Name/Title
72nd Annual Bull Picnic - MarriagesEntry/Object ID
000483Tags
Bull Family, Bull PicnicScope and Content
72nd ANNUAL BULL PICNIC
The people and not the weather assure the success of a social occasion. The last Wednesday in August this year was overcast and windy, with intermittent rain squalls. Accordingly luncheon was had in the Hamptonburgh Grange Hall, which was kindly put at our disposal. Both floors of the hall were filled with picnickers and an overflow ate in the Stone House. After luncheon all got together for the business meeting at the Grange Hall. Not since 1926 had rain compelled us to use the hall, but in that year and again this year it seemed as tho' friends only saw more of each other by being less scattered about. Later in the afternoon the day cleared off and we returned to the Stone House. Dancing in the barn from three to six o'clock made a hit with the young people.
Again, as in 1938 Dixie Anne Booth's pony "Billie Burke" and Culver Bull's horse "Colonel" were to furnish one of the high spots of the day for the children, who were lined up in queues to ride. Culver also supplied a light box wagon which held seven or eight children, and was sometimes drawn with its gay load by the horse and sometimes by hand. Indeed it seemed as tho' the children's joy in this amusement was unconfined. Miss Mildred A. Hagan was again with us, doing her part with games and stories. We aim to make the day so popular with the children that its memory will remain bright for many years, and certainly we succeeded this year.
Amy Bull Crist, the president, conducted the business meeting. She seems to have been born to the calling for besides accomplishing the agenda with dispatch, she kept the crowd in gales of laughter.
Greetings were announced from Alida J. Alton of Anacortes, Wash.; Harry Bull of Hamptonburgh, who was detained at the State Fair at Syracuse; Irving S. Bull of Winston-Salem, N. C.; Mrs. Ralph K. Bull of Washburn, Me., on behalf of the George Bull Family Association; Harriet Updegrove Bullock of Utica, N. Y.; Maria Horton Hurd, of Kansas City, Mo.; Rebeccah Boshough Lambrecht, of Jackson Heights, L. I.; Lelia May Bull Williams of Ossining, N. Y.; C. Everett and Martha Mould of St. Petersburg, Fla.; Nettie Allen Pitt of Los Angeles, Calif.; Anne Hepburn Smith of Jamestown, N. Y.; Susan Colston Minor Wilson of Brooklyn, N. Y.
Much interest was taken in a letter from Dr. R. C. Bull of Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., speaking of a group of his branch of the family in Colorado, who call themselves the "Western Herd", and last year held a picnic of their own.
The Canadian Bulls of Woodstock, N. B., and vicinity, also sent us a report of their second annual picnic, held on Bull Island in the St. John River at Woodstock on August 17 with over 80 present. This branch calls itself the George Bull Family Association, as they spring from "the late Captain George", as they call him. He was a son of William and Sarah's son Thomas, and was born in 1756 on the Thomas Bull farm on what is now the Goshen-Montgomery State Road, before Thomas built his stone house in 1769. Thomas himself and son George were staunch adherents of the crown. The former, being too old to go to war, was imprisoned at Goshen for his loyalty, and the latter won a captaincy from the King. He went with the United Empire Loyalists in 1783 to Canada and settled at Woodstock. He had eight children and his descendants are now numerous indeed. Large numbers of them have overflowed into Maine, where at Presque Isle their first picnic was held last year. Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Booth of Campbell Hall, N. Y., were at the Woodstock picnic this year and gave us a report of the occasion.
When George went to Canada in 1783, his Uncle Richard Bull with his wife and two children and William Bull, son of Richard's brother John (of the "Stone House") also were of the party. Richard and William settled far to the south of Woodstock, at Smithtown, about 18 miles from St. John, where their descendants are numerous today. We are sorry to report the death on April 9th of this year of Andrew S. Beyea of Smithtown. Mr. Beyea took a great interest in our association here, annually sending us greetings and many family data, which were greatly appreciated.
