inhabitants Of The Province Of Pensylvania
To Trade And Hold Lands Within The Said Province.
Enacted May 19, 1739 by George Thomas, Esq. Lieutenant Governor, with the Royal Approbation, under the honourable John Penn, Thomas Penn; and Richard Penn, Esqrs; true and absolute Proprietaries and Governors of the Province, of Pennsylvania.
Whereas ...John Bushung....(and other)
Click here or image to read or copy the full proclamation (five pages). Pops-up
Whereas ...John Bushung.......(and other) Inhabitants of the county of Lancaster, being of the Protestant or Reformed religion and subjects of the Emperor of Germany... ...and other princes now in amity with the King of Great Britian, having transported themselves with their families and effects
into this province, and being desirous to be made partakers of the immunities belonging to the natural-born subjects of
this province, and to be more effectually secured of those privileges and advantages granted by his said late Majesty, King
Charles the Second, to persons coming into this province to settle and inhabit, they having as a testimony of their fidelity
and affection to his present Majesty, King George the Second, and the Crown of Great Britian, taken the qualifications to
his Majesty and government by law appointed and enjoined to be taken, obtained leave to bring in this bill to the present
assembly.
With this document, Hans John Bushong, (1692-1749), the immigrant is proclaimed and certified to be...
- An inhabitant of the county of Lancaster
- Of the Protestant or Reformed religion
- A subject of the Emperor of Germany
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When he was naturalized in 1739, within eight years of his arrival, it was proclaimed, with the British King's Royal Approbation (approval), and by the Lieutenant Governor, George Thomas acting under, John Penn, Thomas Penn, and Richard Penn, the owners and governors of the entire Province of Pennsylvania! He was German! What more could anyone want? A period testament from the governors was the "law of the land" and as such, is incontestable. Then with the King's Approbation, it is simply, above dispute.
Hans John Bushong/Boschung was a German subject. His nationality was always German, and more specifically of German-Swiss heritage, and never French.
Fix your trees!
Rick
June 2 2017
Family Trees, Doc Bushong, and Nicholas' Daughter
Protecting our Heritage From Distortion
In the never ending battle, to keep the Bushong heritage free of myths, as well as historical distortion, some comments and questions have come to my attention. They are just begging to be properly answered. Only with facts, not genealogical gobbly-goop....
"Does anyone have a large family tree for the Bushong's?"
By Jack Bushong Jr. |
Here's the facts: The entire Bushong family, born before 1940 and many born afterwards, have been fully charted into one tree. First published in 2012, this alone created the world's largest Bushong Family Tree. It's true, there are some 50, Bushongs also charted in the tree, with unknown ancestry. But the majority of them are the later arriving German's with a surnames similar to Bushong, or of a French Canadian line, or they are Black Americans descended from slaves. So acknowledging that, the Colonial Bushong Family's genealogy has essentially been tamed.
Perhaps more interesting than identifying so many Bushongs, the results of the charting basically created two branches of the family tree. Later when DNA evidence from multiple Bushong men, from both branches, became available and was compared, it proved that the branches of Hans John Bushong and Johann Nicholas Bushong, as had been suspected, are absolutely related, and they were really just branches in the same tree. One giant Colonial Bushong Family Tree. To read the full article, proving Nicholas and Hans are related, click here
Then in May of 2015, the circle back to the Bushong's German homeland was completed. Because German church records, for Nicholas Boschung's and his wife Anna Magdalena Schaffner's marriage and their children, including Anthony Andrew Bushong were tracked down. That evidence along with numerous listings of wills and tombstones in German, forever proved their nationality, which is German or German Swiss.
Possibly it needs to be mentioned, that even though the Boschungs are German Swiss and the German Swiss are predominately of Germanic heritage, genealogy can't establish their ethnic origins. That said, through DNA, there are some indications, that the Bushong/Boschung ancestry is from a non-Germanic population, which means they were adopted into the mostly Germanic community.
But regardless, with the charting advances in the Bushong United Tree, as well as advances to the entire breadth of Bushong/Boschung genealogy, we have absolute and irrefutable evidence of their lineage and nationality, back to Germany. The Bushong genealogy has evolved! So why doesn't everyone know this? Or are they completely oblivious to it? Incidentally, Jack also wondered... how many Bushongs are there?
And Google says... the Bushong United Website (this site), has the answer for that too, or if you'd like to read it now, click here.
"Bushong, Kansas ...was named after the great baseball player, A.J. Bushong" "...is Doc Bushong part of our tree"?
By Lois Bushong
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• No.... It is part of the John tree.
• The area of Bushong KS was settled by the Quakers BEFORE the Civil War and when the railroad went there,
• it became a smuggling point from the East to the West for the Underground Railroad.
• Some of the ancestors of the baseball player were part of that railroad.
Internet comment |
The questioner had it right, it was named after Doc Bushong. The comments that followed are inaccurate however. If the tree is studied, virtually the entire American Bushong population descend from a John. And though it's true there were Quakers noted in Kansas in the 1850s, they weren't in the Bushong family. In fact, the first references to Bushongs living in Kansas are in April 28, 1869 when Henry Bushong and his wife Nancy Saviors Bushong, lost and buried their eleven year old son, Willie. Their family is also listed in Kansas for the 1870 Census, as would be expected. However, they were in Johnson County, not Lyon County, where the town of Bushong was eventually located. Further, though there were Pennsylvanian Quaker Bushongs, as well as one other, non-Quaker Bushon[sic] family (from Ohio), who are documented as part of the "Underground Railroad" this Kansas branch was never associated with either Quakers, or with helping slaves escape from bondage. Neither was Albert John "Doc" Bushong who is not descended from Quakers, nor anyone associated with the Underground Railroad. But their cousins were.
