Bushong

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title: "Bushong" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["surnames-of-swiss-origin"] topic_path: "general/surnames-of-swiss-origin" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushong" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox surname"]

FieldValue
nameBushong / Boschung
regionSwitzerland and Palatinate
languageoriginGerman / Swiss German
variantBushon
::

| name = Bushong / Boschung | image = | image_size = | caption = | pronunciation = | meaning = | motto = | region = Switzerland and Palatinate | languageorigin = German / Swiss German | variant = Bushon | family = | footnotes = Bushong is a surname found mostly in the United States, derived from the surname Boschung found mainly in Switzerland, but also in the Palatinate and other regions in Western Europe.

Surname history

The American surname, Bushong and variant Bushon, prior to being anglicized, was the German-Swiss name, Boschung. The spelling was changed after immigration to Colonial America. The immigrants, Hans and Johann Nicholas both arrived as Boschung, Hans in 1731 and Johann Nicholas in 1732. The original ships manifests and transcriptions list them as Boschung, but the spelling was changed in their American lives.

The origin and meaning of the Bushong surname

One favored theory is the surname is based on two syllables, Bosch and ung. Bosch is considered a Germanic topographical name, derived from the Latin word, boscus which translates to wood, as in forest.About.com German Surnames . Surname Database Bosch. Family Education Bosch Subsequently, the patronymic suffix ung was added to the original name and means descendants of (the Bosch). It has been theorized that the reason to differentiate from an original Bosch family, with the addition of the suffix, was that there had been a large well established Bosch family. The patronymic suffix identified them as having separated by proximity from the original family. In other words, the families who moved away were not the Bosch, they were the Boschung. All occurring as surnames were beginning to be the accepted practice.

Origination of the Boschung family

There are several Boschung family lines, originating in Switzerland, one of which started in 1750, when a line Bosson, changed its names spelling to Boschung. Another line began in 1600 in Boltigen, Switzerland, with a name change from Studer, and this is believed to be beginning of the Colonial American Bushong. However, the Boschung name is first noted in the 1520s in Jaun, Fribourg, Switzerland and in the 1530s a few miles away in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland. These families whether related or not represent the majority of the Boschung. All would have been spoken a Swiss German dialect, more specifically its predecessor western High Alemannic dialect (Bernese German).

Colonial period immigration to the United States

| align=right | direction=horizontal | width= | footer= | width1=166 | image1=Hans_Boschung's_signature_1731.jpg | alt1=Hans Boschung signature 1731, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. | caption1=Hans Boschung signature 1731, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. | width2=150 | image2=Johann Nicholas Boschung's signature 1732.jpg | alt2=Johann Nicholas Boschung's signature from the 1732 Oath of Allegiance. | caption2=Johann Nicholas Boschung's signature on the 1732 Oath of Allegiance.

For the vast majority, the Bushong Family of America descend from two immigrants, Hans Boschung and Johann Nicholas Boschung. Hans and Johann Nicholas Boschung arrived in port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1731 and 1732 respectively. They were Protestants of the Reformed Swiss sect, who left Switzerland and spent some years in the Palatinate.

| align=left | direction=horizontal | width= | footer= | width1=166 | image1=The_Pink_"John_and_William"ships_manifest.jpg | alt1=Copy of the "John and William" ships manifest. | caption1=The 1732 pink John and William ship's manifest from its arrival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. | width2=165 | image2=Pink"John_and_William"_Oath_of_Allegiance.jpg | alt2=Copy of the 1732 Oath of Allegiance. | caption2=The 1732 Oath of Allegiance signed by the pink John and William adult male immigrants.

Johann Nicholas Boschung immigrated with his family on the ill-fated voyage of the pink John and William and qualified for entry to the Colonies October 17, 1732. Listed on the manifest as Paschun, with his wife, Magdalena (over 16) and their children, Hendrich, Eve, Andreas, Maria.

The Bushongs originally settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where they were members of the Salem Hellers Reformed Church. Today descendants who can trace their ancestry back to Hans and Johann Nicholas Bushong number in the thousands.

Post-colonial immigration to the United States

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Ellis_Island_in_1905.jpg" caption="Ellis Island in 1905}}" alt="Ellis Island in 1905"] ::

There are a few other family lines with the Bushong surname in America. Some are descended from French Catholics who immigrated from Nova Scotia, Canada to the United States in the 19th and 20th century while others are descended from slaves of the Bushongs prior to the American Civil War. There also appear to be a few different lines of European Bushongs. These families immigrated to the United States in the mid to late 19th century from what was a war torn central Europe and took the Bushong name. But with about 1.2 million other mostly Germans immigrants, there was at least one Greek Bushong. Their surnames all had various original spellings, Bushing, Busching, Buchen, Bushan, and others. During this period the most common immigration destination in the United States was New York, through Ellis Island.

