Name/Title
1935 Bull Picnic Newspaper articlesEntry/Object ID
001420Tags
Bull PicnicScope and Content
HAMPTONBURGH Their clan increased by the advent of a new member that very day, more than three hundred persons who bore the name of Bull or descendants of persons who bore it picnicked, transacted family business and renewed family friendship ties Saturday in the shadow of the ancestral stone house and its fine old trees in the hollow of the rolling Hamptonburgh meadows. It was the sixty-eighth annual family picnic of descendants of William Bull, English stone mason, and his wife, Sarah Wells, who were married in 1712, trekked westward to the untamed interior of Orange County and ten years later built with their own hands the home that now annually beckons to more than 4,000 descendants of that pioneer couple. The new member was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Thew of Hamptonburgh. Born just about the time the group assembled at the stone house, announcement of his arrival silenced all conjecture as to where the designation of youngest member of the family would fall. Meanwhile descendants of the builders roamed during the day through the venerable home, admiring paintings and photographs of their ancestors and studying curios and household articles indicative of how they lived. Plans are materializing, it was announced, for preservation of the ancestral home and its contents as a permanent family museum. Necessary improvements will be made, but the general lines and atmosphere of the house will be maintained, it was indicated. An Orphan Sarah Wells, mother of the family, was an orphan, adopted by Christopher Denn of New York, an importer. He had been given a grant of land by the English crown and in order to preserve his grant it was necessary to take formal possession. The sixteen-year-old girl set out for Orange County with three carpenters and six friendly Indians as companions. She met William Bull, a sturdy English stone mason, was building a tavern at Craigville when the party arrived. A short time afterward, in 1712, he erected Sarah, and erected a log cabin near the site of the present stone house, where the couple lived about ten years. Bull worked at Greycourt. He also built the General Knox headquarters near New Windsor. Apparently he was so busy that he had but little time to build his own home, for it took several years to complete it. Descendants of the family point with pride to the sturdy structure, which the couple directed and built, unaided. Sarah carried much of the stone with her own hands. Members of the family point not only to the number of children, but at least twelve married and reared large families. During the War of Independence the family divided. One son left for Canada to remain a British subject, and of interest to the family is a scarlet soldier’s tunic worn by the Tory ancestor, who left a good sized group of descendants in Canada. The coat was presented by the English descendants to the American group for preservation in the family museum. World War records show eight casualties among descendants of the Bulls. A glass case in the homestead contains photographs of nearly 100 members of the family who were in military service in the English and American army. Miniature of Homestead It is related that at the death of Sarah Wells, at the age of 102, she had 335 descendants. She is buried beside her husband in the little Hamptonburgh cemetery, a short distance from the farm house.
One addition to the museum Saturday was a miniature of the old stone house, made by Charles W. Slaughter of Warwick and his son, Guy, members of the family. The miniature serves as a depository for a museum fund, to which members may contribute for repairs and preservation of the homestead. The presentation was made by Mrs. Lillian Bull Waite of Newburgh, who suggested the model, and pointed out that the old stone house is the visible material symbol of the invisible strong bond of family union. Harry Bull of Chester, president of the organization, presided at the meeting. He introduced Mary Ophelia Houston of Newburgh, eighty-eight, as the oldest descendant of the family present. The youngest he said was the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. John Thew of Hamptonburgh, born at nine o'clock Saturday. Nancy Madison Bull of Buffalo, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bull and a grand-daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Bull of Monroe, attended the picnic. Marion O. Teed of Montgomery presented a chair formerly owned by Peter Bull, and a blanket quilted by daughters of William Bull and Sarah Wells, owned by George Eager of Montgomery as a gift to the museum. Robert Mel. Jackson of Hamptonburgh, secretary of the association... [Board of Managers Notice] Bull Crist of Montgomery and Albert C. Bull of Chester, as a member of the board of managers. Other managers whose terms hold over are E. M. Bull of Monroe, treasurer; Harty Bull of Hamptonburgh, Hamlet S. Roe of Chester, Jessie Zabriskie of Hackensack, Miss Cornelia Hawkins of Rutherford and Miss Dolly Booth of Campbell Hall. It was announced that Mary Ellsworth, in charge of the homestead for many years, would be unable to continue. Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Howell and Mrs. Charles Howell of Washingtonville will be in charge after September first. It was voted to hold the next reunion August fourth, 1936.
COCKS GENERATIONS HAVE FAMILY CLAMBAKE WALDEN — The annual reunion of the Cocks family, long residents of Walden, was held at Bendy Brook Scout Camp in East Walden Saturday. The reunion took the form of a clambake. Nearly thirty members of the family, representing four generations, attended. They were Mary and Anne Cocks of Wallkill; Theodore M. Cocks of New Rochelle; Mr. and Mrs. Amos Cocks of Walden; Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas L. Cocks of New York and their daughter Harriet; Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Park of Walden and daughters, Helen and Maggie; Valentine K. Garrison, Mayor of Plain Road, and family; Mr. and Mrs. Townsend and children, William and Gladys; Mr. and Mrs. John C. Cocks of New York; Mr. and Mrs. Francis V. Garrison of Plain Road; Mr. and Mrs. Norton Mills of Walden. The bake was prepared by Joseph Park, who was assisted by women of the family. Horse-shoe pitching contests were held, and the prize, a sand pail and shovel, went to Theodore Garrison. Maggie Park took aquatic honors with her mud-turtle stroke in the five yard free-for-all swimming race. The affair lasted all day.