Name/Title
83rd Bull Family PicnicEntry/Object ID
000504Tags
Bull PicnicScope and Content
MIDDLETOWN TIMES HERALD, MIDDLETO
(Main Article - Column 1)
300 Present For 83rd Bull Family Picnic
By JOHN McNALLY
GOSHEN - Between two and
three hundred members of the Bull
family gathered yesterday on the
Bull Stone House Farm four miles
from here just off the Sarah Wells
Trail for the eighty-third annual
family picnic. Members of the family came from as far away as Santa
Barbara, Calif., to be on hand for the reunion.
The Bull family, one of the oldest families in Orange County,
dates back to the beginning of the Eighteenth Century when Sarah Wells married William Bull. The house in which they lived,
known as the Stone House and built by William Bull in 1722, still
stands and is occupied by two descendants, Mr. and Mrs. Louis
Brown. In 1921 the family descendants formed a corporation to provide
for the upkeep of the original farm and Stone House which takes in
approximately 100 acres of land. During yesterday's picnic, Cadwell
Tyler, president of the William Bull and Sarah Wells Family Association, Incorporated, presented members of the family with blue
ribbons in recognition of particular achievements. Mr. Tyler is a family member and lives in Goshen. The association president presented a blue ribbon to Mrs. Elizabeth Bull Green, eighty-seven years old, for being the oldest family member present. Mrs. Green, a widow, lives at RD Two,
Middletown, and has attended each annual Bull picnic for the past
eighty-three years. She was born September twelfth, 1862.
Mr. Tyler presented another blue ribbon to Whitfield H. Bull of
Santa Barbara, Calif., for being the family member present who had
travelled farthest to arrive there. Mr. Bull is eighty years old and
has been a frequent visitor to the picnic. Last year's award for this
distinction of having travelled farthest was received by Mrs. Harry A. Sinclaire who came all the way from Honolulu.
The final blue ribbon handed out was received by Mrs. Wilkin Nesbitt of Ellenville in behalf of her infant son, Thomas Wilkin Nesbitt,
who was the youngest member of the family present, his age being four months and one week. New Managers Chosen
During the meeting Mr. Tyler withdrew from his membership as
one of the managers of the family corporation to permit the election
of a new member and the re-election of two more members, required by the corporation's laws. Newly elected to managership was E. Myron Bull of New York City, president of the Bull Steamship Lines there. Re-elected were
Robert McLeod Jackson, Campbell Hall, and Charles Johnson of
Chester. Brief addresses were delivered yesterday by Mr. Jackson and the
Rev. Charles Beattie Thompson of Thompson Ridge, both of whom
appealed for funds to support the installation of a new heating system in the Stone House. Mr. Jackson noted that the corporation managers had decided to install a new heating system after much deliberation. The contract
has been awarded to a Walden contractor for approximately $3,700.
Members of the family started to arrive at the Stone House Farm
as early as eight a. m. yesterday for the reunion. Events during the
day included the picnic, family meeting and a dance in the evening in the barn which ante-dates even the Stone House and still has its original coat of paint. The family claims descendants all over the continent. Among
these are descendants who went to Canada during the Revolutionary
War because of Tory sympathies. Among these was a George Bull,
one of the twelve children born to Sarah Wells and William Bull.
George Bull was ostracized from the family because of his sympathies for the British at the time of the Revolution and journeyed to
Canada and settled in New Brunswick. He fought for the British
and became a well-known captain. Was Crown Grant
The original Stone House Farm property was received by Sarah
Wells as a result of a grant from the British Crown in the early
Eighteen hundreds. The land grant was known as the Wawayanda
Patent and was granted to a group of speculators.
Because of their indebtedness Sarah Wells, a young girl at the
time, was chosen to head the expedition to Orange County. The
expedition left New York City by night to escape creditors, it is reported, and landed at New Windsor. From there they made their way to the present Bull property. William Bull arrived in America two years later and was rescued
by a Daniel Cromline from his imprisonment for debt aboard the
British ship which carried him to this country. Bull, a stone mason, reputedly
had left Ireland in a hurry, after a bridge which he was constructing
had collapsed. This left him financially embarrassed and he came
to America with the hope of starting over. Cromline paid Bull's debts, ac-
cording to the story, provided Bull would travel to the Wawayanda
Patent and help in building the settlement. Bull agreed and came
to Orange County. Shortly thereafter he married Sarah Wells.
(Caption Under Center Photo)
Family Reunion: Descendants of the William Bull-Sarah
Wells family (upper photo) shown during the eighty-third annual picnic reunion yesterday of this Orange County family dating from the early Eighteenth Century. Blue ribbon winners were, l. to r., (lower photo) Whitfield H. Bull, eighty, of Santa Barbara, Calif., member present from farthest away; Mrs. Wilkin Nesbitt of Ellenville, holding her son, Thomas Wilkin Nesbitt, 4 months, one week old and the youngest Bull present yesterday, and Mrs.
Elizabeth Bull Green who will be eighty-eight next September twelfth,
and was the oldest present. Photos by McNally.
(Right Column Article)
Bull Family Picnic
Attended by 300
The 83rd Annual Bull Family Picnic, which was held at the
famed Stone House in the Town of Hamptonburgh yesterday,
brought around 300 persons, most of them tracing their descent to William Bull and Sarah Wells, the pioneers. One observer noted that there were a greater number of persons coming a long distance for the event and a
larger number of strange faces than usual.
The new officers of the Bull Family Association are the Reverend Charles Beattie Thompson of Thompson Ridge, president;
Mrs. Sarah Wells Duffy, White Plains, Vice President; Robert
McL. Jackson, Campbell Hall, secretary; E. Myron Bull, New York
City, treasurer. Charles Johnson and Mr. Jackson were elected to
succeed themselves on the Board of Managers, while E. Myron Bull
was named to the board in place of Cadwell Tyler who also retired
as president. Mr. Bull, who is associated with the Bull Steamship Company, was making his first appearance at the picnic since he was a youth; his father, Ernest M. Bull, was treasurer for 22 years, until his death in 1943.
The Bull Family Association owns the historic house and over
100 acres of land. Although Bull family descendants live in the
house, the premises are maintained as a historical treasure
and may be inspected by visitors. Only recently, the Board of Managers arranged to have a modern hot-water heating system installed in the old house.
The interest which the Bull Family Association holds for its
members and associates was illustrated by the fifth appearance
of a couple from Garnerville, N.Y. The wife is a Bull descendant, but the husband is not. The picnics have, however, come to mean so much to him that he has stipulated with his employers that he is to have off each year
the day of the Bull picnic.
Tremendous interest was also aroused by a small book brought
to the picnic by a Michigan couple. A volume of fables, the
book was published in 1757 and on its inside cover bears the name
of Sarah Wells Bull. The couple also displayed a gold wire circlet
which was described as a "crosssection" of Sarah's wedding ring.