WILLIAM PORTER

Again, we’re quoting Pioneers of Macedon, from pages 32 and 33, as we continue to read about William Porter.

“He married Lydia Claghorn of Williamsburg, Mass., who was born in 1780, and came to the township in 1796 with her aunt, Mrs. David Warner, who was formerly Mrs. David White.... In the winter of 1796 they went to Massachusetts with horses and sleigh and Lydia returned with them to their home... In just one year from that time Lydia Claghorn became Mrs. William Porter.  The were married and went at once to live in the house which he had built, and she used often to speak of the town as being full of young men who had come on to take up farms.“

The Pioneers of Macedon continues with this account: “In early times money was not to be had, and in winter William Porter would pile in as many bags of wheat as his horses could draw for a load and drive with it to Albany and sell it for cash, and returning, he would bring back groceries for Joseph Colt and George Beckwith, which would about pay expenses. He built the tavern house and moved into it in 1811. He died in March of 1819 and his wife continued the business until 1835, and after that date the building was used for a dwelling house. The first town meeting of Macedon was held in this house February 11, 1823. Mrs. Porter remained on the farm until 1844. Her death occurred in 1867 at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Salome Lapham of Macedon....”

Why are we focusing the Porter family?  Because this branch of the family is connected to the Laphams who in turn are related to the Bullises, and in our search for our Bullis timeline, we are looking at their extended families.

Also, we find it interesting that the independence, resourcefulness, and work ethic displayed by Mr. Porter are traits that consistently showed up in each generation of the Bullis family.

LAPHAM-PORTER FAMILIES

In 1837, when the Charles H. Bullis family arrived in Macedon, the Laphams had called this area home for almost 50 years. Thus when Charles and Eleanor Bullis’s son Abraham married Lydia Porter Lapham, he married into a well-established family. Perhaps two established families, for Lydia’s middle name (Porter) indicates that she was a member of another long-term Macedon family.

According to Pioneers of Macedon (p. 32, 33), “William Porter came from Cunningham (Massachuettts) in 1793. It is supposed that he came on horseback. He located on what has since been known as the ‘Porter farm,’ which extended from the four corners to Delano’s Lane. He married Lydia Claghorn of Williamsburg, Mass., who was born in 1780, and came to the township in 1796 with her aunt, Mrs. David Warner, who was formerly Mrs. David White.”

We’ve been unable to determine if the Lydia Porter Lapham was a descendant of William Porter and Lydia Claghorn Porter. However, one of their daughter’s (Salome) married John Lapham and it is possible that Lydia Porter was their child. (We’ll continue to research that.)

Whether William Porter was actually connected to the Bullises, his life in Macedon makes for a great story. And we’ll share some of it with you next week.

BULLIS-LAPHAM FAMILIES

The Bullis family connected with the Lapham family when Lydia Porter Lapham married Abraham Bullis and gave her maiden name to their first child, John Lapham Bullis, who was born in 1841.

According to Pioneers of Macedon (The Mail Printing House (compiled by Mary Louise Eldredge, Fairport, New York, 1912, pp. 36-37), the first Abraham Lapham was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island on July 15, 1755. “His father, Joshua Lapham, was a grandson of John Lapham, who came from England when he was a young man and settled in Providence, R.I., and here married Mary, daughter of William and Frances (Hopkins) Mann....Hannah, sister of Abraham Lapham, was the grandmother of the late Susan B. Anthony of Rochester.

“In 1791 Abraham Lapham brought his wife and children, coming then in company with Henry Wilbur and his family. Their new home was located among the Friends in Farmington. The members of that community, though disapproved for their venture and disowned by the parent society in Massachusetts, still held regular services. The meetings were held from house to house, and the home of Abraham and Esther Lapham was soon known as a place of meeting. In 1794 the colony was visited by a committee from Massachusetts and one of them was entertained in the home of Abraham Lapham. The early discipline of that society forbade its members to undertake a new enterprise, especially that of emigration, without the consent of ‘the meeting,’ which had been refused these pioneers, and they had been disowned. The report of the visiting committee was favorable, the disowned members were restored to membership and a meeting was organized in the same year, but a meeting house was not built until 1796....One member of the building committee was Ira, eldest son of Abraham Lapham.”

(Writers of John Lapham Bullis’s millitary experiences sometimes refer to his Quaker beliefs. Here in the Bullis Room, we’ve found no documentation of of that religious connection. We're looking for more information on this subject. If you can  help, please contact us.)

Through the Laphams, the Bullises were connected not only to the renowned Susan B.  Anthony but also to Increase Lapham (March 7, 1811–September 14, 1875), who emigrated from his birthplace in Palmyra, New York to Wisconsin, and is considered the “Father” of the United States Weather Service.

We’ll continue to report on the Lapham-Bullis connection in next week’s post.

FAMILY NAMES

This week in the Bullis Room we concentrated on surnames other than Bullis. While going through Bullis documents, we frequently come across the name Lapham, but we also occasionally find the names Porter, Aldrich, Rogers, Carbone, Hart, Rodriguez, Withers, and Breese. Their family history contributes towards the story of the Bullis family that we volunteers are working to put together.

In the next few weeks, we will post what we know of these nine families. Do you have any information that would add to our research? If so, please contact us.

(PS: Most of these names are middle names of Bullis family members. How individuals get their middle names fascinates us and is another project to add to our list.)

(PPS: Yes, we're still working on John Lapham Bullis's timeline. This research will add to that.)

CHARLIE'S MEDIEVAL CASTLE

This week we reviewed some notes of an interview we did a year and a half ago with a second cousin of Nettie and Charlie Bullis. We happened upon this quote tucked in some remembrances of the Bullises: "Charlie once made a Medieval castle out of matchsticks glued together. It was big! Probably enough to cover a card table."

How did he do that?  Why did he do it?  What happened to it?

To answer the first question, we have no idea how he accomplished this feat. Building a castle out of matchsticks requires great creativity and skill (which Charlie had in abundance) and lots of "stick-with-it-ness" (which Charlie apparently did not have, judging by records of his countless unfinished projects).

Why did he build the castle?  Again, we do not know, but in that pre-Guinness-book time, setting a world record could not have been a motivation.  Perhaps he came across a reference to the project in his reading and became fascinated with the idea. Or, maybe he somehow came into possession of a humungous amount of matchsticks and decided to use them creatively.

What happened to this work of art? Here, our imaginations run wild. (Being made of matchsticks...hmmm...no, let's not go there.) But if you know, please let us hear from you.

BULLIS FAMILY IN MACEDON

This week we thought of the Bullis family's arrival in Macedon around this time of year in 1837, and we  read again an account of their settlement here.  Although this document is unsigned and undated, a reference in the fifth paragraph leads us to believe that Nettie Bullis was the author. This account answers some of our questions about the Bullis family history and, as often happens, raises many others. However, we thought you'd be interested in this account and therefore selected it as this week's posting.


"The Bullis farm is located about 1/2 miles north of Route 31 at 1727 Canandaigua Road in the town of Macedon, New York.

