Asahel Bush

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. His parents, Asahel Bush Sr. and Sally Noble Bush, were of English descent. taking the Isthmus of Panama route. 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. For example, he published articles disparaging the abolitionist Obed Dickinson, a minister at the Salem Congregationalist Church. 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." Bush supported the 1857 Oregon Constitutional ban on Blacks immigrating to Oregon. Eugenia was the daughter of one of his printer employees, and she would die at the age of 30 in 1863. His estate is now preserved as Bush's Pasture Park and his home, Asahel Bush House, is on the National Register of Historic Places.