It's a fact, Lyon County had its first homesteads in 1854, when territorial Kansas was officially opened for white settlement. However, the railroad arrived in 1886, after the Civil War, when the Missouri Pacific Railroad finished laying its tracks. That's when Bushong, Kansas, began and it was a "whistle-stop" station, on a farm with no town. It was first named Weeks after Joseph Weeks, who owned the farmland. Weeks donated the land to the railroad, in anticipation of the new town the railroad would bring. Then was able to subdivided more of his property and sold lots. This is all discussed on page 141, of the History of Emporia and Lyon County, Kansas, published in 1929 by Laura M. French, as well as other sources.
The town was indeed renamed after Doc Bushong, like several other whistle-stops, named after players on the 1886 Champion Brooklyn, Bridegrooms. For instance, named after the Brooklyn Bridegrooms' team captain and first baseman, Charles Comiskey, was the town of Comiskey, Kansas. Though it is now gone, Comiskey was just over the county line, six and a half miles away from the town of Bushong. (Source: St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 23, 1886). If you'd like to read more about Doc Bushong, on Bushong United Website, click here.
Then again, the answer to Lois' question, "...is he part of our line?" ...can only come from someone who has or has access to, a family tree. Remember the Bushong United Tree? Look ....
DOC BUSHONG's LINEAGE: Albert John Bushong/Charles Augustus Bushong and Margaret Moore/ Andrew Bushong and Sarah Steinmetz/ Jacob Bushong and Anna Elizabeth Rutter/ Hans Philip Bushong and Anna Eva Hergard/ Hans John Bushong (IV) and Barbara Bushong (the immigrants)/ Hanss John Boschung (III) and Anna Maria Boschung of Switzerland, (immigrated before 1719)/ Hans Boschung (II) and Anna Stocker/ Hans Boschung (I) and Anna Anneler/ Michael Studer-Boschung and Dichti Jaggi..
Doc is without a doubt, a part of our line, and Lois is a 5th cousin 4X removed from Albert John Bushong "Doc Bushong". And for Jack, from above, who just wanted a tree to see, the Bushong United Tree shows he's a 4th cousin 4X removed from Albert John Bushong "Doc Bushong".
Here's Lois' grandfather's BUSHONG LINEAGE: Don Burris Bushong and Atlanta Simpkin/ John Edward Bushong and Turia Emily Clapsaddle/ James M. Bushong and Lucinda Hatcher/ name not stated and Delilah Bushong/ James Bushong and Nancy L. McCreary/ John Bushong Sr. and Jennette Summers Young/ Anthony Andrew Bushong and Catherine Bushong/ Johann Nicholas Bushong and Anna Magdalena Schaffner/ Hans John Bushong (III) and Anna Maria Bushong/ Hans Boschung (II) and Anna Stocker/ Hans Boschung (I) and Anna Anneler/ Michael Studer-Boschung and Dichti Jaggi
Here's Jack's grandfather's BUSHONG LINEAGE: Donald Virgil Bushong and Mary Elizabeth Hotchkin/ George Earnest Bushong and Lula Belle Clark/ Jacob Delos Bushong and Ella Ellen Upp/ Andrew Bushong and Mary Hisey/ Jacob Bushong and Hannah Louise Keller/ John Bushong V and Elizabeth Sprenkel/ Hans John Bushong IV and Barbara Bushong/ Hans John Bushong (III) and Anna Maria Bushong/ Hans Boschung (II) and Anna Stocker/ Hans Boschung (I) and Anna Anneler/ Michael Studer-Boschung and Dichti Jaggi
Correction always welcome.
To search the Bushong United Tree, click here, (opens in a new tab).
Note: in the online tree, living Bushong's names and details don't show for those born after 1930.
Is Eva Bushong Schwartz a daughter of Nicholas or Hans?
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| • ...there is no evidence that Nicholas Bushong ever lived there (in York county)
• I stick with what I think. That this (Christina) is Eva, the daughter of the 1731 immigrants John and Barbara Bushong
• Who lived in Berk County where she (Eva Schwartz) died? Not Nicholas as he never existed anywhere!
Internet comment |
It's a fact that there is no evidence Nicholas lived in Berks County, nor is there evidence that he lived in York County, Pennsylvania, where Eva and Michael's five children were born. Daughters will often move with their husbands away from their families and besides, her parents had died years before. And even though her father never lived in York County, a lot of other Bushongs did. In fact, two of Eva's first cousins, who were sons of Hans John and Barbara Bushong were living in York County, probably before Eva moved there. It was in 1753 when the two brothers were married, in York County, and they eventually raised large families there.
John Bushong (V), husband of Elizabeth Sprenkel, being one of them. John and his wife Elizabeth, also from York County, had ten children, all in the county, between the years of 1754 and 1777. Then during the American Revolutionary War John served as a 1st Lt. in the 3rd Battalion, of the York County Militia. Also, Hans and Barbara's youngest son, Jacob, married Julianna Weigel Aug 14 1753, in York County. Before they moved to Augusta County, Virginia, they had nine daughters, all in York County.
