Asa S. Bushnell (Governor)

For the former governor's grandson, who served as a sports administrator, see Asa Smith Bushnell III.
Asa Smith Bushnell
40th Governor of Ohio
In office
January 13, 1896 – January 8, 1900
Lieutenant Asa W. Jones
Preceded by William McKinley
Succeeded by George K. Nash
Personal details
Born (1834-09-16)September 16, 1834
Rome, New York
Died January 15, 1904(1904-01-15) (aged 69)
Columbus, Ohio
Resting place Ferncliff Cemetery, Springfield, Ohio
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Ellen Ludlow
Children three
Religion Methodist Episcopal Church
Signature
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Asa Smith Bushnell I (September 16, 1834 – January 15, 1904) was a Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the 40th Governor of Ohio. Prior to becoming Governor, he served as the president of the Warder, Bushnell and Glessner Company, which became one of four companies that merged to form International Harvester. Other roles in business included serving as president of the Springfield Gas Company and the First National Bank of Springfield.[1]

Biography

Bushnell was born in Rome, New York and moved to Springfield, Ohio at age 17. During the American Civil War, he raised a company of men for the 152nd Ohio Infantry, a 100 days regiment, and served as captain from May to September 1864.[2] He was a Presidential elector in 1884 for Blaine/Logan.[3] A business executive, Bushnell served as the Ohio State Republican Party Chair in 1885. He succeeded William McKinley as governor, serving two two-year terms from 1896 to 1900.

Valentine Anti-Trust Act

During the Bushnell administration, Ohio took an early leadership role in trust-busting. The Valentine Anti-Trust Act was signed into law by Bushnell. This Act prohibited price fixing, and production limitation. All of these practices helped businesses by driving up the prices for their products, thus harming the consumer. In addition to Valentine Anti-Trust Act, Bushnell's attorney general pursued the monopolistic practices of the Standard Oil Company in the courts. Eventually, U.S. Senator John Sherman of Ohio introduced the Sherman Antitrust Act in the United States Congress in 1890. This law served as the first serious attempt by the federal government to break up monopolies and trusts, though successful enforcement of anti-trust laws was still more than a decade, and new political commitment, away.[4]

Death

Bushnell came from his home at Springfield in January 1904 to attend the inauguration of Governor Myron T. Herrick at Columbus. After the ceremony, he entered his carriage to return home, was struck with apoplexy before reaching the railroad station, and died at a Columbus hospital four days later.[5][6] He was buried in the Ferncliff Cemetery, Springfield on January 18, 1904.[5][7]

Family

Bushnell married Ellen Ludlow of Springfield, September 17, 1857. They had two daughters and a son.[8] He was a member of the Masons, the Grand Army of the Republic, and Methodist Episcopal Church[5]

Residence

Gov. Asa S. Bushnell House, 838 E. High St., Springfield, Ohio (1885-88). Now a funeral home.

Bushnell and his wife built a Richardson Romanesque mansion in Springfield, Ohio. The house was not designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, but by Richardson’s firm soon after the architect's death. Both of Bushnell's business partners, Benjamin Head Warder and John Glessner, had earlier hired Richardson to design their houses: the Warder Mansion in Washington, DC, and the John J. Glessner House in Chicago. Glessner's house is considered one of Richardson's greatest designs.

The Bushnell House is part of Springfield's East High Street Historic District,[9] which is on the National Register of Historic Places.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Asa Bushnell House" Greater Springfield, Ohio Web site. Retrieved 6/5/09.
  2. ↑ Reid, Whitelaw (1895). "152d Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry". Ohio in the War Her Statesmen Generals and Soldiers. 2. Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company. p. 683.
  3. ↑ Taylor 1899 : vol. 2, 106
  4. ↑ "Valentine Anti-Trust Act" Ohio History Central. Retrieved 6/5/09.
  5. 1 2 3 Atwood, J. W. (1904). "Asa S. Bushnell". Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications. 13: 282–286.
  6. ↑ "Ohio's Former Chief Executive Dies at State Capital, Body Removed to Springfield Where Funeral Will Take Place. Opponent of Senator Hanna". New York Times. January 16, 1904. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  7. ↑ Asa S. Bushnell at Find a Grave
  8. ↑ Mercer, James K; Vallandigham, C N (1896). Representative men of Ohio, 1896-97. Columbus: Mercer and Vallandigham. pp. 7–9.
  9. ↑ National Register District Address Finder Archived September 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine., Ohio Historical Society, 2013. Accessed 2013-01-18.
  10. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
William McKinley		 Governor of Ohio
1896–1900 		Succeeded by
George K. Nash
Party political offices
Preceded by
William McKinley		 Republican Party nominee for Governor of Ohio
1895, 1897 		Succeeded by
George K. Nash
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