CALVIN BUSHEY.
There is an atmosphere of refinement and well being about the town of Muscotah, Atchison county, Kansas, that is not always found in the western towns which the traveler passes through. The handsome residences, with well kept lawns, shaded by great trees, and the generally attractive appearance of things in the residence portion of this prosperous community is sure to attract the eye and cause favorable comment. The people inhabitating this town are mostly of eastern descent and are nearly all pioneers who many years ago settled on the prairies in the western part of Atchison county, and by dint of industry and hard work transformed the wilderness into a smiling and fertile landscape. Many of them, their work done, have retired to comfortable homes in Muscotah. Among these is Calvin Bushey and his estimable wife, who came to Kansas, fought the good fight for a competence and are now taking life easy in a beautiful and comfortable home in this attractive Kansas town.
Speaking in a biographical sense, Calvin Bushey, Union veteran and retired pioneer farmer, was born July 17, 1844, on a Pennsylvania farm in Adams county, near the historic city of Gettysburg. He comes of good old Pennsylvania German stock and is a son of Nicholas (born 1797, died 1852), and Esther (Mickley) Bushey. Nicholas Bushey was born in the Fatherland and immigrated with his parents to America when a youth. Eight children were born to Nicholas Bushey and wife, namely: Peter died in 1905, at the age of eighty-five years; Mrs. Sarah Hartman died in 1910 at the advanced age of eighty-seven years: George, Union veteran, died at the age of eighty-four years; Jacob M., a Union veteran, residing at Holmesville, Ohio: Henry died in 1858; Catharine died in 1881; Calvin, with whom this review is concerned; John, a resident of Arendtsville, Pa., and James, deceased. The parents of these children lived and died on the homestead in Pennsylvania. The grandfather of Mr. Bushey, on his maternal side, was John Jacob Mickley, who figures in American history as one of the men who helped to haul the old Liberty Bell from Baltimore, Md., to keep it from being captured and destroyed by the British invaders and hid the bell under a church for safe keeping. A son of John Jacob was a soldier in the Revolution. Daniel Mickley, an uncle of Calvin Bushey, lived to the great age of ninety-nine years, and two other uncles lived to the age of ninety-four and ninety-five years. Longevity is a characteristic of the members of this remarkable family. Daniel Mickley served in the War of 1812 as a sergeant.
Calvin Bushey was reared to young manhood on his father’s farm. When President Lincoln called for troops, with which to quell the rebellion of the southern states, he responded and enlisted in August of 1862, in Company K, One Hundred and twenty-sixth regiment, Pennsylvania infantry, for a period of eight months, but served one and one-half years in all. He participated in the great battles of Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. After Mr. Bushey received his honorable discharge from the service he studied in Hayesville Institute for one year and was then engaged in mercantile business for two years, and after his marriage in 1867 came to Kansas to make his fortune. He and his young wife came directly to Atchison county and bought 160 acres of land six miles southeast of Muscotah. Not being exactly satisfied with this farm they sold it three years later and bought a quarter section of land three miles southeast of Muscotah. This land was all raw prairie at the time of purchase and it was necessary for Mr. Bushey to place all the improvements on it. He cultivated this farm until 1903 when he and Mrs. Bushey retired to a home in Muscotah. He sold the old homestead for a good price and invested in 120 acres of land southwest of Muscotah which is being cultivated by his son.
Mr. Bushey was married in January of 1867 to Miss Eva J. Taylor, who has borne him the following children: Mrs. Myrtle Belle, wife of J. D. Miller, garage proprietor and farmer, of Muscotah; John C., farmer and stock buyer, of Muscotah; Esther, wife of J. N. Roach, a farmer, living near Muscotah; Chastine Dwight Bushey, a farmer; and two children died in infancy. The mother of these children was born September 20, 1842, in Defiance, Ohio (at that time Paulding county, Ohio), a daughter of John and Lucretia (Bell) Taylor, the former a native of Huntingdon, Pa., and the latter a native of Nova Scotia. John Taylor was a son of William Taylor, who emigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania, whence he came to Ohio and made a permanent settlement. John Taylor was a prominent man in his section of Ohio and served as a member of the Ohio legislature in 1860, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865 and 1866, six years in all. He also served as a justice of the peace and was probate judge of Ashland county, Ohio, for twelve years. He died in Ashland, Ohio, in 1881. The Taylor children were as follows: Mrs. Eva Bushey, William, Arabella, Wilson, Don Fernando, Lavona, and Emma Luverna. Mrs. Bushey is a well educated lady and taught school in Ohio. It was at Perrysville, Ohio, that Calvin and Eva Bushey first met. Calvin had left his home in Pennsylvania, and after studying at the Hayesville Academy he was employed at Perrysville, Ohio, keeping store, attending the railroad office, the express office, and was general all-round railway factotum, as well as managing a general store. The future Mrs. Bushey came to the store one day to buy a pair of shoes and Calvin fell a victim to her charms while attending to her wants. They became friends; the friendship ripened into love, and marriage ensued, which has been one of the happiest on record.
Mr. and Mrs. Bushey are members of the Congregational church and contribute to the support of this religious denomination. He is a Republican in politics and is a member of the local grand army post. This well known and highly respected couple have a total of twenty-one grandchildren, as follows: Mrs. Olive Laughlin, Eva, Nannie, Marguerite, Lillie, Josephine, Julia, children of Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Miller; Helen, a teacher, Ruth, also a teacher, Calvin Dwight, Mildred, and Dorothy, and Louis, children of John C. Bushey; Charles Calvin, Mrs. Bertie Yazel, and Gail, children of Mrs. Esther Roach; Paul Everett, Ralph, Dessa, Essa, and Claude, children of Chastine Dwight Bushey. They have one great-grandchild, Margaret, daughter of Mrs. Olive Laughlin.