Perhaps it should be mentioned that, like his father, Jacob has been saddled, with faux "French Ancestry". Even though he was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Many of his descendants, claim his name was Pierre Jacob and others call him Jacob Delos Bushong. But these flourishes, added over the years, were made without sources or proof. They should be dropped, until proof is found. It can only be imagined where Delos came from, though with Pierre, since Jacob's family was German then his name would actually be spelled and pronounced Peter in their native German tongue, same as in English. If true, his name would really be Peter Jacob Bushong, yet to date, there is not one scrap of paper with any other name associated with him but Jacob Bushong.
Nevertheless, with Eva's two cousins, and their flocks of children, she had lots of Bushong family nearby. Actually, throughout her years in York County, well over twenty Bushongs were living there. It's uncertain if Eva ever lived in Berks County, but after her death, Michael apparently did, since his children from his second marriage were born there. But as for Nicholas Bushong? Following his 1732 Philadelphia arrival, no one has ever thought he lived anywhere in Pennsylvania but Lancaster County.
But since evidence is important, where is the evidence that Han's only daughter, Christina, whose fate is unknown, was ever associated with the name of "Eva"? There isn't any. Then, what about in 1763, when Michael Schwartz and Eva Bushong's second daughter, Anna Elizabeth was, baptized? One of the sponsors was Johann George Buschung who was called Eva's brother. Is there any evidence suggesting, Hans and Barbara had a son named George?
On the other hand, there is ample evidence and documentation of an Eva arriving in 1732, with Johann Nicholas Boschung and his wife Magdalena (Schaffner) Boschung, on the Pink "John and William". She's listed on the passenger manifest as Eve. If that isn't enough, before that, Eva has been traced all the way back to her baptism, listed in the Waldfischbach, Germany Church records. They list Eva Elizabeth, who was born March 9, 1724, in the nearby town of Schmalenberg, as the daughter of Nicholas Buschong and Magdalena . This is real evidence that can't be denied.
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• Eva is a proven daughter of Nicholas and Magdalena
• Bushong and Schwartz families both lived in York County during the same period
• There is no proof Christina was ever named Eva
• Eva Schwartz was Nicholas Bushong's daughter |
So, like your immediate family, doesn't the Bushong Family Heritage deserve your commitment and protection from distortion?
Don't allow it to be diminished with nonsense, fallacies, and genealogical gobbly-goop!
Rick
May 24, 2017
Eva Bushong's Husband
The 1786 Estate of Michael Schwartz
Tulpehocken, Berks County, Pennsylvania
The Michael Schwartz 1786 Bond
click to enlarge
Eva Elizabeth Bushong, the youngest daughter of Johann Nicholas Bushong and Anna Magdalena Schaffner was born in Germany in 1724. Only eight years old, she survived the horrible ordeal on the Pink "John and William" voyage and arrived in Philadelphia with her family in 1732. She married in about 1757, Johannes Michael Schwartz and they are known to have had five children. Sadly, Eva died sometime before 1792 and Michael remarried.
These are the probate/estate papers for Michael Schwartz, who passed away in 1786 in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Michael left no will, and his estate was appraised and divided between his second wife, Susannah Lora Schwartz and his surviving six children.
Now, these papers, from FamilySearch.org, have been made available here for genealogists, and researchers to study, giving us a small window into the lives of our distant Bushong ancestors. The appraisal of his household ..."the Goods, and Chattles, Rights and Credits"... all his worldly goods, reveals a lot about Michael and Eva, and life in general for early Pennsylvania immigrants.
Rick
April 27, 2017
Elizabeth White Bushong
1912 Obituary
Wife of William Davis Bushong
I recently came across this Bushong obituary, and I had not seen it before. From 1912, it's for Elizabeth White Bushong, (1835-1912) the wife of William Davis Bushong. I have transcribed it below...
Click to enlarge.
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Death's Sad Harvest
Elizabeth White Bushong
Mrs. Elizabeth White Bushong, the venerable mother of Dr. P. W. Bushong, Dee Bushong, and the widow of the late W. D. Bushong, died at her home four miles south of Summer Shade, on the night of the 6th inst. after quite a long period of feeble health, aged 76 years. She leaves five sons and two daughters to mourn her departure. In addition to the two sons named above are Prof. J. T. Bushong of Plant City, Fla., G. T. Bushong of Waynetown, Ind., and S. J. Bushong of Mud Lick, Ky., Mrs. James Moore of Mud Lick and Mrs. W. S. Whitley with whom she was living at the time of death. She was a lady that was very much beloved, and possessed many excellent traits of mind and heart, a loving wife and mother and a kind neighbor. She was a devout member of the Christian Church. She had the distinction of being the only lady in Metcalfe County who was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, having received membership as a lineal descendent of a revolutionary soldier. On Wednesday, the 8th, after services conducted by Eld. Jimmie D. Smith and in the presence of a large congregation of sorrowing relatives and friends, her remains were laid to rest in the White grave yard near Sulphur Lick.
