Asa Smith Bushnell I (September 16, 1834 – January 15, 1904) was an American

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. 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 The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...

. Other roles in business included serving as president of the Springfield Gas Company and the First National Bank of Springfield."Asa Bushnell House"
Greater Springfield, Ohio Web site. Retrieved 6/5/09.

Biography

Bushnell was born in

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which li ...

and moved to Springfield, Ohio at age 17. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, he raised a company of men for the 152nd Ohio Infantry, a 100 days regiment, and served as captain from May to September 1864. He was a

Presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia app ...

in 1884 for Blaine/ Logan. A business executive, Bushnell served as the Ohio State Republican Party Chair in 1885. He succeeded

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

as governor, serving two two-year terms from 1896 to 1900.

Valentine Anti-Trust Act

During the Bushnell administration,

took an early leadership role in

trust-busting Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

. The Valentine Anti-Trust Act was signed into law by Bushnell. This Act prohibited

price fixing Price fixing is an anticompetitive agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given ...

, 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 John Sherman (May 10, 1823October 22, 1900) was an American politician from Ohio throughout the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. A member of the Republican Party, he served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He also served as ...

of Ohio introduced the

Sherman Antitrust Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author. ...

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.

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 Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

before reaching the railroad station, and died at a Columbus hospital four days later. He was buried in the Ferncliff Cemetery, Springfield on January 18, 1904.

Family

Bushnell married Ellen Ludlow of Springfield, September 17, 1857. They had two daughters and a son. He was a member of the Masons, the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

, and the Episcopal Church

Residence

Bushnell and his wife built a

Richardson Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesq ...

mansion in Springfield,

. The house was not designed by

Henry Hobson Richardson Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA (September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one ...

, 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 The John J. Glessner House, operated as the Glessner House, is an architecturally important 19th-century residence located at 1800 S. Prairie Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. Built during the Gilded Age, it was designed in 1885–1886 by architect He ...

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, which is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

References

External links

*
ohiohistorycentral.org on the life of Asa Bushnell
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bushnell, Asa S. 1834 births 1904 deaths Republican Party governors of Ohio 1884 United States presidential electors People of Ohio in the American Civil War Union Army officers Politicians from Rome, New York Politicians from Springfield, Ohio 19th-century American politicians Springfield, Ohio