Name/Title
Aug 1939 Bull PicnicEntry/Object ID
002989Tags
Bull PicnicScope and Content
Presidency of Bull Clan Again Falls to Mrs. Crist
Rain on Occasion of 72nd
Family Reunion Chases Picnickers Indoors
Aug. 31, 1939 -
Family Leader
[Main Text - Column 1]
HAMPTONBURGH — The presidency of one of the County's oldest
families, that of William Bull and Sarah Wells, who were married in
1718, fall for the fourth year yesterday to Mrs. Amy Bull Crist of
Montgomery. She was re-elected at the seventy-second annual Bull
picnic, and the nineteenth annual meeting of The William Bull &
Sarah Wells Family Association, Inc.
Rain confined the 300 basket picnickers to the shelter of the old
stone house built by William Bull in 1722, and to the barn, garage
and Hamptonburgh Grange hall nearby. The clan held its business
session afterward in the Grange hall.
Winners of the blue ribbon for traveling the greatest distance were
Mrs. Genevieve Decker Nave and young son, John, from Vancouver,
Washington. Mrs. Nave is the wife of Capt. William L. Nave of
Vancouver Barracks, United States Army, who, with his family, will be
transferred in January to Honolulu for two years.
The oldest person present was Miss Sarah Smith, eighty-seven, of
Central Valley, and the second oldest was Mrs. Ketura Booth, eighty,
of Campbell Hall. Last year, Miss Smith was second to Mrs. King
David Bull of Monroe, then eighty-eight.
Youngest of the family present for his second year was Alfred
Booth, fourteen months, son of Mr. and Mrs. Pierson Booth of
Warwick.
Other Officers Chosen
Other officers chosen by the Board of Managers after the meeting were Hamlet S. Roe of Chester, re-elected vice president; Ernest M. Bull of Blooming Grove, reelected treasurer; Robert McLeod Jackson of
Campbell Hall and New York, re-elected secretary.
The Association chose as managers for three years, Mr. Roe;
Mrs. Raymond Ackerly of Crystal Run, and Mrs. Margaret C. Harlow,
of Sidney.
Managers whose terms had expired were Mr. Roe, Mrs. Ackerly
and Jesse F. Zabriskie of Hackensack, N. J. Also nominated for the
office was Mrs. George Ackerly of Crystal Run. Tellers were Charles
Thew of Campbell Hall, Mark Roe of Chester, and Kennedy Sinclair
of Rutherford, N. J.
[Photo Caption]
MRS. AMY BULL CRIST
Mrs. Crist was chosen again as president of the Bull family at
reunion of the clan in Hamptonburgh.
[Main Text - Column 2]
Mrs. Crist appointed to the property committee, Hamlet S. Roe,
chairman; Mrs. Raymond Ackerly and Harry C. Bull of Chester. Miss
Dolly Booth of Campbell Hall was named chairman of the reception
committee, and Bartow Wright Bull of Stony Ford, chairman of picnic
committee.
Secretary Jackson recalled for a delighted audience his trip this
Summer to Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, birthplace of
William Bull. The city's name, frequently shortened to Hampton, came
with William to Orange County to give this community its name of
Hamptonburgh, Mr. Jackson related.
The secretary described the ancient Collegiate Church of St. Peter
at Wolverhampton where William Bull was baptized September second,
1689. Of brown stone, it was built before the year 1500 with the
exception of the apse, which went up in the 1860s.
So important is the church regarded today by the city, Mr. Jackson
said, that residents raised $50,000 in two weeks this year for re-
pairs.
The speaker traced the church's history to the year 994 when the
princess, Wolfrum, cousin of Wolfgang, king of the Angles, wanted to
gain a seat in heaven. She desired to endow a church for masses, and
obtained permission from the archbishop to convey tracts of land to
the church. On the site at the time for many years was a monastery.
Previously referred to as Hampton, meaning on a hill, the setting
soon became Wolfrum's Hampton, which later was simplified to
Wolverhampton.
[Main Text - Column 3]
Bull Family in Canada
Alfred Booth of Campbell Hall told of his presence at the picnic of
the Richard Bull Family Association of Canada, August nineteenth at
Woodstock, New Brunswick. Richard, youngest son of William and Sarah
Wells Bull, went to New Brunswick with the Loyalists in 1783.
Mr. Booth said the reunion was held on an island in the St. John
River, once owned for more than 100 years by the Bulls, but recently
acquired as public property for a fairground and park. Because of
rain there, too, the ninety picnickers ate indoors. The association, Mr.
Booth reported, met alternately at Woodstock and at Presque Isle, Me.
During yesterday's meeting, Miss Mildred Hagan, New York teacher,
entertained the children at the Stone House with games, stories and
cutouts. Adding to the fun again this year were the saddle horse brought
by Culver Bull, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Bull of Hamptonburgh, and
the pony brought by Dixie Anne Booth, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Pierson Booth of Warwick. Youngsters took turns riding throughout
the day.
After the meeting, an orchestra played in the barn for dancing until
six p.m. Many persons remained for supper in the evening.
Among letters received offering best wishes for the meeting were
those from three other branches of the family; the Richard Bull
Association in Canada; the Western Herd of the Bull Family; the
Connecticut Tribes of Bull.
On motion of Hamlet S. Roe, the Association sent regrets to
Treasurer Ernest M. Bull of Blooming Grove, who was to return home
yesterday after suffering a stroke recently at Nantucket, Mass.
The Association also voted its appreciation to the Hamptonburgh
Grange for use of its building.