Bovina and the American Revolution - Alexander Brush (1759-1840)

 

Alexander Brush (1759-1840)

I mentioned at the start of this series that we have five ‘official’ Rev War soldiers with Bovina Connections, but there may be a sixth. And that man is Alexander Brush, the first settler in the Bovina Center hamlet. The fact that he may have served in the Revolution comes from his obituary, published in the September 30, 1840 Delaware Gazette.

Brush was a native of Smithtown, Long Island. He came to Bovina in the late 1790s. His obituary noted that “…and when our fathers, few in number, were contending for Liberty and were resolved to throw off Britain’s yoke, he entered the contest and was among those who survived the bloody conflict, and long did he live to enjoy the benefits of American Independence.” Unfortunately, I’m not sure what it means to have ‘entered the contest.’ If he did enlist, we’ve had no luck finding an actual service record. So that’s why Alexander is a maybe on the list of Bovina’s revolutionary war soldiers. But I’ll keep digging.

I did a blog entry about Alexander in 2015 - go to https://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2015/09/stories-from-bovina-cemeteries.html to see a bit more about him. 

Keep in mind that there may be other Revolutionary War soldiers with Bovina connections that we simply don’t know about. But I’ll keep digging here too.

Bovina Ex-Pats: Alexander Brush (1824-1892), Mayor of Buffalo

This is the first in a series on Bovina natives who made a name for themselves in the 'outside' world. Ex-Pat is a British term meaning someone who has settled away from their homeland.

         Our first ex-pat made a name for himself in Buffalo, NY in the business and political arenas. Named for his grandfather, Alexander Brush, the first settler in what is now Bovina Center, this Alexander was born in 1824 in Bovina, the son of Jacob Brush and Phoebe Cushing. Brush left Bovina as a child with his parents around 1830. His father died in Wayne County, NY in 1835.

Alexander and most of his siblings settled in Buffalo, with Alexander arriving there in 1848. He opened a successful brick making business with his brother William. From 1879 to 1882, Brush Brothers were the largest manufacturer of bricks in the northeast, with over a million bricks a year.

While running his company, Alexander was active in Buffalo politics. He first served as Alderman for the third Ward in 1861 and was reelected to that position until becoming street commissioner. He was elected mayor in 1869 and re-elected in a special election held in 1872. During his tenure in office, the cornerstone was laid for the County and City Hall. Brush opted not to run again when his term expired in 1873. Six years later, in 1879, he was once again elected mayor and served until 1881. Brush was succeeded by Grover Cleveland, who became Governor of New York within the year and President of the United States in 1885.

Mayor Alexander Brush (image from Wikipedia Commons)

Alexander was married twice, first to Lucinda Bucklin of Titusville, Pennsylvania, who died within the year and second in 1866 to Mrs. Sarah A. Leonard, (née Warner) of South Wales, New York. He had no children by either wife.

Alexander Brush retired from the brick business in 1890 and died two years later in June 1892 while traveling to Europe on the Belgian. He is buried in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.

From Ancestry.com, Alexander Brush's passport application for his trip to Europe in 1892, a trip he would never complete.

Stories from Bovina Cemeteries - Alexander Brush

175 years ago on September 11, 1840, Alexander Brush died in Bovina at the age of 81. The Delaware Gazette for September 30 reported his death and included a longer obituary than usually was published in that time period:

Mr. B. was a native of Smithtown, Long Island, and when our fathers, few in number, were contending for Liberty and were resolved to throw off Britain's yoke, he entered the contest and was among those who survived the bloody conflict, and long did he live to enjoy the benefits of American Independence, both civil and religious. As a citizen, he was not unmindful of his duty, and although he frowned upon political strife, ye he was a lover of his country's weal, and always endeavored to keep sight of the old landmarks. As a christian, he was decided in his course, and labored to sustain that dignity of character so essential for the honor of christianity. The last forty years of his life were spent in the town of Bovina, where he was beloved and esteemed by those that knew him; few men have lived so long and had so few to oppose. I am not aware of his having one who could be counted an enemy. He died as a christian dies. His confidence was in his God-even in him who he had trusted for almost 60 years. His funeral obsequies were attended on Sabbath, the 13th instant, at his own house, by a numerous concourse of friends and acquaintances, who seem to feel their loss.

Brush was a Methodist. He donated the land for the Methodist church which was built nine years after his death in 1849. That same year, the post office in the hamlet of Bovina Center became Brushland. That name would last until 1889, when it became Bovina Centre.

Brush was the first settler in Bovina Center and sold off a number of parcels in the area, essentially leading to the creation of the hamlet. Brush is buried in Bovina Center in what is now known as the Brush cemetery. His tombstone still exists today.

Something I noted in the article that I hadn't seen elsewhere was a reference to Brush having served in the American Revolution. I've started some further digging into this. If he was, indeed, a veteran of the American Revolution, we need to add a marker and flag to his grave.