Jackson Jones Bushnell was the first full professor appointed to the Beloit College faculty in October 1849. His boyhood home had been Saybrook, Connecticut and his early business experience was as a bookkeeper. As a student at Yale in 1841, he worked his way through college, in part by ringing the college bell.

After leaving Yale, Mr. Bushnell spent a few months at Andover and then became agent for Western Reserve College. He was appalled at the lack of religious training, compelling him to seek a position with Beloit. Appointed professor of mathematics, Bushnell frequently found that his services also included financing. For a time, he was treasurer of the college. Mr. Bushnell, as a collegian and business man, had a keen realization that town and college shared a mutual interest. He was convinced that the fortunes of the college and this young city were interwoven. He was constantly being called upon for advice, counsel and friendly interest. It was in this spirit that Bushnell, in order to make the city of Beloit a better center for business and to afford the College better hospitality for its guests, built Bushnell House, at the time considered the finest hostelry outside Milwaukee.

It was not long before Mr. Bushnell ran into financial difficulties forcing him to disassociate himself from the College in order to bring order out of chaos. Prior to his death in 1873, Bushnell was able to discharge his obligations to the extent of $50,000, after which he resumed his obligation to the College. His home in South Beloit still stands as a monument to his community spirit and his love of walking to and from school. All this time Mr. Bushnell did not neglect his religious principles, serving as superintendent of the First Congregational Church Sabbath School.