Family History

Justus Bush (1698 – 1760) was a wealthy merchant from New York City who became a farmer and Town Selectman in Cos Cob (Greenwich) and eventually moved to Rye.

During his life, he purchased multiple plots of land in Greenwich and Rye. In 1726, he bought 220 acres of land (an eighteenth share of undivided lands in Peningo Neck Purchase) from John and Jonathan Brundage, “at the very low price of eight pounds.” This land extended from Byram Ridge located to the west on King Street and down to the Byram River.

In 1750, Justus Bush gave this land to his son, Abraham Bush (1720 – 1814), who had married Ruth Lyon. Abraham and Ruth Lyon Bush lived on the farm in what is the current Bush Lyon Homestead. The couple had two sons, Abraham and Gilbert, and five daughters. Like other members of his family, Abraham Bush, Sr., was a farmer and merchant. As such, he was the captain of a sloop that travelled among villages all along the Long Island Sound and into New York City.

According to the 1790 census, Abraham Bush, Sr. was the head of a household that included 9 people: two free white males over the age of 16, two free white males under the age of 16, three white females, and two slaves.

Interestingly, Justus Bush also bought a house and land in Cos Cob in 1738. He willed this property to his son, David, in 1761. Like his brother Abraham Sr., David operated a farm, store, and sloop out of Cos Cob. Today, this property is a museum known as the Bush-Holley House.