Page 4 - News On 7 January 2022

HAZZARD'S HISTORY NOTES

by Grant Ketcheson

SAMUEL HENRY BUSH 1867-1947
Sam Bush, the son of Samuel Bush and Mary Rider, was born in November 1867. As a matter of interest, his mother was the daughter
of Seneca Rider who fought for the Americans in the War of 1812 before homesteading in Madoc Township. Seneca Rider is buried in
Hazzard's Cemetery. One of a family of five children, Sam, a bachelor-farmer, lived his entire life on the Bush farm located on Lot 5,
Concession 10 in Madoc Township. This was on the west side of what is now Highway 62, just south of Hazzard's Road. Some may
remember a little tarpaper-sided cabin along the highway.
As well as operating his little farm, Sam Bush was a self-taught, amateur veterinarian. In Sam's era, every rural 50-100 acres
supported a family. Each of these small farms had horses and cattle. In the early 1900s, there were probably a hundred and fifty such
farms in Madoc Township. With so many animals, there were bound to be a few sick ones. As no professionals were readily available,
farmers initially relied on home remedies, many of these passed on from generation to generation. For example, a common treatment
for cows with digestive problems was dosing with a tea brewed from the inner-bark of a slippery elm tree (a particular type of elm
tree that farmers knew on sight). There were numerous patent medicines available, the most common being “Dr. Bell's Veterinary
Medical Wonder.” Many booklets on animal diseases were published by the producers of these patent medicines. When a home
remedy failed to save the poor beast, the last resort was a call to a local amateur veterinarian and Sam Bush was one of those. This
meant a trip, day or night, to pick up the local medicine man, as Sam had neither phone nor car.
Sam carried his various potions, powders and liniments in a worn eleven-quart wooden basket and was always on call. In 1937, an
entry in my grandfather's diary noted that “Sam Bush came to treat a horse.” Bob Moorcroft, who grew up on Hunt Club Road,
remembers Sam Bush coming to their farm to tend to a sick cow. (After 75 years, I can still recall the strong liniment smell of Sam's
basket).
Sadly, in November 1947, on the road in front of his home, Sam was struck by a car. While in hospital, he contracted pneumonia and
died a week later. With no family nearby to mark his passing or tend his grave, his fellow members of Hazzard's Corners Loyal Orange
Lodge #1133 and the Hazzard's Corners community rallied round. His tombstone bears these simple words:
Samuel Bush 1867-1947
Erected by LOL 1133 & Community.

Dr. Bell, with his business located Handbooks such as Fleming's Veterinary The monument in Hazzard's
in Kingston, was known all across Advisor, (revised 1926 edition, price 10 cents), Cemetery, erected in Sam's
Canada for his patented Dr. Bell's guided farmers and practitioners such as Sam memory.
Veterinary Medical Wonder. Bush.
Probably every barn in Madoc
Township had a bottle of this
magic elixir. (One of its many
ingredients was strychnine).