EBENEZER BULL was born March 3, 1846, in the old stone house at Hamptonburgh, Orange County, erected in 1722, which is still standing. Mr. Bull is the fifth direct descendant who has resided in this house. After his schooling he returned home and assisted in farm work and has always been identified with farming. He married Anna, daughter of Byard Walling, of Middletown, N. Y., October 17, 1894. Mr. Bull's parents were Ebenezer and Jane Bull. There were thirteen children born by this union. He is a member of Hamptonburgh Grange No. 950 and largely identified in the dairy business. Tradition says the barn on Mr. Bull's farm is older than the stone house, but the date of erection cannot be verified. Purgatory swamp, near the Bull stone house, derived its name from a messenger of the revolutionary period, who was sent from the army of New Jersey with papers to Washington's headquarters at Newburgh. He had instructions to stop over night at this historic stone house of William Bull, became confused and stopped at William Bull's son's house opposite the swamp. In getting through at night he made the remark "out of Purgatory," and it has always maintained this name.
HARRY BULL—The parents of Harry Bull were William and Phoebe Bull, of Stony Ford, Orange County, and here he was born on the old Bull homestead, May 25, 1872. There were eight children, five of whom are living. He attended the district school at Franklin Square and Friends Academy at Locust Valley, and then took a three months' course in the Agricultural College at Cornell University, Ithaca, as a preparation for the farming to which he has always devoted himself. He is a republican, and has been justice of the peace for the past eight years. He is a member of Hamptonburgh Grange No. 950, of which he was one of the organizers, and of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Bull married Miss Lucille Pierson, of Hamptonburgh, daughter of W. H. and Elizabeth Pierson. They have two children, Keturah, aged seven, and Henry, aged six.
IRVING CRAWFORD BULL was born in Middletown, Orange County, N. Y., January 24, 1879. Father's name was Albert Bull and mother's name was Ella B. Crawford. Father was druggist for thirty years. Graduated from Middletown High School in 1898 and was president of his class. Graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, in 1901, receiving the degree of bachelor of philosophy. Graduated from Columbia University Post-Graduate, in 1902, receiving the degree of master of arts. Dividing the years of 1902-1903 was assistant to Professor Henry M. Howe, professor of metallurgy, Columbia University, assisting in the experimental works in connection with publications by Professor Howe, also giving frequent lectures at the University. In October, 1903, he formed a partnership with Alfred E. Roberts, of Hartford, Conn., under the firm name of Bull & Roberts, analytical and consulting chemists and metallurgists, with offices and laboratories at 100 Maiden Lane, New York City; also branch offices and laboratories at Middletown, N. Y. They are the consulting chemists and metallurgists for many transportation companies centering in New York, also for large contracting companies. He is also a member of the Yale Club, New York City; honorary member of the Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company, Middletown, N. Y.; member of the Society of Chemical Industry, American Chemical Society, American Leather Chemists' Association, America's Institute of Mining Engineers. He has been chemist to the board of water commissioners, Middletown, N. Y., for five years; he is also a Son of the Revolution, and a member of the University Club, Middletown, N. Y.
On April 20, 1904, he married Mabel Dorothy Horton, youngest daughter of the late James Horton, Middletown, N. Y., former president of the United States Leather Company. On July 7, 1905, a son was born, whose name is Irving Horton Bull.
RICHARD BULL, son of Daniel Harlow Bull and Mary Ann Board, was born in the homestead at Campbell Hall, the house being built previous to 1800; no record can be found of anyone having occupied it but the Bull family. Mr. Bull's late school education was at Farmer's Hall and Montgomery Academy, two years in each. He has always been identified with farming and is a member of Hamptonburgh Grange No. 950, and also a member of National Grange, and also of the New York Mill Exchange. He is one of the trustees of the Burial Hill Cemetery Association at Hamptonburgh. The Bull family have held an annual picnic for forty years on the one-hundred-acre tract granted to William Bull and Sarah Wells by Christopher Denn, who were the first settlers in Orange County. Mr. Bull was treasurer of the picnic for a number of years, and president for one term.
He married Annie Wells, of Newburgh, whose mother was the daughter of Mehetable Bull, and her father was Captain William Bull, who was an officer in the Revolutionary War. Their one child, Charles Wells Bull, is a wholesale jeweler in Maiden Lane, New York City. He is the sixth generation on his father's side from the first William, and seventh on his mother's.
STEPHEN M. BULL, wholesale grocer and representative citizen of Newburgh, N. Y., was born in the Clinton homestead. Little Britain, N. Y., July 14, 1844; he was educated at district schools and by a private tutor. In 1864 he located in Newburgh and was engaged successfully with Johnston & Alsdorf and Thomas H. Skidmore & Son as bookkeeper and salesman. In 1879 the wholesale grocery house of Skidmore, Bull & Co. was formed. Since 1891 Mr. Bull has been sole proprietor. Married May 26, 1869, Martha, daughter of Samuel Oakley. Two children have been born—Emily Grace and John Springstead. Mr. Bull is a direct descendant of William Bull, who was born in England, February, 1689, and came to America in 1715. The family occupied a prominent place in the early history of Orange County.
THE BULLS OF SOUTH CAROLINA—Stephen Bull and Barnaby Bull, sons of Josias Bull, of Kingshurst Hall, emigrated to South Carolina in 1670 in a ship named Carolina. They were uncles of William Bull, who emigrated in 1715, settling at Hamptonburgh, Orange County, N. Y.
From Mrs. Haxtum's Genealogical Column in the New York Mail and Express we read: