Name/Title
1912 Bull Pageant to celebrate Sarah Wells BullEntry/Object ID
000429Tags
Bull Picnic, Bull PageantScope and Content
PAGEANT TO HONOR MRS. SARAH BULL
Five Hundred of Her Descendants to Attend Reunion in Orange County.
FIRST WOMAN SETTLER
Went to That Part of the State with Indians When Sixteen Years Old.
1912 [SPECIAL DISPATCH TO THE HERALD.] HAMPTONBURGH, N. Y.,
Members of that branch of the Bull family, known as the Orange county Bulls, came here from their homes in all parts of the county to-day and arranged to give an historical pageant in celebration of the bi-centennial of the arrival in Orange county of Sarah Wells Bull, the first white woman to set foot in that part of New York State. Sarah Wells was the great ancestor of all that part of the Bull family whose fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers were born in Orange County. Sarah Wells at fourteen was an orphan and was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Christopher, who lived on Long Island. In what is now Goshen, N. Y., Christopher Denn received a grant of land from the crown in Orange County. He went on an exploring trip and was so pleased with the country that he decided to settle there. He returned to Long Island with a party of Indians. When the time came for the settling party to set forth into the wilderness Mrs. Denn's illness prevented the Denns leaving at that time, so Sarah Wells, then sixteen years old, accompanied the Indians.
Landed Near Newburg. The party went up the Hudson River, landing near Newburg and then proceeded over land to what is now Hamptonburgh. The Denns followed later. So did William Bull. He settled at Newburgh, and there he married Sarah Wells. They built a stone manor house, commodious enough to entertain in the style of Colonial times, and strong enough to resist an attack that a band of roving Indians could make. The "Old Stone House" still stands at Newburgh; it has never left the possession of the Bull family. The sons and daughters of Sarah Wells and William Bull roved further afield in Orange county and built dwellings, cleared the land and founded the present village of Bullville. Sarah Wells Bull is said to have lived to the age of 102 and it is chronicled in the family records that on her 100th birthday she went trout fishing, returning with a goodly catch. The pageant arranged yesterday will be staged about the "Old Stone House" at Newburg. A young woman, garbed as Sarah Wells, will come through the forest with a number of Indians. A camp will be made on the lawn and a shelter built of rocks and boughs. This will be representative of Sarah Wells' party until the coming of Christopher and Mme. Denn.
To Have Marriage Ceremony. The next part of the pageant will represent Sarah Wells as mistress of the stone house, with Sarah Wells carrying the rocks in her apron. Lastly will come the ceremony by which Sarah Wells became the wife of the founder of the Bull family in Orange county. All the members of the Bull family who have once been inhabitants of Bullville will adjourn to Bullville, where will be held the basket picnic and "Bull reunion," which members of the family have taken part in annually at that village. It is expected more than five hundred of the family will take part in the reunion. At yesterday's meeting the regular officers of the Reunion Association chosen were: - Harry Bull, of Hamptonburgh, president, and Whitfield H. Bull, of Washingtonville, secretary. A committee to arrange for the pageant includes Harry Bull, Hamptonburgh; Whitfield H. Bull, Washingtonville; Mrs. Elizabeth Bull Ford, Bullville; J. L. S. Bull, Chester; Mrs. Campbell Hall and Miss Margaret Cooks, Stony Ford. Ebenezer Bull, the present occupant of the "Old Stone House," was added as an honorary member.
G GENEALOGYBANK Reunion of Bull Family Who First Located in New York County Two Hundred Years Ago
Sat, Jul 27, 1912 | Evening News (San Jose, CA) | Volume: 56
GIRL WENT TO ORANGE WITH A PARTY OF INDIANS
By The Union Press
New York, July 27. - Members of the Bull family held a well attended
meeting in the Grange hall at Hamptonburgh, Orange county, New York,
the other day and arranged plans for celebrating the 200th anniversary of
the advent of Sarah Wells in what is now Orange county. Sarah Wells was
the first white woman to set foot in that county. As she afterward became
the wife of William Bull, the first of that name to settle in this country,
she became the maternal ancestor of all those bearing the name of Bull.
According to history Sarah Wells was an orphan who lived with her adopted
parents, Christopher Denn and his wife, on Long Island. Denn received
a grant of land in Orange county and decided to settle upon it. As Denn and
his wife were prevented by circumstances just then to start for the new
locality, they sent their adopted daughter, Sarah Wells, who was then
only 16 years old, with a number of Indians to make the settlement. They
sailed up the Hudson, landing near the present site of Newburgh, and
proceeded overland to a spot near Hamptonburgh, where they made their
camp.