William Bull

Personal and Family Information

William was born in FEB 1689 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom, the son of John Hunter Bull and Joane Clark.

He died on 17 FEB 1755 in Hamptonburgh, Orange, New York, USA.

His wife was Sarah Wells, who he married on 24 AUG 1718 in Orange, New York, British Colonial America. Their twelve known children were Captain John (1721-1807), William (1723-1759), Sarah (1725-1810), Thomas "British Loyalist" (1727-1801), Isaac (1729-1794), Ester (1731-1763), Merrie (1733-1819), Margaret (1736-1818), Catherine (1738-1796), Ann (1740-1813), Richard (1743-1785) and Elenora Pieternella (1745-1818).

Pedigree Chart (3 generations)

Events

Notes

Note 1

Excerpt from article in The Salt Lake Tribune, 23 Oct 1910, Sun, Page 16:

"[Daniel Cromline] went to New York to find a stone mason, and there met William Bull, a young Englishman, just landed and in sore straits. He had held a contract to build a bridge near Dublin, but failed to complete it within the stipulated time. Unable to meet his obligations he escaped imprisonment for debt by sailing for America. When he arrived the captain insisted that his passage money was insufficient and that he must be sold to bondage to make up the deficit. Cromline advanced the money finding that Bull was a stone mason, and took him back to his camp.

It was but natural that in time the young man should seek the nearest settlement, the home of Sarah Wells, and it was just as natural that the young people should become sweethearts. It was also, perhaps, just as natural that Mr. and Mrs. Denn should look askance at the young and penniless stranger until he proved his worth. He proved it. Settlers were coming fast into 'the land of Goshen,' and the services of William Bull were in demand. He grew prosperous and thrifty, purchased 200 acres of land alongside the 100 given Sarah Wells by her foster father, and on March 25, 1718, they were married by Justice John Merritt, the second magistrate appointed by Queen Anne for the province..."

(Wedding Dates vary depending on source. Newspaper article lists it as March 25, 1718. Others list August 24 or 25, 1718.)

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24 Aug 1718 • Hamptonburgh, Orange, New York, United States - The first white marriage to take place in Orange County, NY

Note 2

my 7x great grandfather

Note 3

Master stonemason

William was a master stonemason. He was the son of John BULL and John's second wife. In August 1718, in Orange County, New York, he married Sarah WELLS, the "Pioneer Maid of Wawayanda."

Together, they built their home. Construction began in 1722 on the 100 acres that William had purchased a few months before their marriage. It took 13 years to build the house. It is a four level, ten-room house. The lowest level (the basement) would be described today as a "walk-out basement" since the house was built into the side of a hill. The top level is the attic, fully floored, has a loft, and has it's own "look out window," reached by climbing a ladder in the loft.

The house is 40-feet square and has walls that are three feet thick -- all stone. The house survived the 1728 earthquake, undamaged. It was built on bedrock.

A year after construction began, the 100 acres was added to with a 2,600-acre land grant from England's King George.

William and Sarah were the parents of 12 children: John, William, Sarah, Thomas, Isaac, Esther, Mary, Margaret, Catherine, Ann, Richard, and Eleanor.

The stone house that William and Sarah built stands solid still in 2020. It is lived in by a direct descendant of William and his wife.

At the long entrance to the property of the Bull Stone House is a cemetery. At the highest point in the cemetery is an obelisk to mark the burial site of William, his wife, and other now-unknown BULLS. The obelisk was erected by descendants and unveiled at the first Bull picnic in 1868.

William's father was John BULL, who was christened on May 4, 1645, in Collegiate Church of St. Peter, in Wolverhampton, England, and who died after 1691 in Dublin, Ireland.

The first organized reunion of William and Sarah's descendants was in 1868. There was a return to the grounds of the house, with descendants bringing their own food to eat. Reunions continued annually. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in there being no reunion.