Bush, Charles B.

BUSH, BRODHEAD, CANTINE, SNOW, GOSLEE, CALKINS, MERWIN, HITCHCOCK, HEATH, HOFFMAN

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Date: 2/25/2011 at 11:32:25

Biographical History of Cherokee County, Iowa. Published in Chicago, W.S. Dunbar, 1889

CHARLES B. BUSH is of a family long known in the history of New England and New York. He was born March 22, 1842, and is the son of Randall and Eliza (Brodhead) Bush. His father was born in Connecticut, and his paternal ancestors lived tor many generations in New England. His mother was a native of Ulster County, New York, of English and Dutch descent. Mr. Bush is connected on his mother's side with John Romeyn Brodhead, of New York, a historical writer of some note. Referring to an article in Scribner’s Magazine, we learn that the name Brodhead is intimately associated with the Dutch occupation of New York. Among the soldiers sent by Charles II in 1664 to subdue the Hollanders in America was Captain Daniel Brodhead, a zealous Royalist of Yorkshire. After the English had taken full possession of New York Captain Brodhead determined to settle there, and from him the Brodhead family in America is descended, and this doughty Captain is an ancestor of Mr. Bush’s mother. History shows that some of the Brodheads were heroes in the Revolutionary War. Charles B. Bush lived in Sullivan County, New York, till he was twelve years of age when he removed to Tompkins County with his parents. His early life was spent on a farm, and after coming to the latter county he became the proprietor of a small farm. In the year 1865 he entered the employ of Hollister & Van Felt, distillers, Slatersville, New York, working for this firm as traveling salesman for two years, when he was employed by A. S. Gaskin, tobacconist, Ithaca, New York. After one year this firm was burnt out, and he found employment in the same capacity with the firm of Heir & Aldrich, manufacturers of cigars and dealers in tobacco of all kinds. This business was located in Syracuse, New York, and Mr. Bush remained there until 1884, when he decided to settle on his farm in Willow Township, Cherokee County, Iowa. Before coming to the State he had purchased a farm of 320 acres, which he still owns and where he now resides, The farm was wild, but by industry and good management he has brought it to a high state of cultivation. Four never-failing springs furnish an abundance of water, and afford excellent facilities for stock-raising, in which business Mr. Bush has been engaged since coming West. Besides his residence and farm buildings he has on his farm a good set of buildings for tenant use. July 22, 1869, was an eventful day in our subject’s life, for on that day he wedded Miss C. Georgiana Cantine, a daughter of Charles and Susan M. (Snow) Cantine. Mrs. Bush is a lineal descendant of the Huguenot family, Cantine, spelled also Cantyn and Cantaino, well known in the early history of New York. Numerous deeds and grants and patents in the possession of Mrs. Bush, some of which are dated as early as the “third year of the reign of William and Mary,” attest the antiquity of the family, and furnish a treat to the lover of musty parchments. One of the most interesting of these documents is a patent given to General John Cantine for 1,000 acres of land in Tioga County, New York, for services rendered in the Revolutionary War. General John Cantine was the great-grandfather of Mrs. Bush. Another interesting document is a deed to lands "in ye county of Ulster and Province of New York," to Peter Cantine, and dated January 19, 1723. Mrs. Bush was born at Mott’s Corners, now Brookton, New York, and lived there until her marriage in 1869. She was educated in the common schools of that town and at the Ithaca Academy. For a number of years after completing her education she was a school teacher, and her success in the profession is attested by the tact that she held a State teacher’s license from the school authorities of the State of New York. After her marriage Mrs. Bush lived for a time at Adams, and afterward at Sandy Creek, where she was engaged in the millinery and ladies’ furnishing-goods business for eleven years. In 1882 she sold out her business at Sandy Creek, and lived for two years at Caroline, her native township, before coming to Cherokee County. On June 14, 1885, at night, Mr, Bush’s house was totally destroyed by a cyclone. Mr. and Mrs. Bush sustained some injuries, but the rest of the family were unhurmed. In politics Mr. Bush is a Democrat. He is a charter member of Alpine Lodge, No. 471, A. F. & A. M., having been made a member at Speedville Lodge, No, 365, Speedville, New York. He was also a charter member of Caroline Lodge, No. 681, A. F. & A. M. He is connected with the A. O. U. W., Sandy Creek Lodge, No. 256. The following are the names of Mr. Bush’s brothers and sisters: Mary Ann, deceased; Nancy, wife of Albert Goslee; Cordelia, wife of David Calkins; Elizabeth, wife of Nathaniel Merwin; Daniel Bush; Catherine, wife of Hiram Hitchcock, and Lottie Bush. Mrs. Bush’s brothers and sisters are: Maria Elizabeth, wife of William E. Heath; Charles A. Cantine, Holmes F. Hoffman, son of Mrs. Susan (Snow) Cantine by her second marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Bush are the parents of one child, Charles C. R., born at Sandy Creek, New York.