The Edmonton News
Edmonton
Metcalfe County, Kentucky
Thursday May 16, 1912
BUSHONG LINEAGE: Elizabeth White, wife of William Davis Bushong/ George Washington Bushong and Nancy Parker/ George Bushong and Martha Davis/ Anthony Andrew Bushong and Catherine Bushong/ Johann Nicholas Bushong and Anna Magdalena Schaffner/ Hans John Bushong (III) and Anna Maria Bushong/ Hans Boschung (II) and Anna Stocker/ Hans Boschung (I) and Anna Anneler/ Michael Studer-Boschung and Dichti Jaggi
 Elizabeth White Bushong's funerary record on FindaGrave | |
Elizabeth's DAR membership, that is mentioned, was undoubtedly for her paternal grandfather, Thomas White, (1758-1835), who according to his tombstone, served in the Revolutionary War, as a personal cook for General Francis Marion. General Marion, from Berkeley County, South Carolina, was also known as the "Swamp Fox".
Rick
April 8, 2017
Isaac Milton Bushong
A Civil War Veteran...
On His Last Leg
Breaks Wooden Leg
fell last week and broke his wooden leg. Unused to getting about without the 'peg'
he fell last night and broke his real leg."
Lima News
Lima, Allen County, Ohio
Aug 17, 1915
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This clipping says a lot, with just a few words. I looked in the Bushong United Tree to see who this "I. M. Bushong" was. He turned out to be Isaac Milton Bushong a great great grandson of Andrew Bushong the progenitor of the Bushong's Pioneering Kentucky Branch. Isaac, (1849-1931) was born in Logan County, Ohio, to Jacob Bushong and Rebecca Everingham. Jacob and Rebecca eventually had seven children, two girls and five boys. Unfortunately towards the end of 1855, Jacob died at age 33, leaving six children ages two to eleven, and Rebecca expecting (a daughter). But life went on, and in 1861, six years after Jacob's death, Rebecca remarried a James Dowell.
During the American Civil War, Rebecca's three oldest sons, did their patriotic duty and answered their country's call, by joining the Army. Their oldest son, was William H. Bushong who enlisted when he was 18. William, may be recalled, was the subject of an earlier article, about his participation in "the Last Great Stoneman Raid". Read it here. Next, John D. Bushong, at age 17, enlisted in August, 1864 (the month before Isaac). but sadly died, from disease, February 12, 1865 in Louisville, Kentucky.
On September 1, 1864, Isaac followed his brothers into the Union Army, enlisting with John in Company B, of the 174th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry. At the time, of enlistment, he was just fifteen and a half years old!. But what about the leg? The Civil War was notorious for limb amputations, and they were caused by the trauma from the large caliber musket and rifle balls, as well as cannon balls. So seeing a veteran with one leg it would seem a safe assumption, that it happened in the war. As if, for a 15 or 16 year old boy, being in the war wasn't bad enough, to have to go through, such a horrifying thing, having his leg shot off? But as I looked through the sources, I could find no pension claim or record for this Isaac and his leg. Realizing he'd been discharged on June 28 1865 with the rest of the Regiment, (serving 9 months 28 days), meant there was no medical discharge. And when he was listed for the 1890 Veteran's Census, there were no service related injuries mentioned, I began to wonder if he was the correct I. M. Bushong.
Still, after going through the sources again, it could only have been our Isaac. So it looked like his leg was "lost" after the Civil War. Then when Isaac's obituary was found, it explained what had happened. "A few years after the war, his right foot was crushed while driving a horse to a thrashing machine." It may not have been the noble sacrifice of loosing a leg in the war, but nevertheless, he lost his leg (or foot). After breaking his last leg, Isaac recovered and lived another 16 years, dying at the age of 82, the last Civil War veteran in Perry Township, Ohio.
BUSHONG LINEAGE: Isaac Milton Bushong /Jacob Bushong and Rebecca Everingham /James Bushong and Nancy McCreary/ John Bushong and Jenette Young Summers/ Anthony Andrew Bushong and Catherine Bushong/ Johann Nicholas Bushong and Anna Magdalena Schaffner (the immigrants)/ Hanss John Boschung (III) and Anna Maria Boschung of Switzerland, (immigrated before 1719)/ Hans Boschung (II) and Anna Stocker/ Hans Boschung (I) and Anna Anneler/ Michael Studer-Boschung and Dichti Jaggi.
Isaac Milton Bushong's Funerary Record on FindaGrave. in the East Liberty Cemetery, East Liberty, Logan County, Ohio
It sure makes the phrase "on your last leg" that much more meaningful!
Rick
March 25, 2017
From Grandfather's Album
The Strobel Airship
in the Golden Age of Airships
One of the things that's so enjoyable about genealogy, is learning about the past. To be more precise, the past and history that our ancestors experienced. Our desire to better understand them, makes it easy to learn about these things that were a part of their lives. When you consider it, there's so much that we would never have known or discovered, if it hadn't been for studying them. And in the final tally it enrichens us. So when it involves our ancestors and their families, there's no detail too small and hardly an event so fleeting that we wouldn't want to know more. And that's why these two strange photographs of blimps in my grandfather's album caught my attention.