Genevieve Decker Nave, wife of Lieut. Wm. Nave of Vancouver Barracks, Washington, received the blue ribbon for coming the greatest distance. Miss Sarah A. Smith of Central Valley, 87 years of age, was found to be the oldest present, and Alfred Booth III, aged 14 months, son of Pierson Booth of Warwick, was found to be the youngest (and some said the handsomest) baby.
Among those present for the first time were: Mrs. Anna Fuller Bennett of Cheshire, Mass.; Miss Jean S. Hoeffner of Newark, N. Y., of the line of Richard, of which very few representatives ever come to the Picnic, as for the most part they dwell in Canada; Mrs. Samuel R. Park and Clayton C. Purdy of Caro and Grosse Pointe, Mich., respectively; Maysie Thompson Osborne of Middletown; Russell Earle of Walden and his wife, his sister, Eleanor Earle Carman and her husband, Wm. H. Carman of Southfields, N. Y., and their fine family of one girl and four boys. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Dally of Monroe, N. Y., were also present for the first time with their son and daughter. Mrs. Dally is a granddaughter of Ida Bull of Monroe. Mr. Dally is chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Orange County. George S. Bull of Tappan, N. Y., formerly of Whitney Point, came for the first in 20 years, bringing his wife and son.
We noticed three recent brides with their husbands: Margery Bull and John Jackson of Poughkeepsie; Catherine Parry and John E. Griffin of Highland Falls; and Elinor Shepard Bull and Carl Stahlbrand of Boston, who made the trip over just for the occasion.
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It was a special pleasure to see Emily C. Duryea Hunter, formerly of Pine Bush, now of Mt. Vernon, who had been absent for a number of years. She came with her nephew, Edward D. Decker of New Rochelle. Others rarely present were the Rev. Charles B. Thompson of Hudson and his wife and daughters Mary Jane and Jean.
There was a large representation of the Post family of Deposit. Representatives of this branch first began coming a few years ago and we hope that they will be among our regular attendants. This group included William D. Post, Sara A. Post, Harvey S. Kelly, Elizabeth Post Kelly, Mrs. Bert Conklin, Mrs. John W. Dailey, and Mrs. Clarence M. Nolan, all from Deposit; Mrs. Sara Bull Lee of Windsor; Rena, Jorene and Joseph H. Post of Binghamton; Mrs. Elizabeth Walker of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Mr. and Mrs. Albert Salisbury and son and daughter, Don and Nancy, from Morrisville, Pa.
Another large group was that of the Hawkins and Andrews families of Rutherford, N. J., of whom there were: the Misses Jane Bull and Cornelia Hawkins and their sister Emeline Hawkins Andrews, her daughter, Miss Cornelia H. Andrews; Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy Sinclaire and their sons, Jim and Barry; Mr. and Mrs. Geo. R. Andrews, Jr., and their son, George R., III.
There is, we believe, but one member of the family living who has attended all the picnics since they were begun in 1868, and that is Elizabeth Bull Greene of Stony Ford, who has the energy and gaiety of a woman 20 years her junior. For many of us the picnic would not be quite complete without her presence. To some of us it seems almost that Aunt Lizzie will always be at the picnic, befall what may to others of us.
Indeed in a family institution such as ours intimations of immortality are always with us. Well loved faces, long since gone, are brought vividly back by a son or daughter or a grandchild. In one remarkable instance, the little Phoebe Bull Vandervort in her sweet childish miniature goes back a generation still further, and in our mind's eye we see before us her great grandmother, the late Phoebe Bull, wife of William Bull V of Stony Ford, as she must have looked when herself a little girl she played at home in the Stone House a hundred years ago. Then there is that spirit of hospitality now stretching on into its third century, and become a living tradition which may even mold the character of the dwellers in the house. Certain it is that the late Ebenezer Bull and his wife carried on the ways of his forebears and always made us welcome, and it all comes over us as a gracious atmosphere when we stand in the living room before the pictures of that honored couple. We, of the family, scattered from New Brunswick to California, know ourselves fortunate indeed in that the friendliness of that past is with us today in the present hosts of the house, Louis and Corinne Bull Brown, of the line of John, whose representatives have always occupied the place. They seem to make no effort and yet one feels instantly at home with them. It is no sinecure to preside over a house in which literally thousands of people feel a sort of proprietary interest, any of whom, as well as of the general public, may appear at any time. In fact there are not many of us who would be equal to the situation. In having the Browns in the house the Association has something no amount of money could buy.