"Charles H. Bullis and Eleanor Rogers Bullis (my great, great grandparents) with two children, Abraham R. and Amy, left Manchester, Vermont Nov. 13, 1837, to settle in a new country. They took a canalboat at Troy, but decided to stop at Macedon to visit a sister of Eleanor's, Amy Woodruff. Their intention was to settle at Marietta, Ohio, but they took the advice of Charles' brothers, three had settled at Hamburg, NY, and remained in Macedon.

"On April 1, 1839 they bought 59 and a fraction acres for $2,631.64 from George G. and Lydia Smith. The only change in the size of the farm is about 10 acres taken from the north end for the Canal and Railroad.

"They started to build the cobblestone house in 1839 from stones picked up on the farm. They lived in a small wooden structure that was moved up from the back of the farm; a building apparently used while Clinton's Ditch was being dug. There were a few houses and a dock by the "Ditch" a short distance over the line to the west on an adjoining farm. The story and a half frame part of our house was built at that time and the small structure was attached at the back and became "the woodshed." The cobblestone house was struck by lightning while being built and lightning rods were put up and are still attached to the house.  The corners of the house are of interest being made of Brick instead of stone.

"Two barns were built at the time, one south of the house, the original to which an addition was made later is still standing; its large hand-hewn timbers are noteworthy; the other which was built back of the house was struck by lightning and burned to the ground on Sept 22, 1968.

"The final porch was built by my father Abram R. Bullis, with the help of my mother, brother & myself (a family project) in the Fall of 1910 and replaced the original small front stoop with its well worn side benches and floor. Soon thereafter the leaking wood shingle roof on the cobblestone part was replaced with a metal roof, this too, was a family project.

"The large Canadian Balsam tree in the front yard was struck by lightning on  ___________ and about 35 feet broke from the top during a heavy storm on _____________

"The apple orchard north of the house, long since gone, contained many of the old time favorites such as Winesap, Jonathan, Face-pippen, Seekno further, Tallman Sweet, Baldwin & Greening."


(If you have information to add to or enhance the above, please let us hear from you.)

REMEMBERING AGAIN THOSE WHO SERVED

This week, we again remember and sincerely thank all the men and women who have served and are serving in our Armed Forces.

And we suggest that you look at our November 12, 2009 post, which lists some Bullis family members who served their country through military service beginning in 1675.  The most well-known of those members is John Lapham Bullis, who proved himself militarily in the Civil and Spanish American wars as well as on the American frontier.

A LETTER FROM THE PAST

Last week we posted one of Charlie Bullis's school writing exercises. This week we came across a letter written to Mr. Bullis by one of his associates eighty-two years ago. We found this bit of bargaining and assessor talk quite interesting, and hope you do as well.

"Mr. Charles Bullis, Macedon NY
Farmington NY November 16' 1928

Dear Mr. Bullis,

If after you have your inventory you will sell me back that Compass I will give you the same as Abram gave me for it. I find that we assessors have got to get the boundrys and acreage for a number of strips over in the big Swamp here so the county Treasurer can sell them by next spring for taxes, there dont seem to be any owner for a number of them. This Swamp extends across the town east and west and about a half mile wide, and quite soft, I find I cant do anything with a pocket Compass and I dont like to borrow; one can be ever so careful accidents sometimes happen, I have 217 acres of my own in a number of parcels and it would be qite useful to me; if this meets your favor please send me a card,

very truly yours
E.J. Gardner, Macedon NY"

Do you know the location of the "big Swamp" referred to in this note? If so, please let us know.

OUR BIG BONFIRE

In autumn, we think about carving pumpkins, raking leaves, and building bonfires. Charlie Bullis obviously appreciated a good bonfire, judging from this account of one he and his dad built one springtime.

OUR BIG BONFIRE

Last spring on a beautiful afternoon my father and I went out into one of the back meadows to burn a long row of brush that had been cut down two years before from a hedge that extended the whole length of a large field. There were six or eight large heaps of brush connected by weeds and small brush. We ignited the brushrow on the north end and as the wind blew from the north it burned along very well shooting up tongues of flame and clouds of curling smoke as the flames leaped from twig to twig consuming the works of nature of several summers and roaring as it gave off its rays of stored up heat.

We wonder what father and son may have talked about that day as they watched the fire "consuming the works of nature" to make way for new life. Perhaps they didn't talk...but simply stood side by side and marveled at the efficiency and beauty of the process.

Charlie Bullis's teacher wrote "Good" on the back of the paper. We agree with her. Good description. Good experience. Good memory.

CONTRASTS: THEN AND NOW

We met this week with two women who had recently visited San Antonio and John Lapham Bullis's former home. (The latter is now a bed and breakfast named Bullis House Inn.) As they described the house's 14-foot ceilings, the elegant plaster medallions, marble fireplaces, rich oak floors and stairways that are a part of the 11,000 square-foot structure, we thought of the modest home here in Macedon where he grew up and the contrast between the two.

General Bullis's early life with his family here in Macedon and that of a successful military man also indicate a wide contrast. The records we have indicate that  John Lapham was known simply as "one of those Bullis boys" in his hometown. That quickly changed when he entered the army at age 20, served in the Civil War, and rose from private to captain in three years. Then came his life on the Texas frontier, leading the group known at that time as the Seminole Scouts in a successful war against hostile Indians.  General Bullis received national attention and recognition as a result of his frontier military accomplishments, something that no one in his home town likely ever envisioned.

As we continue our work on General Bullis's timeline, we are finding other contrasts that cause us to stop and ponder, trying to reconcile the "then" with the "now."  As we learn more about this great man, we'll share it will you. And if you'd like to know more about any of the family members or the Bullis book collection, we invite you to make arrangements to meet one of our volunteers in the Bullis Room.

NETTIE BULLIS

If Nettie Bullis could speak to us from her grave in the Village of Palmyra Cemetery, what would be her message?  Here is our version of what she might say to the people on this year's cemetery walk:

"I am new to the walk this year because some of my friends thought I should be included. I feel somewhat uncomfortable with all of this attention. I've always shied away from that sort of thing.

"However, since you’ve all come here this evening and paid your entrance fee, it is appropriate that I offer you some information about myself and my family so that you will get your money’s worth.  My family always lived by the principle of getting your money’s worth and never wasting anything.  When my great-grandfather Charles H. Bullis and his family moved from Vermont to Macedon in 1837, they brought with them the New England frugality that they had always lived by, and that way of living was handed down from generation to generation.

"A second principle my family lived by was life-long education.  When my brother Charlie and I were growing up, my father insisted that our toys were things we could learn something from.  He got this idea from his father who was a local doctor and who greatly valued education. After my father graduated from Cornell in the early 1880s with degrees in mathematics and civil engineering, he continued his education by collecting and reading science, math, engineering, and medical books.

"In fact, you can see many of these books today at Macedon Public Library. They have a special room there—they even named it for my family—and it houses the remaining books from our collection.  My father and grandfather would be very pleased about that. And of course there is a significant number of books on horticulture that belonged to my brother Charlie. But that’s another subject.