BUSHONG LINEAGE: Benjamin Harrison Bushong/ Joseph H. Bushong and Annie Beardsley/ James Bushong and Drusilla Stout/ George Bushong and Lydia Rush/ John Bushong* and Jenette Young Summers/ Anthony Andrew Bushong and Catherine Bushong/ Johann Nicholas Bushong and Anna Magdalena Schaffner (the immigrants)/ Hanss John Boschung (III) and Anna Maria Boschung of Switzerland, (immigrated before 1719)/ Hans Boschung (II) and Anna Stocker/ Hans Boschung (I) and Anna Anneler/ Michael Studer-Boschung and Dichti Jaggi. (*traditional lineage)
The Strobel Airship in flight around the fairgrounds as the crowds watch. Ben snapped this photo, maybe thinking the blimp was in danger of crashing. |
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My grandfather was Benjamin Harrison Bushong, 1888-1976, and he bought his first camera sometime between 1906-1909. It was a Kodak Box camera and Ben used it quite a bit, afterwards, pasting the resulting small photographs into an album. Several times through the years, when I was young, we looked through the album together. He would recite who was in the pictures, all from memory, since none had captions or were identified. I still remember some of them, too. But these two photos of an airship, I can't recall if he ever explained.
Ben moved to St. Marys, Auglaize County, Ohio in November 1909 so the photos were probably taken in 1910 (before he was married). Upon first examination, some writing could be seen, on the airship's tail (rudder), however it was difficult to see and it couldn't be made out. But after enlarging a scan of the photos, I realized, the prints were actually printed backwards. The photo lab had inadvertently flipped the negatives when they made the pictures! Since 1910, for my grandfather, and for me all my life, the photographs had always been backwards. Once the scans were reversed, it was possible to read enough to figure out the mystery. The blimp was called the "Strobel Airship".
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An internet search revealed quite a bit of information and that there were actually several of Strobel's airships. With a little more study it became apparent that the Strobel blimp and the show my grandfather had seen and carefully recorded with his Kodak, were in fact, part of the “Golden Age of Airships”.
Though powered-lighter-than-air blimps had been flown since 1852, the "Golden Age" is said to have begun in 1900. This was when Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin launched his Luftschiff Zeppelin Number 1 in southern Bavaria. From the beginning, Zeppelin's airships captured the world's imagination, and they looked to hold the future for air-travel, even though just three years later, the Wright brothers, flew the first airplane. However, the brother's heavier-than-air machine wasn't ready for sustained flight and was still being tested. It wouldn't be until 1908 that the brother's plane would begin exhibition flights. With no competition, the blimps ruled the skies and imaginations of the people. It was the beginning of aviation history, and the airships were a true modern marvel, as was expected for the beginning of the Twentieth Century.
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 Surrounded by fairgoers, the Strobel blimp takes off. The pilot is partly visible (when enlarged), closer to the rudder in the rear. The propeller is just a blur and the front of the frame, is beginning to lift off. |
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For over a decade, the public's fascination with airships and their daredevil pilots continued. They were big attractions that were raced and exhibited all over. During this period, they could be seen flying across the United States, and Canada and Mexico as well. However once the Wright brothers began exhibiting their airplane in 1908, the end was in sight. Within a year, the crowds were disappearing, drawn to the new marvel. A little after the turn of the new decade, blimps were seldom seen, being old news. It's just as well too, as they were truly a hazard, with over 7500 cubic feet of highly explosive hydrogen gas, contained only by a thin cloth envelope.
Strobel's airships were built at Toledo, Ohio, by Charles S. Strobel's company. They were made of specially woven Japanese silk, that was then painted with eight coats of a linseed varnish. Shaped like a big cigar, the airships measured 54 feet long and 15 feet in diameter. To fly them, they were inflated with, as mentioned, about 7,500 cubic feet of hydrogen gas. Attached to the balloon, suspended with a series of lines, was a triangular wooden frame. The pilot or "Aeronaut" as they were called, sat on a small saddle on the frame. Below, toward the front of the frame, was a seven-horse power air-cooled gasoline engine, which turned a two blade propeller in front.
There was no instrumentation, and the controls were simple, with a large rudder at the back for turning. However, for ascending and descending, the ship, which was neutrally buoyant, was simply aimed up or down allowing the propeller to pull them. This was accomplished by the Aeronaut moving back and forth on the frame and shifting the balance. Once at the desired elevation, he would move back to center.
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A typical show, started with an aerial bomb's explosion. For the next fifteen minutes the crowds would gather around, admiring the airship and talking to the aeronaut. Then an assistant would start the little gas engine and the pilot moved toward the rear of the craft. As the nose lifted up, the spinning propeller pulled the blimp upwards. Depending on wind, the blimp would ascend to somewhere between 100 and 500 feet, though they could go higher. During a fifteen or so minute flight around the fair grounds, the buzzing and pop-pop sound of the engine could be heard by all the amazed fairgoers on the ground below.
There were, of course, many mishaps and accidents. One in Waterville, Maine, September 2, 1908, with aeronaut, Charles Oliver Jones, had a tragic ending. It happened in front of a crowd of 25,000 people, including his wife and child, when a hole in the blimp leaked and caught fire. Capt. Jones, was unaware, and flew on for several moments. From below, the crowds could see the flames and yelled out to him, but at 500 feet elevation, and with the sound of the engine, he never heard. To everyone's horror, the blimp went down in a fiery crash, and the aeronaut was crushed beneath the blimp's suspended frame.
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Captain Parker (white shirt) standing beneath his ship, with, thought to be, crew and backers. The propeller as well as the frame he rode on are in view.
