"The Bulls were among the very earliest settlers of South Carolina, and have always borne a high record in the public life and in social relation. Stephen Bull, the founder of the family, was deputy proprietor for Lord Ashley in 1674 to 1682. After that date he represented various other proprietors until 1699. He was almost continuously in the grand council, where his discreet judgment and high personal character were greatly esteemed. He held in turn and together many high offices, civil and military, and was an adventurous explorer and trader among the Indians. He was buried at his beautiful seat, Ashley Hall, still in its decadence, one of the chief attractions of the historic river. His son, the Hon. William Bull, saw service as an officer in both the early Indian wars, and in civil life was active in the commons and council. He assisted General Oglethorpe in laying out Savannah, and was lieutenant-governor, acting from 1738 to 1744. His home in Charleston was the old 'Hayne House,' now owned by Mr. Henry Picken. His son, Stephen Bull, was distinguished in military and civil public life, and was the father of General Stephen Bull, of the Revolution. His home was Sheldon, one of the old family estates. The Hon. William Bull, of Ashley Hall, was the first American to graduate in medicine, which he did at Leyden, in 1734. Returning, he served the province in various capacities, civil and military, until appointed lieutenant-governor in 1759. He administered the province with great vigor and ability at various intervals, acting five times as governor. Loyal to the crown, but without creating animosity, he left Charleston with the royal troops in 1782, dying in London in 1791, an exile for conscience sake from the land he loved and served so well."
A few miles beyond the Ashley River is the Bull dominion, where once stood Ashley Hall, the country home of Governor Bull, the last colonial governor of South Carolina. A large monument of marble appropriately inscribed and bearing the Bull coat-of-arms stands on the grounds, commemorative to his memory.
WILLIAM BULL was born July 25, 1830, on the homestead farm near Stony Ford, Orange County, N. Y. The present owner, William Bull, of this historic old house, which was built in 1791, is the fifth of that name to occupy the homestead. The third William Bull, who erected the house, was with Washington at Valley Forge and at the battle of Monmouth. Our subject acquired his education at Mount Pleasant Academy at Ossining. He entered Princeton College in 1847 and graduated in 1851. He returned to the farm and has always followed agricultural pursuits. He married Phoebe Bull, one of eight daughters of Ebenezer Bull, of Hamptonburgh, November 22, 1859. Their children are: Elizabeth Green; Sarah, wife of Charles F. Wells, of Newburgh, N. Y.; Ebenezer Henry, and Bartow W. In politics Mr. Bull is a republican and has served the town as justice of peace for fourteen years, has been post master at Stony Ford, and held other town offices. He is a member of the Zeta Psi college fraternity, Stony Ford Grange No. 951, and Pomona Grange. He attends the Presbyterian Church of Campbell Hall.
WILLIAM EDGAR BULL, of Charleston, S. C, is a son of Edmund Llewellyn and Mary Evelina (Bruen) Bull. Edmund Bull was born in Orange County in 1817, removed to Charleston in 1832, and died there in 1892. His marriage with Mary Evelina Bruen occurred in March, 1844, and fifteen children were born to them. The progenitor of this branch of the Bull family was William Bull, who emigrated from Kingshurst Hall, Wolverhampton, England, in 1715, settling at Hamptonburgh, Orange County. William was a nephew of Stephen and Barnaby Bull, who emigrated to America in 1670, and was the progenitor of the Bull family of South Carolina. Edmund Bull was a son of James D. Bull and Nancy Rogers. James D. was a son of Chrisie Bull and Elizabeth Case. Chrisie was a son of John Bull and Hannah Holley. John was a son of William Bull and Sarah Wells. The marriage of William Bull and Sarah Wells was the first ceremony performed in the old town of Goshen. They made their home in a log house from 1719 until 1722, when they built the stone house which is still standing. A view of this old house appears on another page in this volume.