"Honest, hard work was a third principle of the Bullises. The first Bullises in Macedon built the cobblestone house that served as a home to three generations of the family. It is where my brother Charlie and I grew up, and it still stands today on Canandaigua Road. By the way, every year in May Charlie’s poppies bloom in the front yard and make a wonderful display for several weeks.

"Hard work was never a stranger to me. In my earlier years, I did chores around our place, and when I was older I accompanied my father on many of his surveying jobs, taking notes that he used in his engineering drawings.  After high school graduation in 1911, I attended Cornell University for a while and then taught school in Marion. Following that, I took a position as bookkeeper at Gleason Works in Rochester. While at Gleasons, I was fortunate to have several opportunities for advancement and was serving as Assistant Secretary of Gleason Works when I retired.

"It was not my intention to be a wealthy woman, but I did accumulate a tidy sum through careful planning, saving, wise investments, and my New England frugality. When I wrote my will, I was pleased to be able to benefit a number of individuals and organizations here in Wayne County.

"As you can see from my headstone I lived for 86 years, from March 23, 1893 to October 1, 1979. Most of my life was spent in Macedon, but upon my death I took up residence here in Palmyra in my family's plot. It's a quiet, peaceful place to spend eternity, and I greatly enjoy the company.

"Well, I feel I've taken enough of your time this evening. Thank you for stopping by and giving me your kind attention. I must say that I've enjoyed our time together. So much, in fact, that I hope I'm invited to do this again next year."

NETTIE BULLIS

This week volunteers wrote a script for an actress who will portray Nettie Bullis in next Friday's Historic Palmyra's Famous Cemetery Walk. We struggled with this task, knowing that Nettie Bullis shied away from being the center of attention during her lifetime.  However, we thought it was a good opportunity to share some of the Bullis family's principles of living and their accomplishments.

There are two walks next Friday, beginning at 6:30 PM and 7:45 PM. For a $7 admission fee, you can listen to a dozen cemetery residents tell you of their lives and deaths.

If you are unable to attend, you can read the Nettie Bullis script on this blog next week.

(For more information about the walk, call 315-597-6981.)

TIME LINES

Volunteers logged in many hours over the last nine months, doing a variety of tasks and working on a number of projects. Now some of us have committed ourselves to organizing Bullis family history by making time lines for each family member who lived in Macedon.  We will be looking for documentation of births, deaths, marriages, career accomplishments,  and personal milestones.

We are currently focusing on John Lapham Bullis, both his personal life and military career, and we will post our progress on this blog from time to time.  If anyone has any information on John Lapham Bullis that they would assist us in this effort, we'd greatly appreciate receiving it.

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN

Two of our volunteers put together another interesting display in the glass case outside the Bullis Room, and we invite you to stop and take a close look at it on your next trip to the library. It contains books from the collection that offer the reader learning experiences in a variety of subjects. 

There's Hints for Home Reading, Book Buyers Guide and a Book Record, which is described as "a series of papers on books and their use," edited by Lyman Abbott and published in New York in 1900.  This book bears Abram R. Bullis's bookplate, and we can imagine him studying this book in his search for titles to add to his library. 

There are 14 volumes displayed. Their subjects range from technical books on organic chemistry, physics,  economics, algebra, and hydraulic motors to the history of art. There's even a book on eighth-grade poetry that was published in 1906.

The size of the Bullis collection and the variety of subjects, genres, and authors indicate that all generations of Bullises were avid lifelong readers and considered themselves never too old to learn. As a result we now have their collection to enjoy--so let's do it.

CONSTITUTION AND CITIZENSHIP DAY

Constitution and Citizenship Day was established in 2004 to commemorate the signing of the Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787.

Looking for ways to observe this 223-year-old event?  We suggest you stop by the Bullis Room and let us show you these books from the collection:

The Constitution of the United States, its sources and its application, by Thomas James Norton. The World Publishing Co.  of Cleveland and New York published this book in 1941.

The Story of the Constitution of the United States, by Francis Newton Thorpe. Chautauqua Press published this book in 1891 and included it in their literary and scientific circle in 1891 and 1892.

Mr. Justice Holmes and the Supreme Court, by Felix Frankfurter. This book was published by Harvard University Press in 1938 and contains essays that cover the major controversies that came before the Supreme Court during the thirty years of Mr. Holmes' judgeship.

And if you'd like to read about a really old constitution, ask to see the Bullis Room's copy of Aristotle on the Athenian Constitution (translated with Aristotle introduction and notes by F.G. Kenyon),  2nd edition, published in London by G. Bell and Sons in 1912.

So please stop by...and take a look at these awesome books.

THE HASH KNIFE OUTFIT by Zane Grey

"Mert Bartels won the honors in our Bullis Book Review Contest's over-18 category. His review is reprinted below for your reading enjoyment.

"Jed Stone, a low end cattle rustler and leader of the 20 year outfit in the untamed, wild area in the Tonto Basin and Mongollon rim country of Arizona, exemplifies the many characteristics of how the westerner lived up to the Code of the West. Like many Jed Stone, due to circumstances early in his life, was forced onto the wrong side of the law. Good men as well as bad men exhibited these virtues: loyalty, courage, hard workers, untalkative and protector of women and children, well for the most part. Stone's dilemma is whether he continues to manhandle the Outfit or to alter his ways to leave outlawry.

"Zane Grey also weaves into the novel the Traft family Diamond Ranch with its array of mostly young cowhands who face the natural elements, mean cows, low-down rustlers, dishonest gamblers, and two young women of opposite upbringing. Uncle Jim Traft has nephew Jim, who is a year new to the West, ramrod the Diamond. Jim's ill-health, purpled-eyed sister, Gloriana with an Eastern education and ways, appears suddenly from Missouri with a past that she wants unrevealed. Her bad experience with a gambler named Darnell spelled past family troubles and future ones too as Darnell has tracked her west. Meanwhile, young Jim has not only fallen for a low country girl named Molly Dunn from the Cibeque Valley, but he plans to marry her despite Gloriana's objections. The problems begin between Gloriana and Molly because apparently it's easier for ten men in a bunkhouse to get along than two women in one ranch house. Gloriana convinces Molly that she is unfit to marry her  brother since she has only back woods upbringing, thus Molly moves to town to work and get away from moonstruck Jim.

"An unusually enjoyable part of the story is how simple cowhands compete to spruce themselves up for the Thanksgiving dance in town and outdoing one another at Christmas time. Grey is a master of dialog to convey their joshing each other and their fawning all over the ladies from the ranch as well as the Flag town girls. No modern day writer can equal his use of western talk and character mood. He too vividly describes rock-faced canyons, hues of the forestry and amber colored  brooks, plus wildlife sounds.

"Besides attending to the Diamond ranch young Jim finds he is given land in Yellow Jacket country by his uncle. Jim sees this as an opportunity to build an adjacent ranch and pine-pole log house for his bride-to-be Molly. As Jim and cowhands build the ranch house some Diamond cattle are stolen. Something disruptive happens to Uncle Jim. From this point the bad element seems to control the action.