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But other aeronauts were luckier, and perhaps one of the better known was Evan J. Parker, called Professor or Captain Parker. and he had several close calls. Once at an exhibition in Canada, a gust of wind blew his airship into the side of a roller coaster, where it exploded, burning the roller coaster, bleachers and tables. Luckily no one was hurt, including Capt. Parker who survived by hanging onto a post while the blimp and everything around it burned. That same year, at the Boise, Idaho, State Fair, while soaring 100 feet above the ground, one of the lines on the blimp, became entangled in the propeller, which wound the line up tight, pulling on and tearing a twelve foot opening in the blimp. As it was beginning to fall, Captain Parker, climbed up on the frame and gathered up the pieces of the torn blimp, preventing the last of the hydrogen from leaking. Just before the blimp hit the ground, Capt. Parker, calmly stepped off onto earth unhurt. Captain Parker survived other exploits and his pioneering aviation days, ending up working for George Eastman and the Kodak Company, where he retired after 38 years.
It was the beginnings of aviation history and a Bushong was there to record this part of it!
Rick
January 28 2017
A Census Chuckle
Some Surnames Should Just
Fade Away...
I try to keep discussions on Bushong United scholarly, and the subject of our Bushong ancestors deserves it. It imparts a certain dignity to the Bushong surname. However, I'm not sure, this next item can be either scholarly or dignified. At least with these surnames....
Because, the other night, I was scanning the Stark County, Ohio, 1850 Census records, where there are at least a couple of Bushong families. Half asleep, as I was flipping through the digital census pages, when two surnames caught my attention.
As the record reads, it was back on September 9, 1850, a Monday, and the census taker, a Mr. S.G. Biglow came up to dwelling number 234 the 237th family he'd enumerated in the Plain Township, he filled in the blanks on his form. Then he went on to the next dwelling, number 235, and family number 238, and listed them as well. The two families he listed were the "Slutts" and the "Shits". Specifically, Charles Slutts with his wife Mary and next door, the Shits, whose head of household was the Widow Shits, with five total Shits.
The Slutts and the Shits both listed Pennsylvania as their state of birth and living next door to each other, they more than likely associated. In a neighboring township, I found some other Pennsylvanian Slutts and Shitz enumerated in the same household. Then looking through all of Ohio, in 1850, there were a number of Slutts, spelling their name, Slutts, Sluts, Slutz, etc., but there were fewer Shits, with spellings of Shits, Shitz, Schitz, and others. There were also some other Shits with various suffixes attached, of which I will kindly cite only one example "Shithouse".
Now those are some surnames that I'm relieved are not involved with Bushong, because it would sure be hard to maintain a scholarly discussion with them! On the other hand, doesn't it make you appreciate that we have a dignified name like Bushong to research?
It's always fun when you can get a chuckle out of genealogy!
Rick
January 20, 2017
Bushong Heritage For Sale Saved!
John Alexander Bushong of Indiana
Updated
 A sharp eyed Bushong descendant, in an Arizona antique store spotted this wayward piece of Bushong Heritage and was nice enough to email Bushong United a photograph. Thank you! A quick look in the Bushong United Family Tree produced, this, which comes pretty close to solving it...
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Biographical Sketches
Rev. J. A. Bushong
John A, Bushong was born in May in the year, 1828. His earlier Christian life was spent in the Methodist Church. Back in the eighties when Rev. D. O. Darling was pastor of the First Church, Indianapolis, Brother Bushong and his good wife joined our church, and when Brother Darling organized a Second Church, these good people became charter members of the new organization and Brother Bushong was the main financial help of this organization. When it became necessary to move the church to a new location this good man backed the financial part of the work. Once again when the present splendid building was erected, Brother Bushong his good wife, then growing old, found themselves out of money, but they had in their possession twelve lots in the city of Indianapolis, and just four weeks before Sister Bushong stepped into eternity and nearly three years before Reverend Bushong passed away, they deeded to the Brookside Park United Brethren Church in Indianapolis, these twelve lots, now valued at $4,500. This paper cannot in any adequate way express the appreciation of this magnificent gift.
Rev. J. A. Bushong entered White River Conference in 1891, and was ordained in 1894. He dedicated two years to itinerant ministry. Having been a soldier in the Civil War, after the decease of his wife, he spent the last days of his life in the Soldiers' Home at Lafayette, Indiana. He passed on to his crown, July 3, 1914. His remains were laid to rest in the cemetery at Oxford, Indiana.
Source: not noted
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John Alexander Bushong
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With this, John Alexander Bushong is easily identified. Slightly differing from the account, John was actually born March 28, 1828, in Staunton, August County, Virginia. He was a son of Jonathan Bushong and Mary Magdalene Cordry. In 1851, he first married Abigale Ruth Monroe, (1831-1876) and they had at least eight children, all born in Indiana. During the American Civil War, John did not shirk his patriotic duty and he served from 1862 to 1865 in the 99th and 154th Regiments of the Indiana Infantry. In 1878, following Abigale's passing, John married Martha H. Crouse, nee Clark, (1829-1912). There is a period biography (also listed in the tree), about John, published by J. H. Beers & Co. of Chicago, and it relates how John came to Indiana with his parents in 1831. The biography also says he was of French Huguenot descent. So here's another descendant of Hans Philip Bushong and Anna Eva Hergard, spreading the "French ancestry myth", all the way to Indiana. John Alexander Bushong's funerary record on FindaGrave.
