Daniel Brown Bush Sr. was born in Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts on May 18, 1790. Colonel Bush was a graduate of Lenox Academy. In 1814 he was admitted to the Massachusetts State Bar. Along with the practice of his legal profession Colonel Bush served several terms in the Massachusetts General Assembly.
On March 31, 1819 he married Maria Merrick daughter of Deacon Joseph Merrick of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Six children were born to the marriage. Anna Maria Bush (1819-1825), Joseph Merrick Bush (1822-1906), Ellen DeWitt Bush (1826-1893), Maria Merrick Bush (1826-1854), Daniel Brown Bush Jr. (1827-1913) and Chauncey Carroll Bush (1831-1907). In 1825 Colonel Bush was the Captain of the Berkshire Greys a favorite military company that had the honor of escorting General Lafayette through the streets.
On Christmas night 1831 Maria Merrick Bush died. In February 1834 Colonel Daniel Brown Bush Sr. married Mrs. Adeline Geer Sellon widow of Reverend John Sellon of the Episcopal Church. Daniel B. Bush Sr and Adeline had four children. Eugene Bush (1835-1836),Theodore Bush (1842-1863), Edward G. Bush (1838-1892) and Lucia M. Bush (1845-1929).
In October of 1834 Colonel Bush left Pittsfield, Massachusetts upon the advice of Colonel William Ross a former resident of Pittsfield, Massachusetts who now resided in Pittsfield, Illinois. Colonel Bush arrived in Pittsfield and from that date until the day of his death it became his hometown.
Since 1864 when owing to health issues he retired. Colonel Bush always stayed informed and interested in public events and home affairs. It was said that no other man kept up with the knowledge of events happening both near and afar. The walls of his room were covered with maps of the world so he could reference them while reading about some event in a far off land.
Adeline Bush would suffer a stroke in late April 1874 that would leave her with palsy on the right side of her body. She was unable to stand or walk. She died on May 15, 1874. Many times in the years following her death Colonel Bush would speak affectionately and kindly about her.
Throughout the last years of his life Colonel Bush was stuck with considerable pain. When the end came on November 23, 1885 he passed away peaceably at the “Old Homestead” that he had settled into in 1836.