Part of the American History & Genealogy Project

Sophie Walker Hyndshaw Bushnell 1863 ~ 1938

The subject of this sketch was born in Henry, Illinois; her father Silas Condict Hyndshaw, coming there from Morristown, New Jersey as a young man. In 1858 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Walker of Cincinnati, Ohio.

At an early age Mrs. Bushnell was sent to Monticello Seminary, one of the oldest schools for young women in the Middle West and there she spent four years. During the time she was attending school at Monticello, her parents moved to Norwood Park, a suburb of Chicago, and there in 1878 she was married to Drayton Wilson Bushnell. Mr. Bushnell was a native of Ohio, his ancestors coming there from Connecticut in 1880 and settling on the Western Reserve.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bushnell went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and decided to make that place their home. Mrs. Bushnell became much interested in the Daughters of the American Revolution during the first years of the organization but did not identify herself with the society until 1897, when a chapter was formed in Council Bluffs, and she became a charter member. She has served the chapter in various offices, being regent for three years and in office or a member of the board of management constantly since the chapter was organized. She was state historian for two years, state vice-regent for one year and vice-president-general for four years.

She is also a member of various other patriotic societies, the Colonial Dames, the Huguenot Society, United States Daughters of 1812 and others. Her line of ancestry through her father embraces many prominent New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New England names; her father having been named for the Hon. Silas Condict of New Jersey, who was a member of the first Continental Congress and speaker of the House; while his great-grandfather. Captain James Hyndshaw, was a distinguished soldier in the French and Indian Wars; a fort near the Delaware Water Gap being named for him in recognition of his service. Her mother (Elizabeth Walker of Ohio) traces her lines to the Walkers, Fosters, Hicks, Millers and many of the old Maryland families; also to the Wiltsees and other Dutch families of New York.

When elected to the office of vice-president-general, Mrs. Bushnell suggested to the Daughters of Iowa that they pay for one of the rooms in Memorial Continental Hall, to be called the Iowa Room. This plan met with the approval of the members, and Mrs. Bushnell was made the chairman of the Iowa Room Committee and has held the office until the room has been finished and furnished. Recognizing the good work accomplished in the chapter, the state, and on the national board by a member of their own chapter, the Council Bluffs Daughters had the name of Mrs. Bushnell placed on the role of honor book in Memorial Continental Hall. Mrs.

Bushnell's greatest interest is in her patriotic work, her first love, the Daughters of the American Revolution claiming the most of her attention. She has given to it of her best, and in return it has been her privilege and pleasure to feel that in a small way she has been able to add her "mite" to the growth, development, and great work achieved by this grand society.

Women of America

Source: The Part Taken by Women in American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.