Descendant Bushong lines

|boxstyle_GPa =background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_GMa =background-color: #FAE1E3; |Johannes Paul Eckman=Johannes Paul Eckman 1708-1776|Magdalena=Magdalena |Hans Philip=Hans Philip 1722-1785|Anna Eve Hergard=Anna Eve Hergard 1733-1778|Philip Grim=Philip Grim 1723-1793|Anna Barbara=Anna Barbara 1725-1806|Christina=Christina 1728- ?|John=John 1732-1808|Elizabeth Sprinkel=Elizabeth Sprinkel 1732-1821|Jacob=Jacob 1735-1811|Julianna Weigel=Julianna Weigel 1733-1810 |boxstyle_Johannes Paul Eckman =background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_Magdalena =background-color: #FAE1E3; |boxstyle_Hans Philip =background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_Anna Eve Hergard =background-color: #FAE1E3; |boxstyle_Philip Grim =background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_Anna Barbara =background-color: #FAE1E3; |boxstyle_Christina =background-color: #FAE1E3; |boxstyle_John =background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_Elizabeth Sprinkel =background-color: #FAE1E3; |boxstyle_Jacob =background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_Julianna Weigel =background-color: #FAE1E3; |boxstyle_Eckman =background-color: #F6F5F7 |boxstyle_Hans Philip children=background-color: #F6F5F7 |boxstyle_Grim =background-color: #F6F5F7 |boxstyle_John=background-color: #F6F5F7 |boxstyle_Jacob children =background-color: #F6F5F7 Hans Bushong is known to have had grandchildren through five children. Johannes Paul Eckman and Magdalena

  1. John 1744-1804
  2. Jacob 1746-1806
  3. Mary Magdalena 1748-1834
  4. Peter 1750-1811
  5. John Henry 1754-1821
  6. Hieronimus 1758-1824
  7. John Martin 1759-1829
  8. Daniel 1763-1829 Hans Philip and Anna Eva Hergard
  9. John 1750-1831
  10. Barbara 1752- ?
  11. Hans Philip 1761- ?
  12. Peter 1762-1833
  13. Henry W. 1763-1845
  14. Jacob 1767-1828
  15. David 1767-1827
  16. Mary Magdalene 1717-1827
  17. Elizabeth 1778- ? Philip Grimm and Anna Barbara
  18. Christina 1751-1786
  19. John Peter 1754- ?
  20. Philip Ludwig 1756-1829
  21. Michael 1757- ?
  22. Maria 1758- ?
  23. Barbara 1760- ?
  24. Peter abt 1762- ?
  25. John Daniel 1762-1825
  26. Jacob 1764- 1803 John and Elizabeth Sprenkel
  27. John Jacob 1754-1830
  28. George 1755-1809
  29. John 1756-1796
  30. Elizabeth 1759-1839
  31. Margaret 1761-1844
  32. Ann Marie 1763-1826
  33. William 1765-1837
  34. Peter 1771-1859
  35. Andrew 1773-1853
  36. Catherine 1777-1870 Jacob and Julianna Weigel
  37. Jacob abt 1755-1816
  38. Anna Maria Margaretha 1755-1826
  39. Mary Elizabeth 1756-1799
  40. Magdalena 1759- ?
  41. Juliana Euly 1761-1812
  42. Catherine 1762- ?
  43. Barbara 1775-1798
  44. Philip 1778- ?
  45. David 1787- ?
  46. Maria Susannah Sabrina 1787- ? Note: Dates may be approximations or incorrect and there may be other descendants.

|boxstyle_GPa =background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_GMa =background-color: #FAE1E3;

|boxstyle_Anton Andreas =background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_Catherine (2nd wife) =background-color: #FAE1E3; |boxstyle_Maria Barbara Juliana =background-color: #FAE1E3; |boxstyle_Georg Henrich =background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_Eve Elizabetha =background-color: #FAE1E3; |boxstyle_Johann Nicholas =background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_John =background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_Jenette Young =background-color: #FAE1E3; |boxstyle_George Washington =background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_Martha Davis =background-color: #FAE1E3; |boxstyle_Henry=background-color: #E4E5EB; |boxstyle_Isabelle Summers =background-color: #FAE1E3; |boxstyle_John children =background-color: #F6F5F7 |boxstyle_George children=background-color: #F6F5F7 |boxstyle_Henry children =background-color: #F6F5F7 There are three known surviving lines, descended from Johann Nicholas Bushong and Magdalena. They are through Andreas and all had descendants.