BUSHONG LINEAGE: John Alexander Bushong/ Jonathan Bushong and Mary Cordry/ Henry W Bushong and Barbara Lohr/ Hans Philip Bushong and Anna Eva Hergard/ Hans Bushong IV and Barbara Bushong, the immigrants/ Hanss John Boschung (III) and Anna Maria Boschung of Switzerland, (immigrated before 1719)/ Hans Boschung (II) and Anna Stocker/ Hans Boschung (I) and Anna Anneler/ Michael Studer-Boschung and Dichti Jaggi.
What's interesting is, this plaque, with its Indianapolis, Indiana provenance somehow traveled over 1700 miles to Peoria, Arizona! From the photo, it looks to be at least 3 feet tall, and would be fairly heavy. We can only guess how it got there, however several of John's children moved out west, ending up in California, Oregon, and Washington, so maybe one of them brought it? The Bushong Parsonage, was obviously given by Martha, who had died in 1912. Some time in the ensuing years, the house officially passed to the church and they attached the plaque at a dedication in 1920. It would've been six years after John's passing. Then sometime over the next ninety plus years, the pastors stopped living there and the church sold or tore down the home, but no record has been found.
More details about John Alexander Bushong are in the Bushong United Family Tree.
I'm happy to announce the Bushong plaque is back in the Bushong family! Congtatulations Kim Bushong!
Rick
January 20, 2017
Updated March 4, 2017
Bushongs and Their Automobiles
From Grandfather's Album
In Washington-Ohio-Indiana
I come across a lot of Bushong photographs, but these of Bushongs with such old and antique automobiles just stood out. The Bushongs I know always loved their cars! Here are three Bushong's with four very old cars. And though it's not certain if Charles, below, had any grandchildren, the other two did and the photograph of the Cadillac, is right out of my grandfather's photo album....
Manufacture unknown
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Charles Henry Bushong, 1890-1955, son of Ivan Bushong and Lavina Brooks Bushong, was actually born in Canada, yet he's descended from the Pennsylvanian Hans Philip Bushong Branch of the family. This photograph, taken in Seattle, Washington, shows Charles proudly standing next to a very early automobile. Charles H. Bushong's funerary record on FindaGrave.
The car, still with early style bicycle type wheels, is typically called a "Runabout", but the manufacturer hasn't been identified. Notice the partial letter and a "B" peaking out on the front of the radiator, which should be a good clue, however, neither Dodge (Dodge Brothers) cars or Maxwell Briscoe cars, both names ending in a "B", appear to match. If anyone has more information, we'd love to hear it.
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On the right, Benjamin Harrison Bushong, 1888-1976, son of Joseph H. Bushong and Annie Beardsley Bushong, Ben is descended from the Pioneering Kentucky Bushongs and he is also my grandfather. Here he's, driving his cousin, Dr. Charles E. Beardsley's 1905 Cadillac, probably around Ottawa, Putnam County, Ohio. Benjamin H. Bushong's funerary record on FindaGrave.
This was Cadillac's Model F Touring car and this one was equipped with a "side-entrance tonneau", (for easy access to the back seat). Dr. Beardsley's Cadillac also had a convertible top, which had been removed, for an obviously sunny day's drive. Sporting a 1,609 cc engine, Cadillac claimed their car produced somewhere between six and a half to a whopping nine horsepower!
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1905 Cadillac, Model F, Touring Car
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1915 or 1916 Ford Model T | | 
Tentatively identified as a 1920 Chevrolet. |
George Arthur Bushong, 1877-1961, son of Frederick Marion Bushong and Alice E. Stowe Bushong. George, another member of the Pioneering Kentucky Bushong Branch, was born in Indiana and lived in Tippecanoe County, for many years, where these pictures were likely taken. George A. Bushong's funerary record on FindaGrave.
Photograph on the left: George is hand starting an automobile, identified as a 1915–1916 Ford Model T, Touring model, one of the most popular early cars of all time. Photograph on the right, shows George, standing next to a car, that has been tentatively identified as a 1920 Chevrolet.
Any more old car photos - with Bushongs? Send them in!
Rick
January 20 2017
Mother-in-law of George Bushong and John Bushong Jr.
Rosannah Rush Remarries
BUSHONG LINEAGE: George and John (Jr.), sons of John Bushong and Jenette Young Summers/ Anthony Andrew Bushong and Catherine Bushong/ Johann Nicholas Bushong and Anna Magdalena Schaffner (the immigrants)/ Hanss John Boschung (III) and Anna Maria Boschung of Switzerland, (immigrated before 1719)/ Hans Boschung (II) and Anna Stocker/ Hans Boschung (I) and Anna Anneler/ Michael Studer-Boschung and Dichti Jaggi.
In February 1809, George Bushong married Lydia Rush in Ross County, Ohio, however as is typical for these records, her parents weren't noted on the marriage record. But they turned out to be Lewis and Rosannah Rush who also begin to be seen associating with the Ohio Bushong family. In 1809, in Franklin Township, also in Ross County, locals including our George and Lewis Rush are listed in an "estray book" which served as a public bulletin board, at a Higby's Store. There are 1809, entries for both George Bushong, Lewis Rush, as well as John Bushong (Sr.), and later in 1818, Alexander McCrary, (James Bushong's brother-in-law)...
