Name/Title
Peter Bull Poet of Purgatory informationEntry/Object ID
000125Tags
Peter BullScope and Content
Peter Bull, Poet of Purgatory
By Nancy H. Smit, Historian, Town of Hamptonburgh
When the subject of history in Hamptonburgh comes up, mention of the Bull Family is never far behind. But the famous founding couple doesn’t always have to be the focus of the story. There’s material for scores of articles about other interesting family members. Take, for instance, Peter Bull, the ‘Poet of Purgatory.
Peter was born 25 May 1753, a grandson of William Bull and Sarah Wells. The Bull Family Genealogy says he was "a man of keen interests and droll wit." Samuel W. Eager’s History of Orange County refers to him as "a free-thinker and great lover of nature in all her various works." After serving with the Orange County militia during the Revolutionary War, Peter lived on his father’s farm, located in a part of Hamptonburgh called Purgatory. Peter, though, according to Eager, "fancifully gave out that he lived in Paradise, as his residence was pleasantly situated on the sunny side of the dismal swamp, and it was necessary for all persons who came to his place to pass through Purgatory."
Not far from Peter’s farm was Charles Heard’s old Bull’s Head Inn at Hamptonburgh, a frequent meeting place for drovers and cattle buyers. Peter the Poet wrote a verse which was painted on a signboard at the inn. According to the Bull Family Genealogy, just under "a fine portrayal of bovine beauty’ were the lines:
'Herdsman, Stop!
Here’s Bull’s grazing ground since the year 1718
Behold the Bull, while now he scrapes the sod,
Thy arms must quit Egypt’s God—
By dragging this plow to the well cultured field,
Makes his limbs a more fruitful harvest yield.'”
Besides running his farm, raising a family (one son and six daughters), and writing poems, Peter also was a surveyor. He was involved in laying out the bounds of the new town of Hamptonburgh for several years before its formation in 1830.
In 1840 he deeded his farm to his sons-in-law in return for payment of his debts and his future maintenance. The document, written when he was over eighty years of age, is reprinted in the Bull Family Genealogy. It shows strong evidence of his still agile mind, wit and humor. Space prohibits our quoting from the deed here, but we will include a perhaps more entertaining piece (is it Fact or Fiction, Peter?), which is an article Peter wrote, dated 25 March 1818, taken from Eager’s History of Orange County.Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Peter Bull
