{{Short description|American businessman (1824–1913)}} {{Infobox person |name= Asahel Bush |image= Asahel Bush 1903.JPG |caption= |birth_date= June 4, 1824 |birth_place= Westfield, Massachusetts |death_date= {{Death-date and age|December 23, 1913|June 4, 1824}} |death_place= Salem, Oregon |occupation= Publisher |spouse= Eugenia Zieber }} '''Asahel Bush''' (June 4, 1824 – December 23, 1913) was an American newspaper publisher and businessman in Salem, Oregon. As publisher of the ''Oregon Statesman'' newspaper, he moved the paper to Salem when the territorial capital moved to that city. A Massachusetts native, Bush became the first official printer for the state of Oregon, and his estate is now a city park.
==Early life== Asahel Bush was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, on June 4, 1824.<ref name=Oregon>Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.</ref> His parents, Asahel Bush Sr. and Sally Noble Bush, were of English descent.<ref name=Oregon/> The younger Asahel attended public school and later Westfield Academy, then at the age of 17 moved to Saratoga Springs, New York, where he became an apprentice printer.<ref name=Oregon/> Bush later worked for a newspaper before studying law.<ref name=Oregon/> He passed the bar in 1850 in Massachusetts, but soon left for the Oregon Territory by the steamship Panama,<ref name="Oregon Spectator, October 3, 1850, page 3">{{cite web|title=Oregon Spectator|url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn84022662/1850-10-03/ed-1/seq-3/|publisher=Oregon Digital Newspapers Project|accessdate=2016-04-16}}</ref> taking the Isthmus of Panama route.<ref name=Oregon/>
==Oregon== Bush arrived in Oregon in late 1850 at Portland and settled in Oregon City.<ref name=Oregon/> Once his printing press arrived, he started the ''Oregon Statesman'' newspaper in March 1851.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title= Barbara Mahoney, Asahel Bush (1824-1913) | website=Oregon Encyclopedia|url=https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/bush_asahel_1824_1913_/#.YU1NXG3MJ-V}}</ref> In 1853, the capital was moved to Salem and Bush moved the newspaper there as well, where it would later become the Salem ''Statesman Journal''.<ref name=Oregon/>
In the middle of the century newspapers were partisan instruments used to further political parties. Bush's use of his paper gave him the nickname of "Bushy Bush" and he often sparred with the rival party's newspaper ''The Oregonian'' edited by Thomas J. Dryer.<ref name=":0" /> Bush quietly disfavored slavery in Oregon. But as an enthusiast for popular sovereignty he supported the right of white male voters to determine the question. He also strongly opposed abolitionists' moralistic and universal opposition to slavery and their support for what he termed "negro equality".<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Labbe|first=James M. |date=2019|title=The Colored Brothers Few Defenders: Oregon Abolitionists and Their Followers|journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly|volume=120|issue=4 |pages=440–465|doi=10.5403/oregonhistq.120.4.0440 |s2cid=213927550 }}</ref> For example, he published articles disparaging the abolitionist Obed Dickinson, a minister at the Salem Congregationalist Church.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Egbert|first=Oliver|date=1991|title=Obed Dickinson and the "Negro Question" in Salem|journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly|volume=920|pages=5–40}}</ref> In one such article, the ''Statesman'' wrote, "The continuation of Mr. Dickinson's anti-slavery and negro sympathy preachings was calculated only to prevent the growth of the church, and retard the spread of religion."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-08|title=Pioneer preacher confronted racism to minister to blacks {{!}} Lifestyles {{!}} tdn.com|url=https://tdn.com/lifestyles/pioneer-preacher-confronted-racism-to-minister-to-blacks/article_a752ba6c-e222-5586-8b74-19053618256f.html|access-date=2021-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508222745/https://tdn.com/lifestyles/pioneer-preacher-confronted-racism-to-minister-to-blacks/article_a752ba6c-e222-5586-8b74-19053618256f.html |archive-date=2021-05-08 }}</ref> Bush supported the 1857 Oregon Constitutional ban on Blacks immigrating to Oregon.<ref name=":1" /> In 1859, Bush became the first official printer for the state of Oregon.<ref name=":0" /> As a Douglas Democrat, he opposed the election of Lincoln but ended up supporting the Union during the American Civil War.<ref name=":0" /> He left the newspaper business in 1863 when he sold the newspaper.<ref name=":0" />
In 1867, Bush along with William S. Ladd founded the Ladd and Bush Bank in Salem.<ref name=":0" /> Ten years later Bush would buy out Ladd and become the sole proprietor of the financial institution.<ref name=":0" /> He remained active in politics and was a member of the state Democratic Party's central committee, including time as the chairperson, and in 1892 was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.<ref name=":0" />
==Later life and family== In 1854, Asahel Bush married Eugenia Zieber of Salem, with whom he would father four children: Sally, Eugenia, Estelle, and Asahel III who would be known as A. N. Bush.<ref name=Oregon/><ref name="soh">[http://www.salemhistory.net/people/asahel_bush.htm Asahel Bush.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230121749/http://www.salemhistory.net/people/asahel_bush.htm |date=2019-12-30 }} Salem Online History. Retrieved on December 1, 2007.</ref> Eugenia was the daughter of one of his printer employees, and she would die at the age of 30 in 1863.<ref name=soh/> Bush served as a trustee of Willamette University and as a regent to the University of Oregon.<ref name=":0" /> Asahel Bush II died on December 23, 1913, at the age of 89 in Salem and was buried at Salem Pioneer Cemetery.<ref name=Oregon/><ref>[http://www.salempioneercemetery.org/records/display_record.php?id=411 Asahel Bush.] Salem Pioneer Cemetery. Retrieved on December 1, 2007.</ref> His estate is now preserved as Bush's Pasture Park and his home, '''Asahel Bush House''', is on the National Register of Historic Places.
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[http://salemart.org/?page_id=152 Bush House Museum, Salem Oregon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224054205/http://salemart.org/?page_id=152 |date=2013-12-24 }} *[http://photos.salemhistory.net/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fbushhouse&CISOSTART=1,141 Images of the Bush House] from Salem Public Library's Oregon Historic Photograph Collections
{{Oregon Pioneer History}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bush, Asahel}} Category:19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Category:1824 births Category:1913 deaths Category:Burials at Salem Pioneer Cemetery Category:Oregon pioneers Category:American newspaper founders Category:People from Westfield, Massachusetts Category:Oregon Democrats Category:Businesspeople from Salem, Oregon Category:Mass media people from Salem, Oregon