BULLIS FAMILY HISTORY--EARLY MACEDON YEARS

(As recorded in: THE BULLIS FAMILY OF MACEDON, NEW YORK, by Elizabeth Ferrari, April, 1984)

In the mid-1600s, when political and religious turmoil were driving many Englishmen from their homeland, Phillip Bullis left England to settle in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1663 Phillip married Judith Hart, thus beginning the many generations of Bullises to become part of America. The Bullis families settled throughout New England and New York. In 1837, the Charles H. Bullis family came to Macedon, Wayne County, New York to settle.

Charles H. Bullis was born in Manchester, Vermont on January 23, 1786. On January 1. 1812, Charles married Eleanor Carbone of Greenwich, New York. He had relatives living in Greenwich and it is likely that he met Eleanor while he was visiting there. He and his wife took up residence in Manchester, Vermont until 1837.

They left Vermont on November 13, 1837. Charles Bullis, great-grandson of Charles H. Bullis, said that his great-grandfather may have received a land grant in Ohio which prompted him to make this move. It is said that when they got to New York, they took a canal boat from the town of Troy, New York. During their trip they stopped in Macedon to visit some friends. Macedon was and still is a beautiful town with a rolling landscape of drumlins and acres and acres of productible land. This land would be encouraging to any man. After visiting for some time in Macedon, Charles decided to remain there.

Charles and Eleanor had two children: Abraham R. Bullis and Amy R. Bullis. Little is known about Amy. She was born on December 21, 1824, in Manchester, Vermont and died on January 2, 1905 in Palmyra, New York. Abraham was born July 8, 1815 in Manchester, Vermont. After arriving in Macedon he attended Geneva Medical College, Geneva, New York. Upon becoming a doctor, he began practices in Farmington, Ontario County, and in Macedon. He was one of Macedon's first physicians. Abraham married Lydia Porter Lapham and had seven children: John Lapham, Mary Jane, Charles Henry, Abraham Rogers Junior, Abraham Rogers III, Lydia Porter and Jeanette Eleanor. He also had a second wife, Olive Aldrich Bullis. No children were born of this marriage.

Abraham R. Bullis was the only one of Doctor Bullis' children to remain in Macedon. He was born on September 4, 1854 in Farmington, New York. At the age of eight, his mother died and he went to live with his grandfather at the old family homestead in Macedon. In later years, after attending Macedon Academy from 1868-1869, he taught for a few years in various district schools, including Macedon Union School. He left teaching to enter Cornell University. In 1881 he graduated with a degree in Mathematics and the following year received a degree in Civil Engineering. He was a very smart man and was offered many positions from various governments and colleges. Abe would not take the jobs, because it would take him away from Macedon. He worked as a surveyor in much of Wayne County and held many other important positions in the Macedon area.

In 1884 he married Josephine Breese, daughter of J. D. Breese, of Macedon. Abraham's only son, Charlie, was born October 13, 1891, in Macedon, and his only daughter, Jeanette (Nettie) Aurelia Bullis, was born on March 23, 1893.

(Nettie Bullis will be featured next week in our Bullis Family History entry.)