Name/Title
136th Bull Family Annual PicnicEntry/Object ID
000642Tags
William Bull and Sarah Wells Stone House AssociationScope and Content
1. 136th Bull Family Reunion (2003)
The clipping on the left, from the Times Herald-Record (August 23, 2003), highlights the 136th annual Bull family reunion held at the historic Bull Stone House in Hamptonburgh, NY.
Historical Site: The Bull Stone House was built in 1722 by Orange County pioneers William Bull and Sarah Wells. Their descendants have gathered annually at this site for over 130 years.
Family Connections: The article highlights chance reconnections, such as Robert and Marjorie Nable of Tennessee discovering they are cousins with Jerome T. Congleton III of New Jersey during the event.
Family Activities:
13-year-old Noah Belcher played patriotic tunes on the bagpipes.
11-year-old Zia Belcher taught 6½-year-old Joshua Belcher how to waltz.
Mike Brown, an eighth-generation descendant, joked about the sheer size of the family, noting that descendants number in the thousands across the United States.
2. Grave Marker Commemoration (2002)
The clipping on the right, from the Independent Republican (September 4, 2002), covers a special commemorative ceremony honoring the family's founders.
The Ceremony: On August 17, 2002, the graves of William Bull and Sarah Wells Bull were officially marked in a ceremony conducted by the Floris Kroon Chapter of the Colonial Dames during a family picnic.
Key Presenters: Kellie Wohl of Goshen, a descendant, served as the Master of Ceremonies. Other descendants—including Susan Hopkins, Eleanor Mellis, and Linda Burroughs—presented historical reports on the lives of William and Sarah.
Historical Significance:
Sarah Wells was one of Orange County's first settlers, arriving in 1712 as the first white woman to set foot in the Wawayanda Patent.
She married William Bull, a stone mason from Wolverhampton, England, who built many of the area's early stone houses. Their 1722 home, Campbell Hall, still stands today.