"The western genre extended by Grey herein evolves into the traditional battle between good and bad elements. Croak Malloy, vicious weasel-faced gunman, Sonora, a Mexican with no ethics, and Madden both gunhand and cook comprise some of the bad element. Malloy in every back-handed attempt tries to lead the rustlers away from Jed Stone to become the Hash Knife's leader. When will the inevitable confrontation between these two occur as we learn more of their inward code and beliefs brings us closer to the end? Malloy who is loyal only to himself joins forces with Bambridge, a dishonest cattle buyer, the cheating gambler Darnell and other rustlers to remove 5000 head of Diamond stock. What is to become of the Hash Knife Outfit as the potential for leadership may change?

The next question becomes what the Diamond hands and young Jim will do to thwart the rustlers. Who will rescue the kidnapped Gloriana and Molly from the outlaw cabin? Also, will Gloriana evolve into a tough, resilient western woman? Only the reader knows."

REVIEW OF THE NOVEL MADAME BOVARY

Here is Danielle Stoner's winning book review, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did.

"The 1857 novel Madame Bovary by novelist Gustave Flaubert is truly a masterpiece in its own right. Unlike other novels of its time, Bovary touches on issues that are as relevant now as they were in nineteenth-century France; items such as dreams, infidelity, debt, suicide, and unrequited love constitute the makeup of this novel that is considered a classic of American and European literature.

"The novel centers around Emma (Roualt) Bovary, a bookish woman who holds dear her dreams of romantic love, and Charles Bovary, the smitten, mediocre doctor that falls for her. Emma falls for Charles soon after Charles sets her father's broken leg; to Emma, Charles is the ideal man, and they are soon wed. However, Emma is soon bored with Charles's superficiality and the mundane life she now leads as Madame Bovary.  Charles does not realize that his adoration is one-sided, and remains oblivious to Emma's disinterest throughout the novel. When Emma falls ill with what appears to be anxiety or depression, the Bovarys move to Yonville, a small village in the countryside. It is here where Emma falls in love first with Rodolphe, a wealthy landlord, followed by Leon, a young law student.  Emma's boredom with married life becomes a flurry of frantically concealed love affairs, sprouted from the romanticisms she had read about as a child and a young adult. To deal with her issues, Emma turns to compulsive buying, a trend with which many women can empathize today, but her problems come to an end abruptly and tragically.

"I found this novel to be quite intriguing for a novel of its time. In my experience, most novels from the nineteenth century seem to skirt over issues that were deemed "unseemly" or otherwise controversial. Bovary, however, approaches these topics at full force, describing in great detail the makeup of Emma's relationships with both Rodolphe and Leon. As a true romantic, myself, I liked the premise, even though I disagree with Emma's principles as a whole. I enjoyed the fact that Emma was seemingly able to find true love, or at least what appeared to her to be true love, even though she made the wrong choice in marrying Charles in the first place. Although I disagree with Emma's practices of adultery and abandonment of her child, I sympathize with her dilemma and I admire her will to achieve her dream of true love, no matter what it took to get her there. The novel is masterfully written, painting pictures of the French countryside so vivid that it seemed I was there inside the novel with characters smelling the fresh breeze and listening to the wind whistle through the trees. To me, that was one of the best parts of the novel; the descriptions of the scenery were absolutely lovely. Although the book has a tragic ending, I enjoyed the work as a whole. Overall, I like literature that deals with real issues, and Bovary did just that. Flaubert, although he received harsh criticism for his approach, did an excellent job making the reader aware of the prevalence of these issues in society, and showed them in a way that made the reader empathize with the characters' points of view. It is hard not to sympathize with Emma when Rodolphe abandons her, or grieve with Charles during any of the times where he experienced the death of a loved one. I feel that reading this novel has expanded my knowledge of classic literature, while helping me further understand the motives behind certain people's actions.  I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a change in pace, anyone interested in classic literature that is still relevant today, or anyone yearning to take a stroll in the French countryside."

AND THE WINNERS ARE...(trumpet sounds)

DANIELLE STONER (18 and under category)

and

MERT BARTELS (over 18 category)

CONGRATULATIONS, MERT & DANIELLE

Mert reviewed Zane Grey's The Hash Knife Outfit.  Danielle's review was on Gustave Flaubert's  Madame Bovary.  Both of these reviews will be included in our postings for the next two weeks.  Be sure to visit this blog and read the reviews of these two classic books.

BOOK REVIEW WINNERS

We will announce the winning contestants from the two categories - "Over 18 years old" and "18 and under" - next Friday, August 27, and post the names on this blog.

We hope that all contestants enjoyed reading and reviewing their book choices. We volunteers had fun choosing the list of books to be included, and we also enjoyed reading (or in come cases, reading again) all of the books that were reviewed. 

So be sure to check our post next week, to see who wrote the winning reviews. (And no, we won't reveal the names ahead of time!)

DEADLINE REMINDER

TO ENTRANTS IN OUR BULLIS BOOK REVIEW CONTEST:

Completed essays must be submitted today.  Be sure to get yours to us--by dropping it off at the MPL front desk or emailing us at bullisgroup@yahoo.com.

We're looking forward to reading each one of them--and choosing a winner from each age category.

QUINN-DEX, REVISITED

Seven months ago our post described a small brown mailing box containing the Quinn-Dex (see January 14, 2010) and its mailing label bearing Nettie Bullis's name. This box was brought to the Bullis Room by a local resident who found it while going through possessions left to her by a relative.  We are grateful to this relative for adding it to our collection.

However, the Quinn-Dex raised a lot of questions: Did Nettie Bullis take Dr. Quinn's correspondence course? And if so, where did she practice? (We have no record of the Bullis family owning a piano or organ.) Did she visit the Conservatory or perhaps study on the Boston campus? We still have no answers to any of these questions, but we do have something just as exciting...a high level of interest in the inventor of the Quinn-Dex.

A great deal of information has been relayed to us about Dr. Marcus Quinn. (Thanks to everyone who responded!) Some of this information came from family, but the bulk of it was shared with us by Donna L. Halper (author, media historian, radio consultant, and currently Asst. Professor of Communication, Lesley University, Cambridge MA). Here are excerpts from Professor Halper's email to us:

"Marcus Lucius Quinn was born in Ireland in 1862. He and his family came to America in 1870 and seem to have emigrated to the midwest first, as we find him in the 1910 census living in Chicago.  Around the turn of the century, he married a woman named Clara (living relatives tell me her full name was Clara Minetta Thomas and she was from Wisconsin originally); they had four kids, all boys.  In 1910, Mr Quinn identified on the census as a "music teacher" but at some point, he seems to have opened his own studio.  How I came to be interested in him is as a result of his career in music during the 1910s-- at some point, he met the man I've been doing my own research about-- Theodore Lyman Shaw.  Mr. Shaw came from the distinguished family, the one that gave the world Robert Gould Shaw....