"1803, Jesse Tomlinson, Alexander Argo, Thomas, John, and Lewis Foster, Elijah Lochard, George Johnston, John Nixon; 5805, Joseph Mounts, Edward Dawson; 1806, Daniel McMullin, William McCorkel, James Huff, John (or Jon.) Berry, John Gooden (or Goodin); 5807, Asa Mounts, Eli and Jesse Ragon, Solomon Fevebaugh (elsewhere De Vourbaugh), Mahlon and James Longshore, Robert Graham, William Pittinger; 1808, Thomas Stewart, John Ragon, Abraham Love, William Elarton; 1809, George Corwin, John and George Bishong, Lewis Rush, Enos Moore, Daniel Bower, John Boman; 1811, Isaac Matthews, George Johnston, Jr.; 1812, Thomas Colwell, Allen Nixon, Levi Hodges, Isaac Johnston, Joseph Mathers; 5853, Samuel Phillips, William Summers, Samuel Barney, Robert Hening; Richard Tomlinson, John Heath, Samuel Hibbens, David Lyons, John McMullin; 1815, William Foster, John Wood, Benjamin Phillips, James Miller, James Ransom, William Chinoweth; 1818, Alexander McCrary, Benjamin Summers; 1819, John Mongar, James Cotteral, Thomas Wallace; 1822, Michael Miller, Sebastian Southward; 1825, Joesph Moore, Cornelius Beard; 1826, Lawson Brooks, James Hays, William Anstil, Joshua Parker. [James Critchett is said to have been one of the first settlers on Stony creek.]"
Lewis Rush and Rosannah, (maiden name not known) Rush, have been discussed in the past and were shown to be the parents of Lydia Rush and Eleanor Rush. But so little is known of the this elusive Rush family, that when a new piece of documentation is found, it really can add to our knowledge. After the estray book, Lewis and Rosannah were further associated with the Bushongs, through his 1815 Will, that was actually penned by their future son-in-law, John Bushong (Jr.) and witnessed by himself and his brother, James. Click to view Will And later when their daughter, Elander (Eleanor) married John Bushong Jr. Now we can add a few new details to Rosannah Rush, mother to the sisters, who married the sons of the Kentucky and Ohio pioneers, John Bushong (Sr.), (1760-1825) and Jenette Summers Young, (about 1760-1821).
Rosannah Rush and Benjamin Patrick' 1817, Ross County, Ohio marriage record.
Following Lewis' 1815 death, Rosannah apparently remarried a Benjamin Patrick. But notice the document doesn't give much more than their names, no parents, and ages, so one could ask, if this wasn't really another Rush daughter? And is she even related to Lydia and Eleanor? A first clue, should be that Rosannah's son-in-law, John Bushong (written Bishing) Jr., married them, acting as the J. P. Then a look at the 1820 Census for Franklin Township, quickly answers any questions.
The 1820 Census, for Franklin Township, Ross County, Ohio, (both pages). Line 14: Benjamin Patrick, is living next door to George Bushong and the rest of the Bushong clan.
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Column Headings for 1820 Census
- Free white males under ten years
- Free white males of ten and under sixteen years
- Free white males between sixteen and eighteen
- Free white males of sixteen and under twenty-six, including heads of families
- Free white males of twenty-six and under forty-five, including heads of families
- Free white males of forty-five and upwards, including heads of families
- Free white females under ten years
- Free white females of ten and under sixteen years
- Free white females of sixteen and under twenty-six, including heads of families
- Free white females of twenty-six and under forty-five, including heads of families
- Free white females of forty-five and upwards, including heads of families
- Foreigners not naturalized
- Page number from original census forms
- Engaged in: * = agriculture; ** = commerce; *** = manufacturing.
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In the 1820 Census for Franklin Township, Ross County, Ohio, Benjamin Patrick is living next door to George and the rest of the Bushongs and their daughters. Further Benjamin is listed in the same age column (over 45) as John Bushong Sr., so Benjamin was older than his step sons-in-law. Rosannah's date of birth isn't known, but she was listed in the age 26 to under 45 column, the oldest woman in the household. So if correct, Rosannah would have been born between 1775 and 1794. However with her daughter, Lydia, (born 1788) even 1775 makes her around fourteen years old for her birth. So we can surmise that our Rosannah "fudged" her age or married young.
Rosannah's second husband, Benjamin Patrick, was born 1777, in Connecticut, and died in Delaware County, Ohio in 1843. His funerary record on is on FindaGrave. On Benjamin's mother's FindaGrave memorial, it discusses how he came with his divorced mother and three siblings to Delaware County, Ohio in 1809 and helped found the county.
Rosannah Rush Patrick's place of internment, isn't known. It possibly was the Franklin Township cemetery that is thought to have been moved (and lost), between 1831 and 1832, when construction for the Erie Canal occurred in the township. This would be the same cemetery, where many Bushong and kin are envisioned to have been buried. That includes Catherine Bushong, (Anthony Andrew Bushong's widow), John Bushong and his wife Jenette Young, their son, James Bushong, and possibly even the enigmatic Valentine Bushong. Nevertheless, if she was buried there, then Rosannah would have died before 1831.
Rick
January 8, 2017
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