To return to the business meeting: Hamlet S. Roe, who has been a manager since our incorporation in 1921 and has rendered the Association invaluable services, was reelected to the Board, as was Vertrees L. Ackerly. Margaret Cocks Harlow was the new member chosen. The Board held its organization meeting and elected the following officers for the ensuing year: Amy Bull Crist, President. Hamlet S. Roe, Vice-President. Ernest M. Bull, Treasurer. Robert McLeod Jackson, Secretary.
While the ballots for the managers were being counted, Mr. Jackson spoke of his visit this summer to Wolverhampton, England, where William Bull, founder of the family, was born in 1689. The church in which William was baptized is substantially as it was in his day and is today the most outstanding building in the city.
The president appointed Dolly W. Booth chairman of the Reception Committee for 1940, and Bartow Wright Bull chairman of the Picnic Committee, with power to choose the other members of their respective committees.
We were especially sorry to learn of the illness of our treasurer, Ernest M. Bull, and a resolution of greeting was passed to be sent him.
The Association is indebted to Mr. Harry C. Bull of Chester who made for us this year three tables and six benches.
The following are the family statistics which have come to the knowledge of the Secretary since the last picnic:
Marriages
1935 Aug. 10-Wheeler, Roe Wisner and Mrs. Etta Abigail White Wheeler, both of Warwick, N. Y. 1938 Feb. 10-Wilson, Edmund, of Stamford, Conn., (grandson of Rev. Dr. Thaddeus Wilson), and Mary Therese McCarthy, of New York City, formerly of Seattle, Wash. Feb. 19-Bull, George R. to Sarah Curran, both of Buffalo, N. Y. Aug. -Sturtevant, Stella, to Ross D Jackman, both of Bothel, Washington. Sept. 7-Wilkin, Crosby J., of Wallkill, N. Y., to Mary L. F. Langwick. Sept. 29-Kierstead, Muriel Louise, of Waverly, Mass., to Frank Robichaud of Cambridge, Mass. Oct. 8-Gray, Dorothy, of Burnside, N. Y., to Charles Louis Radzinsky, of Middletown, N. Y. Oct. 8-Bull, Meriel Chase, to Nicholas W. Mitchell, both of Winston-Salem, N. C. Oct. 20-Bull, Alden S., of Presque Isle, Me., to Kathleen Allen of Westfield, Me. Oct. 27-Hardenbergh, Dr. Daniel Bailey, of Bridgeport, Conn., to Betty Jane Scott, of San Diego, Calif. Oct. 29-Bull, Margery Knight, to John Berthold Jackson, both of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Dec. 3-Bull, Mary Elizabeth, of Milford, Pa., and Alfred E. Sharp, of Baltimore, Md. Dec. 10-Bull, Mary Elizabeth, of Stony Ford, N. Y., to J. Malcolm Bazemore, M. D., of New York City and Augusta, Ga. 1939 Jan. 7-Tobin, Mary Louise, of Trenton, N. J., and Philip Mortimer Darby, of Mount Airy, Pa. Jan. 29-McClung, Margaret Christine, of Campbell Hall, N. Y., to Joseph Walter Wilcox, of Middletown, N. Y. Feb. 25-Tyler, Cadwell, II, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and Jean Elizabeth Keller, of Ossining, N. Y. Mar. 4-Bull, Beulah, of Washburn, Me., to J. Norman Howe, of Gap, Pa. April 9-Blake, James Wesley, of Maybrook, N. Y., and Ethel Margaret Gleason, of Drury Lane, Town of Newburgh, Orange County, N. Y. April 28-Schweizer, Emily Josephine, of New York City (granddaughter of Wm. J. Weller, of Goshen) and Charles Clinton Burke, Jr., of Plainfield, N. J.Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Bull Family, Bull Picnic