"Anyway, Theo became friendly with Marcus Lucius Quinn in Chicago in the 1910s, although how they met remains a mystery that I wish I could solve.  When Theo returned to greater Boston circa 1918 (according to his alumni notes, given to Harvard University), Marcus Lucius Quinn moved here too.  Theo could afford a fancy home on the Needham/Wellesley line, but Marcus and his family moved to Waban, a suburb of Newton.  The two men remained friends and associates.  Marcus Lucius (still identified on the 1920 census as a "music teacher")had begun offering private lessons in the early 1890s, according to copy from ads he placed in magazines, and he seemed to do fairly well with it, establishing correspondence courses to help people learn to play the piano.  Somehow, he had the money to place LARGE ads for his services -- his living relatives believe some of this money came from his wife's side of the family.  But wherever the money came from, the ads ran in some of the best-known publication of that time, during the period from the turn of the century to the 1920s-- the ads appeared in such places as McClure's, Leslie's, and what was then a literary magazine-- Cosmopolitan.  Mr. Quinn appears to have been a very good self-promoter, who claimed he studied with Franz Liszt in Europe and he also claimed to have a Doctorate degree in Music....Whether or not Marcus Lucius Quinn really was the toast of Europe, his correspondence courses seemed to do well for him, and he was able to open the Marcus Lucius Quinn Conservatory of Music here in greater Boston.  In the early 1920s, he located it at 598 Columbia Road in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester, not far from the beautiful new Strand Theater (which had opened in 1918).  This would have made good sense, as movie theaters back then also gave live performances between films, so his students might have found a ready-made venue to demonstrate their skills."

We greatly appreciate Professor Halper taking the time to share this information with us. As with all new information, however, more questions are raised. Did Nettie Bullis see Dr. Quinn's ad in an issue of McClure's? or Cosmopolitan? Did she order it herself, or was it a gift from a friend or relative? If you have the answers to any of our questions, please let us hear from you.

SQUIRE WHIPPLE'S BOOK

One of the special books in the Bullis Collection is titled: An Essay on Bridge Building: containing analyses and comparisons of the principal plans in use: with investigations as to the best plans and proportions, and the relative merits of wood and iron for bridges, by Squire Whipple (Utica, NY: H. H. Curtis, 1847).

A visitor to the Bullis Room this last week stopped by to look at this book again. The book and its author are of interest to many local people because the Aldrich Change Bridge, which was rescued from abandonment and re-erected in Macedon and Palmyra's Aqueduct Park during 2003 and 2004, was originally built in 1858 from a design by Squire Whipple.

We're not sure how this book came to be a part of the Bullis Collection, but it is invaluable as a source of bridge building techniques. If you haven't visited Aqueduct Park recently and looked at the Aldrich Change Bridge, we encourage you to do so this summer. Thanks to Squire Whipple's knowledge and a group of local volunteer bridge enthusiasts, it's there for us to appreciate and enjoy.

AN EMBROIDERY CATALOG

Last week we told you about one of our latest acquisitions here in the Bullis Room--an embroidery guide. Along with that guide was another book with Nettie Bullis's name written at the top, titled Priscilla Embroidery Book. It was published by Priscilla Needlework Co., Boston, in 1914 and offered kits for making all sorts of articles.

Besides the usual pincushions and fancy bags were kits for corset cases, petticoat flounces, and baby clothes. An embroiderer could also purchase kits for men's gifts such as shaving pads, collar bags, necktie racks, and handkerchief cases. All of these kits came with a perforated pattern transfer or stamped linen.

For those wanting to learn new stitches, there were instructions for the: German Knot; Danish Italian, and Roman cut work; Balkan stitch; and Bulgaria stitch.

We wonder if Nettie Bullis ever placed an order from this catalog. And if so, which kit did she chose? Perhaps she just enjoyed reading the descriptions and imagining what the black-and white representations would look like in brighter colors. That's a good way for us to enjoy this book today. You're invited to stop by the room and take a look.

THE ARTS OF EMBROIDERY AND GROWING POPPIES

This past week we had one of those Christmas-morning surprises when a local resident delivered two paperback books bearing the handwritten name "Nettie A. Bullis" on the covers. Both books were on the subject of embroidery.

The Embroidery Guide by Helen Martin (published by Woman's Home Companion, Madison Square, New York City, 1910, Crowell Publishing Co.) is full of instructions for making stitches and patterns on decorative items for the home. Immediately, we honed in on a pattern titled, "A Round Between-Meals Centerpiece. A Graceful Arrangement of Poppies Done in Kensington Stitch in Natural Colors," designed by M. Hemingway and Sons Silk Co. (page 19).

Our imaginations shifted into full gear at the sight of the poppies, and we wondered if perhaps Nettie might have embroidered this design in honor of her brother Charlie's poppies. And then we went a step further and pictured the finished product on the Bullis dining room table, between meals, being removed when the table was set for Sunday dinner. This is all speculation, of course...but fun.

Still, we can say that artistic talent is required for both embroidering and growing poppies. Charlie Bullis's poppies that bloom every May are proof of his artistic talent. We have no sample of Nettie Bullis's needle work, but we feel safe in saying that her artistic talent manifested itself in that skill, as well, just as it did in other areas of her life.

Next week we'll tell you about the second book. In the meantime, if you'd like a closer look at the centerpiece in the above photo, please call the library and make arrangements to meet a volunteer in the Bullis Room. We'll be most happy to show both books to you.

WOW!

Thanks to all of you who entered our BULLIS BOOK REVIEW CONTEST. We're glad to know that so many of you share our interest in the books in this collection.

If you didn't enter our contest, you can still get some ideas for good summer reading from our Bullis Book Selection List. It includes authors Mark Twain, Robert Burns, Joel Chandler Harris, Zane Grey, Ernest T. Seton, James Baldwin, Elias Hicks, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Many of their books are in the PLS system and/or online for a free download. We suggest you treat yourself by reading (or re-reading) one of these great authors.

We're looking forward to reading the book reviews that are due to be submitted by August 13. And while we're waiting, we volunteers will be reading many of the books from the selection list. So...happy summer and happy reading.

BULLIS BOOK REVIEW CONTEST

REMINDER

Last day to sign up for the BULLIS BOOK REVIEW CONTEST

July 5

Call June Hamel at the Macedon Public Library

to arrange to come in, choose your book, and fill out an entry form.

CONTEST SIGN-UP

We're here in the Bullis Room, waiting for you to stop by and choose your book to read and review for the Bullis Book Review Contest. Wonder what the book choices are. Here are some of the titles you can choose from:

Juvenile: The Adventures of Mr. Mocker; The Cruise of the Snark; Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights; Hans Brinker; The Jungle Book; The Heroism of Hannah Duston.

Adult: The Deer Slayer; The Exile; The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson; Typee; Four Years in the White North; In Darkest Africa; The New ElDorado; Sailing the Seas-The Log of the Tom Darke.

There are complete lists on the contest display by the front desk that you can look through. Or stop by and see us today, 11 AM through 5 PM and tomorrow from 11 to 3 PM (or make an appointment with June Hamell, 315-986-5932, Ext. 119).