John Bushong and Jennette Young

  1. James 1784-1824
  2. George 1788-1880
  3. Nancy 1790- ?
  4. Sally 1793- ?
  5. John 1797-1885 George Washington Bushong and Martha Davis
  6. Nancy 1789-1863
  7. Margaret Peggy 1791-1881
  8. John Andrew 1792-1883
  9. Jacob 1794-1867
  10. Easter 1796-1870
  11. Sarah 1799-1887
  12. Catherine Ann 1801-1886
  13. Martha Amanda 1803-1880
  14. George Washington 1807-1892 Henry Bushong and Isabelle Summers
  15. John 1794-1846
  16. Mary 1797-1860
  17. Ann 1798-1868
  18. James 1801-1866
  19. Samuel 1803- ?
  20. Henry 1805-1862 Note: Dates may be approximations or incorrect and there may be other descendants.

Some common Bushong myths

The colonial immigrant Bushongs descend from Beauchamp

In the beginning of the 20th century, it was thought that Colonial Bushongs descended from the French Beauchamps and that the name was originally spelled that way. It is not certain exactly when the myth originated, but in 1900 Oscar Kuhns published The Germans and Swiss settlements of colonial Pennsylvania: a study of the so-called Pennsylvania Dutch. In it he stated the Bushongs were French Huguenots and their name was originally Beauchamp...

Rev. A. Stapleton published this book in 1901- "Memorials of the Huguenots in America, with special reference to their emigration to Pennsylvania"

county and was the head of the Bushong family of Berks county, while another son, Peter, emigrated to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, and founded the Southern branch."}}

Multiple lines of colonial Bushongs immigrated

One theory fostered by some, was that there were numerous different lines of Bushongs entering Colonial America, some with different spellings. To date there is no evidence to support this theory and to the contrary, thousands of Bushong descendants are listed as descendants of Hans Boschung and Johann Nicholas Boschung's son, Andreas. With a charting project for the entire Bushong 1930 United States census completed and most identified, it makes multiple lines that much more improbable.

Bosang descend from Bushong

This myth was first mentioned in the late 1980s or early 1990s by several Bushong researchers, who perceived a similarity between the surnames Bosang and Bushong. It was suggested that David Bosang, whose name was spelled Bosseng before it was Anglicized, had been a Bushong in Europe prior to leaving. Though lacking any European documentation, the myth gained a degree of legitimacy through repeated publishing of Bosang's United States documentation mixed with the Bushong name. It is probable that Bosseng is a variant spelling of the surname Bossong.

Some notable people, places, and businesses

Notes

References

References

  1. [https://archive.org/stream/collectionofupwa00rupp#page/66/mode/2up A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and Other Immigrants in Pennsylvania] page 67
  2. [https://archive.org/stream/collectionofupwa00rupp#page/84/mode/2up A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and Other Immigrants in Pennsylvania] page 84
  3. see also [[German placename etymology]]
  4. [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/bushong/2012-04/1335623829 The Origins and Meaning of the Swiss Bushong/Boschung Surname]
  5. Wikipedia [[German family name etymology. German Family Name Etymology]]
  6. [http://www.ifhg.ch/download/no24.pdf The Fribourg Institute of Heraldry and Genealogy]
  7. [http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?includedb=bushongunited Find the Descendants of Hans and Johann Nicholas Bushong]
  8. "Beyond Bushong on The Bushong United Website".
  9. Compliments of Dietmar Meyer, author, Register for the 1st and 2nd church book of the Reformed parish Waldfischbach, published 1986 and 1988, in Zweibrücken
  10. [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/BUSHONG/2012-03/1330953810 The Only Surviving Colonial American Bushong Family]
  11. [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/BUSHONG/2012-03/1332047658 The Only Surviving Colonial American Bushong Family Line-Step by Step]
  12. {{cite EB1911
  13. [http://www.horseshoe.cc/pennadutch/religion/reformed/reformed.htm The Reformed Church] of Lancaster, Pennsylvania
  14. [http://www.salemhellers.com/historyofsalemhellers Salem Hellers Church], Lancaster, Pennsylvania
  15. [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/bushong/2011-10/1318024409 The Bushong Slave Owners and Their Slaves]
  16. Search the [http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?includedb=bushongunited Bushong United Family Tree]
  17. [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/bushong/2012-01/1326559349 The 1930 Census for all Bushongs is Charted!]

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