Bushnell, Sophia W. (1863-1938)

BUSHNELL

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 1/1/2024 at 17:57:47

Sophia Walker Hyndshaw Bushnell
(1863 – June 17, 1938)

Mrs. Drayton W. Bushnell
Among the Iowa women well known not only in her own state, but throughout the nation is Mrs. Drayton W. Bushnell of Council Bluffs, then whom few women have done more to promote the best and highest interests of the Daughters of the American Revolution. At the twenty-third congress of the national society, she was elected to the life office of Hon. Vice President General in recognition of her meritorious work. Sophia Walker Hyndshaw Bushnell was born in Henry, Ill., and is the daughter of Silas Condict Hyndshaw and Elizabeth Walker, who were married in Cincinnatti, Ohio in 1858, later moving to Norwood Park, a Chicago suburb. Mrs. Bushnell was eduated at Monticello, having taken a four years course in this well known school. In 1878 she was married to Drayton Wilson Bushnell, going to Council Bluffs, which has since been their home. Mr. Bushnell served in the Civil War, having enlisted at the age of seventeen and served for nearly four years. He enlisted in the famous Crocker Brigade. He is always in attendance at the reunions of the Crocker Brigade and has for years been corresponding secretary of the organization.
In 1897 Mrs. Bushnell joined the Council Bluffs chapter D.A.R. as a charter member, and has been on its Board of Management since the organization. For three years she was chapter regent. She was for two years Historian of the Iowa Society, D. A. R., and State Vice Regent for one year. She was Vice President General of the National Society for four years, and in April 1914 was elected Hon. Vice-Pres. Gen’l. for life. She is a member of the Colonial Dames, the Huguenot Society, the Society of Founders and Patriots, and the United States Daughters of 1812. Her line of ancestry through her father embraces many prominent New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New England names. Her father was named for the Hon. Silas Condit of New Jersey, who was a member of the first Continental Congress and speaker of the House. Mrs. Bushnell’s great great grandfather, Capt. James Hyndshaw, was a distinguished soldier in the French and Indian Wars, a fort near the Delaware Water-gap having been named for him in recognition of his service. Mrs. Bushnell’s mother, Elizabeth Walker, of Ohio, traces her lineage to the Walkers, Fosters, Hicks and Millers of Maryland, and to the Wiltsees and other Dutch families of New York.
When Mrs. Bushnell was elected Vice-President General from Iowa she suggested to the Daughters of Iowa that they furnish a room in Continental Hall, which they did. She was chosen chairman of the committee and largely through her efforts the Iowa room was furnished. In recognition of her service to Iowa, the Council Bluffs chapter had her name placed on the Roll of Honor Book in Continental Hall. Mrs. Bushnell is a woman of charming personality, quite unspoiled by all the honor that has come to her. Her motives are always of the loftiest and she is loved in her home city, the state, and in the national society.
Source: Blue Book of Iowa Women, by Winona Evans Reeves, 1914, p.21