William H. Bush

Biography

William Henry Bush was born in 1829 on a farm near Baltimore, Maryland, from Holland stock. As a boy of 14 he arranged to use one of the first American railroads' steam engine and freight car to carry his vegetables to Baltimore's market ahead of competitors. He moved to Chicago in 1854 and made a fortune in the lumber business, which was destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871; he rebuilt his fortune afterward. In 1886 he partnered with his son, William Lincoln Bush, and John Gerts to found W. H. Bush & Company for piano manufacturing, serving as the firm's financier; it was incorporated in 1891 with $400,000 paid-up capital. Philanthropically inclined, he planned to endow Chicago with an institution serving music and the arts but died in 1901, aged 74, before the plan was realized. The Bush Temple of Music (begun 1902, completed 1903) was built as a monument to him and stands as one of Chicago's landmarks. William H. Bush joined John Gerts and William L. Bush in 1885 in a co-partnership under the name W. Bush and Company, capitalized at $20,000, which in 1890 was reorganized as the Bush and Gerts Piano Company. The text gives no further biographical detail about him beyond this founding role.

Highlights

• Born 1829 on a farm near Baltimore, Md.; at age 14 contracted for use of a railroad's steam engine and freight car to rush his vegetables to market
• Built a lumber fortune in Chicago beginning 1854, lost it in the Great Fire of 1871, then rebuilt it
• In 1886 founded W. H. Bush & Company (piano manufacturing) with son William Lincoln Bush and John Gerts; planned the Bush Temple of Music, completed 1903 after his death
• Joined John Gerts and William L. Bush in 1885 to form W. H. Bush and Company, forerunner of the Bush and Gerts Piano Company

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 355; Vol. II (1913), p. 48.

Public domain.