Nehemiah H. Bushnell (October 9, 1813 – January 31, 1873) was an American attorney, railroad president, and politician from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. A graduate of

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and the

Harvard School of Law Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class i ...

, Bushnell settled in

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ), known as Illinois's "Gem City", is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States, located on the Mississippi River. The 2020 census counted a population of 39,463 in the city itself, down from 40,633 in 2010. ...

to practice law with

Orville H. Browning Orville Hickman Browning (February 10, 1806 – August 10, 1881) was an attorney in Illinois and a politician who was active in the Whig Party (United States), Whig and Republican Party (United States), Republican Parties. He is notable fo ...

. He was named the president of the

Northern Cross Railroad The Northern Cross Railroad was the first railroad to operate in Illinois, originating in Meredosia and eventually extending both east and west to the state borders. It eventually linked the state capital Springfield east to Decatur and Danvill ...

and facilitated its integration into the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

. He was elected to the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

in 1872, but died only weeks into its first session. He is the namesake of

Bushnell, Illinois Bushnell is a city in McDonough County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,970 at the 2020 census. Geography Bushnell is located at (40.551667, -90.507921). According to the 2010 census, Bushnell has a total area of , of which (or ...

Biography

Nehemiah H. Bushnell was born in

Westbrook, Connecticut Westbrook is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,769 at the 2020 census. The town center is classified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place (CDP). Geography Westbrook lies in the shoreli ...

, on October 9, 1813, son of Nehemiah and Mehitable Bushnell. He was the 5th great grandson of Francis and Ferris (Quenell) Bushnell, who emigrated from England, landing in Fair Haven, CT in 1639. Nehemiah married Eliza Hunter Benedict of Millbury, Mass. on October 13, 1840.Bushnell Family Genealogy ~ Ancestry and Posterity of Francis Bushnell (1580 - 1646) of Horsham, England and Guilford, Connecticut, pg. 428, Compiled and written by George Eleazer Bushnell, Nashville, Tennessee 1945 He attended public schools, then studied privately at

Amherst Academy Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher education ...

. He then matriculated at

in 1831, where he graduated in 1835. He attended the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1836, then studied under

Samuel Ingham Samuel Ingham (September 5, 1793 – November 10, 1881) was a two-term Congressman from Connecticut. He is not to be confused with the former Secretary of the Treasury Samuel D. Ingham. He was born in Hebron, Connecticut, Hebron on Septemb ...

in Connecticut. Bushnell was admitted to the bar the next year. He then set out to

, where he established a law office with

. Bushnell maintained this legal partnership until his death. He briefly edited the ''Quincy Whig''. In 1851, Bushnell was appointed president of the

. He extended the railroad from Quincy to

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

, a town founded between the two cities in 1854, was named in his honor. He remained president until 1861, when the line was integrated into the

(CB&R). He then became the attorney for the CB&Q. Bushnell founded the Quincy Railroad Bridge Company in 1867, which built a bridge for the CB&Q across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. Bushell accepted a nomination for the

in 1872 and was elected to the 28th General Assembly. However, on January 31, 1873, two weeks into the first legislative session, Bushnell died from

erysipelas Erysipelas () is a relatively common bacterial infection of the superficial layer of the skin ( upper dermis), extending to the superficial lymphatic vessels within the skin, characterized by a raised, well-defined, tender, bright red rash, t ...

in Quincy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bushnell, Nehemiah 1813 births 1873 deaths 19th-century American railroad executives Deaths from streptococcus infection Amherst College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Yale University alumni Connecticut lawyers Illinois lawyers Editors of Illinois newspapers Businesspeople from Illinois Members of the Illinois House of Representatives People from Quincy, Illinois People from Westbrook, Connecticut 19th-century American journalists American male journalists 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American politicians Journalists from Illinois 19th-century American lawyers