BULLIS BOOK REVIEW CONTEST

A $100 prize is being offered in a contest designed to raise awareness of this collection. The Friends Endowment for the Macedon Public Library has approved funding for this contest.

Contestants are asked to write a 500 to 750 word review of a book contained in the Bullis Collection. Participants will be divided into two categories, those 18-years-of-age and under, and those over 18 years. A $100 prize will be given to the winner in each category.

The Bullis Committee has compiled a list of eligible titles from this collection. Entrants must choose a book from this list; that book will then be removed from the eligible list. The entrant may choose to read the book in the Bullis Room (these books do not circulate), or may read a digital version of the book online; copies of a number of the books are also available through the Pioneer Library System.

Contestants must register in the Bullis Room at the library by July 5; completed reviews must be submitted by August 13; winners will be announced by August 27. The contest is open to residents of Macedon and the surrounding area.

Those interested may visit the Bullis Room to fill out an entry form and select their book on either Friday, June 25, from 11 AM to 5 PM, or on Saturday, June 26, from 11 AM to 3 PM. Appointments for other times are available by calling June Hamell at (315) 986-5932, ext. 119.

A full description of the contest rules may be obtained from the library or by checking the library website at: http://www.macedon.pls-net.org/index.htm

This is your special invitation to participate in this contest. It's an opportunity to enjoy a good book and have a chance at winning a picture of Benjamin Franklin.

OLD FASHIONED ROSES

OLD-FASHIONED ROSES

(Hoosier Dialect)

They ain't no style about 'em,

And they're sort o' pale and faded,

Yit the doorway here, without 'em,

Would be lonesomer, and shaded

With a good 'eal blacker shadder

Than the mornin'-glories makes,

And the sunshine would look sadder

For their good old-fashion' sakes.

I like 'em 'cause they kind o'

Sorto' make a feller like 'em!

And I tell you, when I find a

Bunch out whur the sun kin strike 'em,

It allus sets me thinkin'

O' the ones 'at used to grow,

And peek in thro' the chinkin'

O' the cabin, don't you know.

And then I think o' mother,

And how she used to love 'em

When they wusn't any other,

'Less she found 'em up above 'em!

And her eyes, afore she shut 'em,

Whispered with a smile and said

We must pick a bunch and put 'em

In her hand when she was dead.

But, as I was a-sayin',

They ain't no style about 'em

Very gaudy or displayin',

But I wouldn't be without 'em, --

'Cause I'm happier in these posies,

And the hollyhawks and sich

Than the hummin-bird 'at noses

In the roses of the rich.

This poem is a part of a collection of poems by James Whitcomb Riley called Old Fashioned Roses. The Bullis copy of this book is the twenty-eighth edition, published in 1906 by Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis.

Old fashioned roses are blooming along our roadsides now. Let's enjoy them while we can, together with Mr. Riley's equally beautiful poetry.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

On April 17, 1864, while stationed at Annapolis during the Civil War, John Lapham Bullis wrote a letter to his mother in which he stated that he was reading "Victor Hugo's sketches of Napoleon." This reference caused us to wonder if the book Mr. Bullis referred to might possibly be a part of the current collection, so we searched our data base for all things Napoleon.

We did not find any book about Napoleon that Mr. Bullis could have been reading in 1864, but there are several in the collection that he might have read at a later time, such as:

The Destroyer of the Second Republic; Being Napoleon the Little

by Victor Hugo

published in 1870

Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon

by Louis Constant Wairy

published in 1900

Napoleon, the Last Phase

by Archibald Philip Primrose, Earl of

published in 1900

Memoirs of the Emperor Napoleon, from Ajaccio to Waterloo, as

Soldier, Emperor, Husband

by Laure Junot Abrantes, duchesse d'

published in 1901

The Life of the Empress Josephine, First Wife of Napoleon

by P. C. Headley (Phineas Camp)

published in 1850

Mr. Bullis's reference to Napoleon also caused us to wonder why he was interested in that particular military and political leader. Perhaps he wanted to learn from Napoleon's successes and mistakes? Or was it simply to distract himself from the realities of the war he was involved in at that time? Putting aside the reason for his choice of reading material, we find it characteristic that a member of the Bullis family would have in his possession a book that he was reading at any opportunity. Obviously, like all the Bullises, John Lapham Bullis was a true book lover and avid reader as well as a military genius.

ON THIS MEMORIAL DAY

WE HONOR ALL THOSE WHO DIED WHILE SERVING OUR NATION.

(CHARLIE BULLIS'S POPPIES)

THINK GREEN FOR SPRING

Have you seen our current display in the case outside the Bullis Room? If you haven't and you're trying to locate it, just look for green. Green book covers, that is. Choosing books by their covers results in a variety of subjects: gardening, travel, biography, and finance. Here are some of the books on display that we recommend you consider for your Spring reading:

The Life of Daniel Boone - The Pioneer of Kentucky, A Biography, by Channing Hill (published in 1884)

Ten Years in Wall Street or, Revelation of Inside Life and Experience on 'Change, by William Worthington Fowler (published in 1870)

The Garden's Story, by George H. Ellwanger (published in 1889)

A Voyage in the "Sunbeam," Our Home on The Ocean for Eleven Months, by Mrs. Brassey (published 1881)

You can access all of these books online. Or if you'd like to take a look at the real thing, please stop by the Bullis Room.

RAILROADS, THEN (1869) AND NOW (2010)

On May 10, 1869, the first transcontinental railroad in the United States was completed with a golden spike driven in Promontory, Utah. Dreams, planning, dedication and hard work accomplished this event. One book in the Bullis Collection that was published by the United States War Department between 1855 and 1861 tells of the beginnings of this monumental project. It's spine title is: Report of explorations and surveys for economical route for a railroad. The full title reads:

Reports of explorations and surveys to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean / made under the direction of the Secretary of War, in 1853-5, according to acts of Congress of March 3, 1853, May 31, 1854, and August 5, 1854.

This book is available online (and in the Bullis Room, of course) and we recommend it to you for your reading list, as it gives a greater appreciation of the Utah event and of railroads in general.

And speaking of appreciating railroads, the engineers in the Bullis family in 1869 would have been interested in the news from Promontory, Utah because it fulfilled the hopes inherent in their library book. Today, they would be equally interested in this country's talk of high speed rail as well as a local county rail line that was officially opened this week on May 10, exactly 141 years after the driving of the Golden Spike.

THE WHIRLWIND

John Lapham Bullis's military career spanned 43 years. During that time he received countless recognitions and promotions for his bravery and loyalty.

However, when he served as "Chief Scout at Fort Clark (Bracketville, Texas), he engaged in some of the most exciting and least known battles in the annals of American history." As a result Brigadier General D.S. Stanley stated that, "Bullis...has the most successful career of an Indian fighter that has ever been recorded in the history of the American Army." (True West Magazine, October, 1981, pages 12 & 13)

This True West article titled "John Bullis" documents battles in which Bullis and his Fort Clark scouts fought in the Indian Wars in southwestern United States and Mexico. This group of scouts (who called Bullis "The Whirlwind" or "Thunderbolt") consisted mainly of Seminole-Negro troops who greatly respected their leader not only for his military skill but also for his fairness and regard for those who served with him.

