Name/Title
Bull Family's 90th Reunion August 29, 1957Entry/Object ID
000517Tags
Bull PicnicScope and Content
Thursday, August 29, 1957
Bull Family's 90th Reunion at Stone House
Family Traces Descent Back To Sarah Wells and William Bull
For the 90th time, the descendants of William Bull and Sarah
Wells gathered on the lawn in front of the Old Stone House in
Hamptonburgh for an annual reunion picnic. The crowd, numbering
well over 300, came from all parts of the country, plus Canada
and Scotland. The Bull family traces its lineage back to William Bull, who was born in Wolverhampton, England in 1689 and to Sarah Wells who was born
on Staten Island in 1694. The couple met and were married
somewhere in the vicinity of what is now Hamptonburgh, and William
Bull then set about to building the Old Stone House. This house,
completed in 1722, took William 13 years to build. Though building slow, he did build well, and the fieldstone walls are still standing straight and strong, exactly as he left them 235 years ago. Another example of William
Bull's craftsmanship can be seen in the Knox's headquarters House in
Vails Gate, which was built by him in 1754, one year before his death
in 1755. Sarah, outlived her husband by 41 years, passing away in
1796. The pair left a total of 12 children, and it is to these that the
present Bull family traces its lineage. The children, and their birth
dates are as follows: John 1721, William 1723, Sarah 1752, Thomas
1727, Isaac 1729, Esther 1731, Mary 1733, Margaret 1736, Catherine
1738, Ann 1740, Richard 1743 and Eleanor 1745.
At the reunion this year, there were 273 attending who signed the
register, plus many more that did not add their name to the list. The
crowd was approximated at about 300 or more. Among those attending were families from Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, No. Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington, D. C., Massachusetts, Michigan and Alaska. Also coming, were members of the family who have since left the country: these
being from such places as Montreal and New Brunswick, Canada
and Edinburgh, Scotland. The reunion picnic took place on tables set up in the shade of trees between the house and the barn. Ribbons were given to the youngest and oldest attending members of the family, and a short business meeting was held in the Stone House after the picnic and ceremonies were finished.
Middle Left Caption (Beside House Photo)
OLD STONE HOUSE - This is the house which William Bull built
235 years ago in 1722. The building is still straight and strong and
shows no sign of decay. The line of holes around the first story are
not (as some suppose) gun ports but are scaffolding braces which
Mr. Bull never filled in after completing the house. Mr. Louis
Brown and family still make their home here, and keep the house
open to visitors who wish to go through the ancestral abode.
BLUE RIBBON WINNERS - Blue ribbons were awarded to Mrs. Jennie Duryea Cranston, 90, and to Gary Fowler Johnson, born May 9, 1957, here shown with his father Charles F. Johnson, for being the oldest and the youngest members of the Bull family to attend the reunion. Mrs. Cranston comes
from Middletown, while young Gary is a resident of Chester.
FROM FAR AND NEAR - Coming from all parts of this country, Canada, and even Scotland, the descendants of William and Sarah Bull came together for their annual reunion. Gathered here are the closest, Louis Brown, son William
Brown, and Corinne Brown; all living in the Stone House at the present. With them are the Bull descendants who traveled the farthest to attend the gathering; they are Harry D. Roberts and wife Mildred F. Roberts, from Alaska.
Bottom Left Caption (Beside Group Photo)
PART OF the more than 300 descendants of William and Sarah Bull gather under one of the spreading trees on the lawn beside Old Stone House. A business meeting was held after the picnic at which Reverend Charles B. Thompson of Thompson Ridge was reelected president of the group.