William Owen Bush

William Owen Bush (July 4, 1832 – February 13, 1907) was an American farmer and politician who was elected to the Washington House of Representatives as part of the inaugural Washington State Legislature in 1889. He was the first African-American to serve in the Washington legislature. He introduced legislation that established Washington State University and tirelessly promoted Washington agriculture. He was the son of George Bush, a celebrated settler and veteran of the War of 1812 who inherited a portion of the substantial fortune of his father, Matthew, and Isabella James. Bush's father was of mixed race, while his mother was of German descent.

Career

Agriculture After his father's death, William Owen Bush took control of the family farm, operating it with his brothers and growing the family's wealth. In 1872, Bush helped found the Western Washington Industrial Association, which organized agricultural expositions, and served as the group's inaugural president. In 1893 he was appointed to represent the United States on the Advisory Council of the World's Congress Auxiliary on Farm Culture and Cereal Industry.

Politics Following Washington's admission to the United States in 1889, Bush ran and was elected to the first sitting of the Washington House of Representatives as a member of the Republican Party. In 1890 he introduced and helped pass the state's first civil rights act, which prohibited racial discrimination in "public accommodations...public conveyances on land or water, theatres and other places of public amusement and restaurants." He was elected to the legislature a second time, serving until 1895.

Personal life On May 26, 1859, Bush married a widow, Mandana Smith Kimsey, in Marion County, Oregon. She was born in Missouri in 1826 and traveled to Oregon with her parents in 1847. They established a farm south of the family homestead. The couple had three children, George O., John Shotwell, and Mandana Isabella. George O. Bush died in infancy. His wife died in 1899.

Bush died in 1907 at St. Peter's Hospital in Olympia, Washington and was interred at Union Cemetery in Tumwater, Washington.