William "Lee" Bushong
Files
Dublin Core
Title
William "Lee" Bushong
Subject
Bushong, William Lee (1914-1992)
Description
Photograph of William “Lee” Bushong seated on a stool and wearing cowboy boots. He is remembered for his lifelong work with horses.
Lee was the son of Emery Franklin (1889-1949) and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Sarah (Wisman) (1889-1972) Bushong. He grew up with three brothers on a farm in the Stonewall District of the county.
In 1921, 6-year old Lee and his younger brother, Gilbert, survived a harrowing 250-foot fall over a precipice across the river from the Triplett power plant. It occurred when the horse his father was using to pull a wagon up a mountain broke away and ran over the cliff with the wagon and boys attached. The two boys were found badly bruised but alive at the foot of the cliff near the river. They had to be rescued by boat. The newspaper article described the event as “one of the most remarkable escapes in the history of the mountains”.
He married Ruth Elizabeth (Clem) (born in Pennsylvania) in July 1935, in Cumberland, Maryland.
In the 1940 census, they both lived on State Road 604 (Fairview Road) near Woodstock with Lee’s parents. Lee worked as a stock dealer. Ruth worked as a bookkeeper at a private school. Their marriage did not last and they divorced in 1941.
For a time, Lee and two brothers, Gilbert and Forest "Peanut" Bushong, had a ranch in the Snowy Ridge area of Wyoming. Lee was a hunting guide there.
He married for the second time in 1942, in Boonesboro, Kentucky. His wife, Bera Maxine (Brosnious) (1917-2010) was born in Kane, Wyoming, the daughter of Joseph J. and Mary (Herren) Brosnious.
Lee worked with horses much of his life. He and his wife were known for being avid race horse owners in the Front Royal area. Lee was also a well-known stock man and cattle dealer. His wife bred Limousin Cattle and worked as a teacher and administrator in the Warren County Public School system for 32 years. They did not have children.
Lee's last residence was in Hedgesville, West Virginia.
Lee was the son of Emery Franklin (1889-1949) and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Sarah (Wisman) (1889-1972) Bushong. He grew up with three brothers on a farm in the Stonewall District of the county.
In 1921, 6-year old Lee and his younger brother, Gilbert, survived a harrowing 250-foot fall over a precipice across the river from the Triplett power plant. It occurred when the horse his father was using to pull a wagon up a mountain broke away and ran over the cliff with the wagon and boys attached. The two boys were found badly bruised but alive at the foot of the cliff near the river. They had to be rescued by boat. The newspaper article described the event as “one of the most remarkable escapes in the history of the mountains”.
He married Ruth Elizabeth (Clem) (born in Pennsylvania) in July 1935, in Cumberland, Maryland.
In the 1940 census, they both lived on State Road 604 (Fairview Road) near Woodstock with Lee’s parents. Lee worked as a stock dealer. Ruth worked as a bookkeeper at a private school. Their marriage did not last and they divorced in 1941.
For a time, Lee and two brothers, Gilbert and Forest "Peanut" Bushong, had a ranch in the Snowy Ridge area of Wyoming. Lee was a hunting guide there.
He married for the second time in 1942, in Boonesboro, Kentucky. His wife, Bera Maxine (Brosnious) (1917-2010) was born in Kane, Wyoming, the daughter of Joseph J. and Mary (Herren) Brosnious.
Lee worked with horses much of his life. He and his wife were known for being avid race horse owners in the Front Royal area. Lee was also a well-known stock man and cattle dealer. His wife bred Limousin Cattle and worked as a teacher and administrator in the Warren County Public School system for 32 years. They did not have children.
Lee's last residence was in Hedgesville, West Virginia.
Creator
Morrison Studio
Source
Morrison Studio Collection - Shenandoah County Historical Society
Publisher
Shenandoah County Library
Date
ca 1940's
Contributor
Identified by Betsy M. Bushong. Her husband was the subject's nephew and she has a similar image of the subject at home. She also noted the plate was incorrectly labelled as "Gilbert Bushong".
Additional biographical information was compiled from public records.
Information about the Bushong accident was originally published on 1 September 1921 in the Shenandoah Herald newspaper and was also reprinted in the Past Events Section of the Free Press, Shenandoah County, Virginia, on March 11, 2011. We have extracted information from the reprinted article.
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT - NON-COMMERCIAL USE PERMITTED
Relation
William Lee Bushong appears in Morrison Studio Collection numbers 001984, 003931, 008905, 009635, 014138, 016520, 016521, and 016522.
Identifier
001984
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Glass Negative
Collection
Citation
Morrison Studio, “William "Lee" Bushong,” Shenandoah County Library Archives, accessed November 21, 2024, https://archives.countylib.org/items/show/25803.
Comments