"The Seminoles' feelings for Bullis are best summed up in a statement years later by a former scout, Joseph Phillips: 'The scouts thought a lot of Bullis. Lieutenant Bullis was the only officer ever did stay the longest with us. That fella suffer jest like we all did out in de woods. He was a good man. He was a Injun fighter. He was tuff. He didn't care how big a bunch dey wuz, he went into 'em everytime, but he look after his men. His men was on equality, too. He didn't stan' back and say "Go yonder;" he would say, "Come on boys, let's go get 'em.'" (True West Magazine, October, 1981, page 13)

Space does not allow us to share all of the battles led by John Bullis. However, the "last conflict by Seminole scouts is credited by many historians as being the last action with hostile Indians in the state. Bullis' scouts literally saw the end of the Indian wars in Texas." (True West Magazine, October, 1981, page 18)

This last battle involved an attack by Lipan Indians on a home near the head of the Frio River in which two people were killed. Twelve days later the scouts were given instructions to follow and destroy the raiders. Although the trail was "cold," then-Lieutenant Bullis and his scouts successfully tracked the Lipans and spotted their camp less than a week later. They attacked the camp at daybreak and although four braves were killed and others captured, Bullis and his men suffered no casualties.

John Bullis was rewarded for his gallant actions by being breveted a Captain and a Major on the same day, February 27, 1890. Following that, "he relocated to New Mexico territory as Agent for the Pueblo and Jicarilla Indians." Then in 1897 he was appointed to U.S. Army Paymaster....."His days of action were finished." (True West Magazine, October, 1981, page 19)

His military career ended in 1905, but John Lapham Bullis--the Whirlwind--is still remembered and admired more than one hundred years later.

THE LOCAL BOY WHO BECAME BRIGADIER GENERAL

Two weeks ago our post was about a boy born in Kentucky who rose from humble beginnings to be our sixteenth president. Today we focus is on a boy born in Macedon who rose from a conservative small-town environment to be appointed a brigadier general by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904.

John Lapham Bullis's biographical information is in two previous posts on this blog (see February 5 and 12, 2009). Our focus today is on his family's (and hometown's) reaction to his military and business achievements.

Since he received a standard Quaker education, questions have been raised about his family's feelings toward his military career. We have no record specific to these questions. However, we do have excerpts of letters Mr. Bullis wrote his mother while he was serving in the Civil War which indicate mutual love and support. We also have Christmas letters he wrote to his aunt, in which he enclosed a generous monetary gift and expressed his affection of her. As for his business achievements, his nephew Charles Bullis spoke about his Uncle John "always trying to earn money and get ahead...," indicating admiration for his uncle's apparent driving force and ambitions.

Again, we have no record of his community's reaction. However, Bullis family neighbors and friends must have felt proud as stories circulated in the local press and area grapevines about this hometown boy's accomplishments in the Civil War and, later on, in the Texas frontier as leader of the Black Seminole Indians. And we can imagine that after hearing stories of John Lapham Bullis's many acts of bravery, local young people may have been inspired to set higher goals and work harder to achieve them.

Next week we'll post excerpts from a 1981 article in True West titled "John Bullis."

EARTH DAY

CHARLES ROGERS BULLIS

(1891 - 1974)

In this garden

Each day of his life was Earth Day to Mr. Bullis.

May the rest of us follow his example.

THE PIONEER BOY WHO BECAME PRESIDENT

Today, on the one hundred forty-fifth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's death, we searched the collection and found numerous volumes that focus on our sixteenth president's life. Distinguished authors of well-known titles include Ida M. Tarbell, Alexander K. McClure, and Charles Wallace French.

We chose to highlight William Makepeace Thayer's The Pioneer Boy and How He Became President (Boston: Walter, Wise and Company, 1863), however, because of its timeless inspirational message. We recommend Mr. Thayer's book as a source of encouragement to all readers, but especially to young people who aspire to greater things.

You can read the online version of this book, or stop by the Bullis Room when one of our volunteers is on duty and ask to see our copy. We're always happy to assist you.

CUSTOMS, MYTHS, GREEK THOUGHT, AND MORALS

This week we focused on the religion and philosophy section of this collection. Since it covers two full shelving units, it's difficult to choose which books to recommend for your consideration. Here are a few that especially caught our attention:

Custom and Myth, by Andrew Lang (1885)

Studies in Greek Thought: Essays Selected from the Papers

of Lewis Packard, by Lewis Richard Packard (1886)

A Preface to Morals, by Walter Lippmann (1933)

History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science,

by John William Draper (1875)

Although we plan to have a closer look at all of these books, yesterday we took Custom and Myth off the shelf, sat down at the round table and enjoyed a good read. It begins with the method of folklore and goes into specific myths: Cronus, Cupid, Psyche, as well as the Star myths and Hottentot mythology. The book ends with an early history of the family and the art of savages. We think you would enjoy this book, too, as it revisits familiar myths and enhances the reader's knowledge of mythology in general.

We invite you to stop by the Bullis Room when you're in the library, and take a look at any or all of these books.

HAPPY EASTER

From Nettie Bullis's postcard collection

THE GARDENER'S ALMANAC

In the midst of all our pondering and scurrying and pausing to reflect here in the Bullis Room this past week, Spring arrived and turned our attention to the horticulture books in this collection. There are so many good ones to choose from that it's a challenge to focus on just one, but we thought we'd start with The Gardener's Almanac, first published in 1939 by the Massachusetts Horticulture Society. Edward L. Farrington wrote this book to "serve as a valuable reminder, making it less likely that the garden maker who uses it will leave undone the things which he ought to have done or perhaps to have done the things which he ought not to have done."

To accomplish this goal, Mr. Farrington composed a calendar with information on garden work for all twelve months of the year. He offers good advice to those of us who live in the north as well as gardeners in the south. So what should we northern gardeners be doing now, as March comes to a close? Here are a few of his suggestions:

1. The Winter coverings of boxwood and evergreen plants can be taken off by the end of the month. It is better to do this work on a cloudy day.

2. Do not be hasty in uncovering protected shrubs, or perennials and bulb beds.

3. Give the asparagus bed an early dressing of complete commercial fertilizer.

4. Keep an eye out for insect cocoons, caterpillar nests, and insect eggs and destroy them.

5. Charcoal placed in the water in the jars where Spring blossoms are being forced will help to keep the water sweet.

There are lots more hints for those of us who like to get our hands in the dirt. We'll share more of them in a future posting.

HONORING MISS NETTIE BULLIS

Jeannette Aurelia Bullis

March 23, 1893 - October 1, 1979

This week we are again honoring Miss Nettie Bullis on her birthday. Miss Bullis was a very caring, private person. Through her generosity money that she left has provided periodicals, large-print books, audiobooks, and matching funds for construction of the library; scholarships for in-college students of the Pal-Mac School District; and financial help for those becoming physicians.