ISAIAH BUNN was born at North Church, N. J., July 22, 1808, and is one of six children, all living, of Obadiah Bunn and Hanna I. Wilson Bunn. He attended the district school, mostly in the winters, until he was twenty-two years of age, when he operated a threshing machine for four years. He then went to New York City, worked there a year, and went from there to Hamburgh, N. J., where he engaged in the bottling business. He came to Warwick in 1887, and started a small bottling plant. The business was so successful that he now has one of the most up-to-date bottling plants in this section of the State. He is the owner of a well producing the purest water for carbonated drinks, and is manager of the Spring Lake Ice Company. His wife was Miss Minnie Vanderhoff, of Warwick, and their children are Minnie and Howard, who are living at home. He is a member of Deckertown Lodge No. 98, F. & A. M.
E. R. BURROUGHS, president and manager of the Abendroth & Root Manufacturing Company, has resided in Newburgh since 1901, when the plant was moved from Greenpoint, N. Y., to this city. The factory buildings are distributed over twelve acres of land and have a total floor space of four acres, modern in every way, and thoroughly equipped for the work produced. The property has a frontage of 800 feet on the Hudson River, with deep water docking facilities. A private switch from the West Shore Railroad bisects the plant, enabling connections with the New York Central, the Erie and N. Y., N. H. and H. Railroads. Machinery utilizing 600 horse-power of Root water tube boilers are in operation. Among the departments are a gray iron and brass foundry, forge shops, boiler erecting department, spiral pipe mill, sheet iron, plate metal and drum shop. The company has recently placed on the market the Frontenac touring car, which ranks among the foremost makes of automobiles in this country. Branches are maintained in New York, Pittsburgh and Chicago.
W. J. BURROWS, son of Alexander and Jennette (Todd) Burrows, was born in New York City in 1856. When he was two years of age his parents removed to the town of Newburgh, and it was here he received his schooling. He then engaged in farming with Fenton Cosman, where he remained eight years and then purchased his present fruit farm of twenty-two acres. Mr. Burrows has been trustee of the Marlborough Presbyterian Church fifteen years, elder two years and superintendent of the Sunday-school two years. He is a member of Cronomer Valley Grange and has served as its secretary. He married Miss Nancy E. Morrow and five children have been born to them.
GRINNELL BURT was born in Bellvale, Orange County, N. Y., on November 7, 1822. He was a grandson of James Burt, who for twenty years was a prominent legislator of the State. An orphan at fourteen, he was thrown on his own resources. With unusual ability for mechanical construction, and a mind that quickly grasped all opportunities for developing the resources of the country, he became interested in railroad projects. Meanwhile his love for the law prompted a course of reading and study which proved of great value when corporate interests were committed to his charge.
With others he organized, in 1859, the Warwick Valley Railroad. The growing needs of the valley called for various extensions of the line. Mr. Burt's pluck and rare executive ability served his constituents well. By the last consolidation the road was merged into and known as the Lehigh & Hudson River Railway Company. He was its continuous and only president forty-two years, dying in office. He was identified with various projects for bridging the Hudson. His was the vision to project the Orange County Railroad—"the missing link"—between the West and Southwest and New England, via the Poughkeepsie Bridge. This dream of his old age he pushed through with indomitable energy, enduring many anxious hours in its consummation, but which to-day justifies all his sagacious commercial foresight. The record of this Warwick railroad, while under his care, was that it never had a strike, never was in the hands of a receiver, never defaulted in the payment of the interest on its bonds, and no passenger lost his life during Mr. Burt's long administration. He selected his subordinates with rare judgment. At his death the new president retained to a man the entire corps that had served under Mr. Burt. No better choice could be made.
The other roads he served for varying terms as director, reorganizer, superintendent or president, were the Pittsburgh & Western; Cincinnati, Van Wert & Michigan (now the Cincinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw); New Jersey Midland (now the New York, Susquehanna & Western); Kanawha & Ohio; New York & Greenwood Lake; Middletown, Unionville & Water Gap, which he brought out of its chaotic condition and placed on a sound footing, and the Toledo & Ohio Central, generally conceded to be one of the most successful reorganizations of a bankrupt company ever effected.