Articles by Egbert T. Bush published in the Hunterdon Democrat
This obituary was (almost certainly) written by D. Howard Moreau, one-time owner of the Hunterdon County Democrat, and long-time friend and admirer of Egbert T Bush.
This article by Egbert T. Bush describes an old sawmill on the Wickecheoke located on a perilous little road, known appropriately as Old Mill Road in Delaware Township.
“Village Might Appropriately Have been Called Riven Rock
Quarry Once Busy Place”
By Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, N.J.
published in the Hunterdon Co. Democrat, February 12, 1931
Note: This article was written by Egbert T. Bush, not by me. I have only added some footnotes for clarification and the photograph of Raven Rock Station, which was not part of the original article.
Hunterdon County was once well supplied with covered bridges. Now the lonely last one stands at what has long been known as “Green Sergeant’s Mills.” Some say that there is no other such bridge in New Jersey today. I cannot vouch for that; but the covered bridge is almost a thing of the past.
Passenger Pigeons Once Were Slaughtered By Millions
The Species Is Now Extinct
by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, NJ
as published in the Hunterdon County Democrat, April 17, 1930
For the stories of the wildwood
Of the mountain and the plain
(Any stories heard in childhood)
Are the stories that remain.Yes, the stories that were told us seventy years ago still come up in quiet hours to rouse the drowsy mind and stir the sluggish blood. Some scattering ones that do not seem to fit well in any particular place may recall fond memories in older people; and may be of more or less interest now and then to one of the younger generation, not for themselves but as inklings of the older times. Present conditions are not calculated to make them as vivid as when memory recorded them so long ago; yet perhaps enough may be depicted, even by a limping pen, to give a fair idea of things then made so clear, often quite thrilling and always interesting.
Fireplace Was the Center of Family Life and Activity;
Chimney Sweeps Common
by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, NJ, March 20, 1930
Mr. Bush has good advice for those of us who enjoy a warm fire in winter. Note that the illustrations were not included with the original article.
“The great fire up the chimney roared.” Indeed it did, and how could it be otherwise? There was so much of greatness around that fire that it could not help either being great or roaring with its own greatness and that of its surroundings. That fire was not built on the economic Indian plan: “Injun make little fire—go close by;” but rather according to the Indian’s description of the uneconomic way of the paleface: “White man make big fire—go ‘way off.”
Bool’s Island Formed Natural Opening for Waterway;
Early Engineers Found;
Cholera Took Heavy Toll Among Workers
Entirely Abandoned, A Sorry Spectacle
by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, NJ,
published in the Hunterdon County Democrat, June 8, 1933
The project of connecting the Delaware River with the Raritan by means of a canal caught the imagination of engineers and business men quite early.
Great Catches of Shad in the Delaware River Were Common
Heavy Snow of 1874
by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, NJ, April 24, 1930
Note: These observations by Mr. Bush on the blizzard of 1874 seemed especially appropriate for this time of year.
Mr. Bush is seldom wrong but in this case the headline writer and Mr. Bush were both mistaken about disclosing the location of Tyson’s Mill, but certainly correct about the meagerness of the old records. For my version of this mill’s history, see Tyson’s Mill at Headquarters.
by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, N.J
Hunterdon County Democrat, November 7, 1929
While the mother countries and their colonies were scouring rifles and picking flints in preparation for that spectacular game in the Noble Sport of kings, known to us as the French and Indian War, humble workers whose names are all forgotten were quietly engaged in shaping stones, pouring mortar and cutting “B. 1754” into the date stone for a gristmill six miles west of Flemington.
