Obadiah Newcomb Bush was an ancestor of the Bush political family. Born in Penfield, New York

Penfield, New York

Penfield is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States. The population was 36,242 at the 2010 census.The town was incorporated in 1810 by the proprietor, Daniel Penfield, who purchased the town lands in 1795 and moved to the area in 1809. Penfield is a suburb of Rochester, New York...

 to blacksmith Timothy Bush, Jr. (1761–1850) and Lydia Newcomb, he left home during the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

. On November 8, 1821, he married Harriet Smith (1800–1867) in Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

. They had seven children, among them James Smith Bush

James Smith Bush

Rev. James Smith Bush was an attorney, Episcopal priest, and religious writer, and an ancestor of the Bush political family. He was the father of business magnate Samuel Prescott Bush, grandfather of US Senator Prescott Bush, great-grandfather of former US President George H. W. Bush and...

.

In Rochester, Bush became a schoolmaster and was on a committee that nominated candidates for justice of the peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

. He and his brother Henry, a manufacturer of stoves, were known abolitionists. He served as vice president of the American Anti-Slavery Society

American Anti-Slavery Society

The American Anti-Slavery Society was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass was a key leader of this society and often spoke at its meetings. William Wells Brown was another freed slave who often spoke at meetings. By 1838, the society had...

 and supported the Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...

. He petitioned the New York State Legislature to secede from the Union in a protest against slavery, after which The Rochester Daily Advertiser accused him of encouraging anarchy

Anarchy

Anarchy , has more than one colloquial definition. In the United States, the term "anarchy" typically is meant to refer to a society which lacks publicly recognized government or violently enforced political authority...

.

In 1849, he traveled to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 due to the gold rush

California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...

, leaving wife and children behind. After two years, he was on his way home to reclaim his family and take them west, when he died aboard the ship and was given a sea burial.