E. D. BUSHNELL, deceased. The victims of war cannot be counted by the list of those slain upon the field of battle. For years after the close of strife, in any country, noble lives pass out of existence whose decease can be directly traced to the terrible exposure, the deprivations and rigors of the prison, and the horrors of the army hospital, these martyrs deserving the crown of laurel just as surely as if the death blow had come through sword thrust or musket ball, in front of the enemy. Among those who were thus sacrificed while yet in the prime of life was the subject of our sketch, E. D. Bushnell.
The birth of our subject occurred in Ohio on Jan. 19, 1834, his parents being Daniel and Minerva (Cole) Bushnell, who came the State of Wisconsin at a very early day. The only survivors of their family are Hiram and Mrs. Lydia Watchom, of Grant county, Wisc., and Daniel, a resident of Dakota. When the first call was issued for volunteers for service in the Civil war our subject was among the number to respond, enlisting in Company C, 7th Wis. V. I., and participated in all the battles of his regiment until the time of his capture by the enemy, near Broad Run, on Oct. 9, 1863. His prison life included confinement in five places, each one worse than the previous one, Belle Isle, Florence, Savannah, Milan and Andersonville, release coming just in time to send home a wreck of the sturdy, ambitious young volunteer who had so bravely gone forth. Although he never recovered his normal health, he recuperated enough to follow his quiet occupations.
In 1867 Mr. Bushnell married Miss Elizabeth J. Austin, a daughter of Samuel R. and Minerva (Ashmore) Austin, and a member of one of the old and prominent families of Lafayette county. Mrs. Bushnell was born in Belmont, near the Mound, in March, 1849, and was educated in the schools of her native place. After marriage our subject purchased eighty acres near the line of Iowa county, in the town of Belmont, and remained at this place until his health completely failed, his death taking place in a hospital, where he was placed in order that the very best and most skillful care could be afforded him. Mr. Bushnell was noted for his kind disposition, and, to the close of his life, for his devotion to his family.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Bushell were: Samuel, born in 1868, died in 1892. Charles, born in 1870, was educated in the Platteville Normal School, and became a techer; in 1897 he married Lillie Rundle, of Iowa county, and settled upon a farm, but he is now a student in the Northwestern College of Dentistry, in Chicago; they have one daughter, Florence. Lewis E., born in 1873, was educated at the Platteville Normal School, and remained at the old home with his mother until his marriage, in 1898, to Nettie Enloe, who was a daughter of an old veteran of Wisconsin; they now reside on a farm in Iowa county. Lillie, born in 1875, graduated from the State Normal School, and now follows teaching in Evansville, Wis. Mary, born in 1877, graduated in the class of 1899, and is one of the intelligent and charming young teachers of Oneida county, Wis. Rose, born in 1879, is also a graduate of the Normal School, class of 1899, and is one of the successful teachers of Lafayette county. Archie, born in 1881, is a student at the Normal School, where he promises to be as brilliant as the other members of this very intelligent family.
An ardent Republican all his life, Mr. Bushnell was never robust enough to take upon himself the cares of office. Mrs. Bushnell and the family are connected with the M. E. Church, and all enjoy the esteem of the community.
Source: [Anonymous], Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1901), pp. 926-297.