Name/Title
94th Bull Picnic Aug 28, 1961 "The Evening News"Entry/Object ID
000524Tags
Bull PicnicScope and Content
The Evening News (Middletown, NY) — Aug. 28, 1961
THE EVENING NEWS
Mon., Aug. 28, 1961
Middletown, Goshen Offices
Accept News
Bull Family Reunion Scheduled Aug. 26
CAMPBELL HALL-Robert McLeod Jackson, Campbell Hall, will
be honored at the 94th annual Bull family picnic, Aug. 26, for his "lifetime interest and devotion" to the Bull family, including 41 years as
secretary of the William Bull and Sarah Wells Family Association, Inc.
The outing and business meeting will be held at the Bull Stone
House of 1722 at Hamptonburgh, just off the Sarah Wells Trail. The
event was designed by the association's board of managers as
"Robert McLeod Jackson Day." After a basket luncheon at noon,
the family corporation will conduct its business, including the election
of three managers for three years to succeed Earl Dickerson,
Thompson Ridge; Henry G. Parry Jr., Highland Falls, and Chester Roe,
Loudonville, whose terms are expiring. Mr. Dickerson, who is county
highway superintendent, will preside at the meeting as president.
Other officers besides Secretary Jackson are Harney P. Bull, Middletown, treasurer, and Rev. Charles Beattie Thompson, Thompson Ridge, president emeritus. Members of the association are descended from William Bull of
Wolverhampton, England, who came to America in 1716, and from
Sarah Wells, regarded as the first white woman to become a permanent resident in the Goshen area. William and Sarah were married in 1718 in a double cabin built by her foster father, Christopher Denne, a Staten Island carpenter, one of the dozen original holders of the Wawayanda Patent of 1703. Nine years after the marriage, Bull completed the three-story stone house which will be the site of the family meeting this month.
William Bull died in 1756 and his wife died in 1796 at the age of 102,
leaving at her death, 12 children, 98 grandchildren, 212 great-grand-
children and 13 great-great-grandchildren. Miss Elizabeth Sharts, in her
book, "Land O' Goshen, Then and Now," says of Sarah: "She may
be called the original Goshen career girl, apparently Goshen's first
permanent resident."
Clipping 2: Photo Caption (Center)
Bulls picnic indoors
More than 300 descendants of William and Sarah Wells
Bull gathered at the Hamptonburg Grange for the Bull
family annual picnic Saturday. The picnic was previously
held at the Stone House in Hamptonburgh, which has been
in the Bull family since 1718. Craig Dansbury, 13, left,
and his brother Wayne, 8, of Columbus, N.J., mourned
the fact that their picnic was held indoors this year be-
cause of rain. The oldest Bull to attend the picnic was
Sally Bull Wells of Newburgh, 96. -- TH-Record Photo.
Clipping 3: Article (Right)
Bull Family Has Reunion Despite Rainy Afternoon
HAMPTONBURGH - Approximately 225 descendants of William
and Sarah Wells Bull braved heavy intermittent showers Saturday
to attend the 94th annual picnic and business meeting of the
family. Members came from as far away as California, Texas,
Utah and Minnesota. The occasion honored Robert
McLeod Jackson of Campbell Hall, secretary for 41 years of the
William Bull and Sarah Wells Family Association, Inc. A portrait of Mr.
Jackson, painted by Mrs. Ruth Mutchler of Monroe, was presented
to him to be hung in the Bull Stone House here, currently occupied by
Mr. and Mrs. Louis E. Brown and family. Mr. Jackson was re-elected secretary of the association. Also re-elected were Earl Dickerson,
Thompson Ridge, president; Chester Roe, Loudonville, N.Y.,
vice president; Henry P. Bull, Middletown, treasurer. Andrew
Wilson Jr., Scarsdale, was elected to the board to replace Henry G.
Parry Jr., Highland Falls. Also on the board are the Rev.
Charles Beattie Thompson, Thompson Ridge, president emeritus;
Charles F. Johnson Jr., Chester; Harriet Patterson Hunter, Chester;
Edward Duryea Decker, New York City, and Mrs. John I. Brush,
West Hempstead. Awards were made to Mrs. Sarah Bull Wells, 96, of 25 Courtney Ave., Newburgh, the oldest member present; Dorothy Huff,
infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Huff of Roosevelt, L.I. and
granddaughter of Mrs. Brush, youngest present, and Miss Martha Meyers,
Los Angeles, Calif., traveling the greatest distance.
The event was held in the Hamptonburgh Grange Hall instead of
the Stone House lawn. Next year's reunion will begin on the fourth
Saturday in August.
KC Holds Annual Picnic [Cut off)
Clipping 4: Portrait Presentation Caption (Bottom Right Photo)
PRESENTED WITH PORTRAIT - Robert McLeod Jackson (left), secretary for
41 years of the William Bull and Sarah Wells Family Association, was presented with a portrait of himself at the 94th annual reunion Saturday. Shown with him are Rev. Charles Beattie Thompson, (center), Thompson Ridge, president emeritus, and Sarah Wells Duffy who unveiled the portrait. Sarah is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Spencer Duffy, Campbell Hall.