Name/Title
95th Bull Picnic Aug 27, 1962 "Middletown Times Herald Record"Entry/Object ID
000529Tags
Bull PicnicScope and Content
Monday, August 27, 1962 THE MIDDLETOWN TIMES HERALD RECORD
The oldest and the youngest members of the Bull Family of Orange County at the 95th annual Bull Family picnic are shown here with the child's mother. They are Bartow W. Bull, 88, and Russell W. Smiley, 2 months old. His mother is Mrs. William H. Smiley of Crystal Run. About 200 members of the family attended the annual picnic Saturday. Coming the longest distance to attend the picnic here was Mr. and Mrs. Alton A. Nance of Houston, Texas.
--TH-Record photo by Earl Crawford.
225 at Bull family reunion
By MILDRED PARKER SEESE TH-Record Correspondent
HAMPTONBURGH
From Texas to Stony Ford, from Oxford, Miss., and Grand Rapids,
Mich., from most of the 50 states and from innumerable communities and farms of Orange County came descendants of William and Sarah Wells Bull by the scores Saturday to break bread and socialize with their kindred for the 95th annual reunion of the pioneer family. In accordance with custom, the
95th reunion was held under the old trees on the lawn surrounding
the large stone house completed by William and Sarah in 1727,
where Louis and Corinne (Bull) Brown now reside.
The youngest among the juveniles was Russell William Smiley,
two months old, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Smiley of Stony Ford.
His presence put Mr. and Mrs. Charles Thew of Hamptonburgh
among several 4-generation groups at the picnic.
The 88 years of Bartow Wright Bull of Stony Ford made him the
oldest picnicker as well as the oracle for remembering past picnics and identifying cousins and inlaws without aid of the voluminous
family records now in the keeping of Miss Dolly Watkins Booth of
Warwick. Among the guests were Miss Katherine H. Ostermam of Langley, Va., granddaughter of Dr. Stephenson H. Walsh, second to undertake an effort to list all the descendants of William and Sarah for eventual publication. Since they had twelve children who matured and married, their progeny runs into the thousands. Dr. Walsh took over the prodigious task from its originator, Prof. Richard H. Bull of the College of the City
of New York. Miss Booth of Warwick is the third to carry on the work begun nearly a century ago. On distance, Alton and Edna Nance of Houston, Texas, crowded out Dale A. Land of Grand Rapids, Mich., Nancy Walker of Oklahoma
City, George and Elaine Shearer of Daytona Beach, Fla., and Mary Elizabeth Hammond of Oxford, Miss.