Pretty Pictures

We came across this great local blog, Salem Photo Diary, the other day. Check it out for lovely pictures from our area, including lots from the Bush House Museum, Bush's Pasture Park, and SAA.

And speaking of pretty things, we have been working with our fabulous collections database to research and document objects at the Museum.


This beautiful iridescent art glass vase was one of many vases that came to us from the Bush family. It was made by the Quezal company, which operated in the United States between 1902 and 1924. We don't know how the piece came into the family, but we know they owned at least one other Quezal vase that also remains in the Museum's collection.

Something Special for Mom

Are you looking for a special treat for Mom on Mother's Day? Join us at the Bush House Museum on Sunday, May 9th for our annual horse-drawn carriage rides!

Carriage rides are FREE with paid admission to the Bush House Museum, and Moms are free when accompanied by a family member. Families can also enjoy complementary tea and cookies served in the Bush Barn Art Center.

For more information, please call the Museum at (503) 363-4714. Reservations are recommended and will be accepted starting April 27.

Moving Day

It's not every day that furniture is moved around at the Bush House Museum, so this past Monday was a big day.

Large pieces of furniture were taken apart, including this sideboard:


Some items were moved into different rooms, and some were moved into storage: down one flight of steps, through three doorways, and up another flight of steps. Ooof.

Interesting discoveries were made.

For example, as you can see, we found out that our dining table was made by one A.T. Yeaton in "Salem, O.r.". Pretty cool. The sideboard in the first photo was made by a man named Wallace in Walla Walla, WA.

Finally, the truck arrived with the new (old) furniture.

Can you see the word "Bush" inscribed in pencil? This photo shows the top of a sideboard that was delivered yesterday -- the sideboard that belonged to the Bush family when they lived here. As of Monday afternoon, we also have the family's original dining table and chairs, a display cabinet, a marble statue, and some books from the libraries of Asahel Bush II and his son, A.N. Bush.

These items are on loan to us from the estate of Sam Bush, the great-great-grandson of Asahel Bush II. They will be on display for a limited time, so make sure to come by sometime in the next twenty years to see them...

Something Special

The Museum has woken up from our long winter's nap and is open for tours again, complete with a new exhibit of vintage accessories and embellishments from our collection. The photo above shows a selection of our beaded purses, on display for the first time in at least five years. The exhibit also features embroidered silk shawls, elaborate collars, delicate gloves, and fancy hats. The items will be on display at the Museum through Mother's Day, May 9.

Three Big Men

From the Oregon Voter, May 1, 1915:

With the death of the Hon. John Minto at Salem there passed the last of the junto known as the Big Three -- Asahel Bush, Wm. P. Lord and John Minto. For over fifty years they held the political reins more or less, and a wag says they divided the swag as follows: the Mintos held the offices, Lord had the honors, and Bush got the money. Anyway, they were three big men.

Census Fun!

A copy of the 1870 Federal Census for Marion County, Oregon fell into my hands recently. Actually, it's better than that -- someone has taken the time to go through the original census forms and transcribe them into an easy-to-read typewritten document, and that's what I was looking at: four hundred pages of names, numbers, occupations, and relationships describing Marion County's residents ten years after Salem got its start.

The first thing I did was scan the columns to find the Bush family, and there they were, in ...North Salem? What?!? The town was divided into four precincts: Salem, North Salem, East Salem, and South Salem. The property that we now know as Bush's Pasture Park -- which the Bush family purchased in 1860 -- is definitely NOT in North Salem. If the family was living here, why were they enumerated there?

There's no mistaking it: Asahel Bush is listed right on the page (M, occupation: Banker, 46 years old) along with his children E. (F, at school, age 14), A.N. (M, at school, age 12), S. (F, age 10) and E. (F, age 8). The household also included a hired laborer named Annio Martin (M, age 40, born in Denmark), a housekeeper named Mary Kezar (F, age 43, born in New Hampshire), and a "domestic" named May Malarkey (F, age 25, born in Ireland). Quite a cosmopolitan setup, for the time!

Poking around through the census, I found that about 12% of households in Salem employed a live-in worker in 1870. Many of these workers were Chinese men who served as cooks; there were 11 Chinese cooks in town, ranging in age from 12 to 26 years old. South Salem must have been farm country because the precinct included 22 live-in laborers, mostly employed by farmers and dairy men. The oldest of these hired hands was 52 and the youngest was 17; by contrast, the average age for a live-in female "domestic" was 17 and the youngest was 14.

Of course, looking at the census figures raises as many questions as it answers. Where was the Bush family actually living in 1870? How long did their servants continue to live with them? How did the demographics of servants in Salem change over time, as limits were placed on Chinese immigration and the city became more urban?

Good thing I know where to find a copy of the 1880 census...

Out the Window

More than 100 years ago, this was the view from the upstairs window at the Bush House Museum:


That building off to the right is the Bush Conservatory, constructed in 1882. It's the second oldest conservatory west of the Rocky Mountains. It has been in continuous use for almost 130 years.


Here you can see Miss Sally Bush on the left, together with (we think) her father and an unidentified woman, on the south side of the conservatory. Miss Sally had a green thumb and liked to grow and arrange flowers for the family home and business.


This is Miss Sally's cousin, Octavia Painter Nolan, in the conservatory. You can see that the building was well-used. It must have been a pleasant place.


Unfortunately, the conservatory is falling down, and the City of Salem cannot commit funds to restore it. So it is covered with plastic, and the door is closed and sealed with "caution" tape to protect the public.

The good news is that the Friends of Bush Gardens are on the case! These heroic people are working to raise money to restore the conservatory to its original condition. Their effort is well underway, and your support is welcome. Click on the link above to visit their website, where you can read more about the project and make a donation.