We invite you to visit the Bullis Room this coming week as we recognize her contributions to our community.

IRISH STRUGGLE, IRISH ELOQUENCE, AND THE IRISH BAR

With St. Patrick's Day in mind, this week we browsed the shelves for books with green covers. We found lots of them; too many, in fact, to include in a weekly posting. So then we browsed for books with Irish in the title and found three that we recommend for your reading as you celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

If you're into Ireland's struggle for home rule, The Honorable T.P. O'Connor's Gladstone-Parnell, and the Great Irish Struggle (Chicago, G. L. Howe, c 1886) will give you a complete and thrilling history of Ireland's 19th century political/governmental issues and of the two influential men in that struggle: Charles Stewart Parnell and William Ewart Gladstone.

Or, perhaps you would prefer to read facts and anecdotes about Irish trials. Then Richard Lalor Sheil's two volume set, Sketches of the Irish Bar (New York: W. J. Widdleton, 1861), may be your Irish cup of tea.

But if it's Irish oration that you're after, we suggest you read Irish Eloquence: The Speeches of the Celebrated Irish Orators Philips, Curran, and Grattan: to which is added the powerful appeal of Robert Emmett, at the close of this trial for high treason (Boston: Patrick Donahoe, 1857). The book ends with the latter appeal which was delivered at the Session House, Dublin. (Sadly, in spite of Robert Emmett's eloquence, he was found guilty by the Crown and the execution sentence carried out the following day, September 20, 1803.)

If we haven't convinced you to try one of these works, then we invite you to stop by the Bullis Room next week and let us show you all of the collection's green-covered books. And plan to stay a while and enjoy one of them.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY

This week Women's History Month arrived and reminded us to look thorough our data base for books on local women of great achievement. Ida Husted Harper's work, The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony: including public addresses, her own letters, and many from her contemporaries during fifty years (Indianapois: Bowen-Merrill, 1899, c.1898) immediately came to our attention.

Harper's dedication states: "To woman, for whose freedom Susan B. Anthony has given fifty years of noble endeavor this book is dedicated." In her introduction, she also states that "...in preparing these volumes over 20,000 letters have been read and, whenever possible, some of them used to tell the story, especially those written by Miss Anthony...." (Vol. 1, p. viii) This is a work of art by a woman, about a woman, and at times in the latter's own words.

There are over a thousand pages and 24 plates in these two volumes. Harper added a third volume to this set, but the Bullis Room has only the first two. All three volumes are available for loan to patrons in the PLS system. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to study the life of this great woman.

Harper's dedication states: "To woman, for whose freedom Susan B. Anthony has given fifty years of noble endeavor this book is dedicated." One hundred years later, we are grateful to Susan B. Anthony for her noble endeavors and to Ida Husted Harper for leaving us this comprehensive record of Miss Anthony's accomplishments.

FREDERICK DOUGLAS

As February comes to a close, we again focus on Black History books in the collection. Last year we recommended for your reading an 1858 publication compiled from authentic materials by W. O. Blake and titled The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade, Ancient and Modern....

(Please refer to our posting of February 19, 2009.)

This year we suggest Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, Written by Himself (Park Publishing, Hartford, CN, 1882). This book covers "his early life as a slave, his escape from bondage, and his complete history to the present time, including his connection with the anti-slavery movement." A general note states: "Enlarged from the author's My Bondage and My Freedom, New York, 1855."

We have frequently seen and heard Mr. Douglass's name in the press recently. Now we have an opportunity to get better acquainted with him through his own words in this 1882 edition that is on the shelves here in the Bullis Room.

MARK TWAIN

On this date in 1885, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published for the first time in this country. One hundred and fifteen years later people of all ages are still enjoying Huck's tale along with the many other works by this prolific writer.

A few of Twain's books in the Bullis Collection are pictured here. You can find the complete list of these vintage books by going to http://www.pls-net.org/, first clicking on OWWL catalog and then on Advanced Search (found under and to the left of the regular search box). Next fill in the following boxes:

Author: Mark Twain

Library: Macedon Public Library

Location: Bullis Collection

Then we suggest you make a list of your favorites and bring it to the Bullis Room so we can show you the awesome illustrations in these century-old books.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

From Nettie Bullis's vintage postcard collection

WHAT HAVE YOU "RED" LATELY?

You may think you're "seeing red" when you look at the display case outside the Bullis Room. Well, you are--books with red covers from this collection. Here are the titles:

Life of Mary Jemison, by James Seaver, 1910

New York Commonwealth, by Ellis H. Roberts, New York: 1904

A Man's Value to Society, by Newell Dwight Hills, 1904

Bridgewater Treatises, by William Whewell, DD, 1852

Pictures Every Child Should Know, by Delores Bacon, 1913

The Spectator, by Henry Morely, London: 1902

Anecdotes from Ancient History, author unknown, New York: 1847

Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin--Record of a Family of Engineers,

by Robert Louis Stevenson, New York: 1925

Biography of American Military Heroes, Vol. I,

by Thomas Wilson, New York: 1821

If you haven't read these red-covered books, perhaps you'd like to add two or three to your list.

BEAUCHAMP TOWER, continued

This week we spent more time with this intriguing pamphlet. Here are a few inscriptions from the Beauchamp Tower walls that caught our eyes:

"A passage perillus maketh a port pleasant. 1568, Arthur Poole."

"No hope is hard or vayne that happ doth us attain. 1568" (probably left by Arthur Poole or his brother Edmund)

"Unhappie is that man whose actes doth procuer the miseri of this hous in prison to endure. 1576, T.C. " (probably Thomas Clarke)

"Hit is the poynt of a wise man to try and then truste; for happy is he whome fyndeth one that is just. 1578, T.C." (probably Thomas Clarke)

"As vertue maketh life; so sin cawseth death. July 1585, Thomas Bawdewin"

And this anonymous inscription, which probably reflected thoughts of all the tower's inhabitants through the ages, as they awaited their punishments for conspiracy or other charges:

"O unhappy man that I think myself to be."

We have a new display in the case outside the Bullis Room. Next week we'll post a list of the (red-covered) books in "What Have You Red Lately?"

BEAUCHAMP TOWER

The next time you're in the library, ask a volunteer to show you this booklet located here in the Bullis Room

The reddish cover is faded and worn but the contents are fresh to those of us who have carefully turned its brittle pages. Sold by the Warders at the Tower for a sixpence, it was "...offered for the inspection of the Public, as an abridgment of one lately published by W. R. Dick."

Here's an opportunity to actually hear walls talk from pages a century or so old. Next week we'll share some of those inscriptions with you.

Note: We cannot find a copyright or publication date anywhere in the booklet, although Bemrose & Sons Limited, Derby & London, are listed as publishers. If you have information that would help us identify and confirm these dates, please let us hear from you.

QUINN-DEX

The photo above shows the Quinn-Dex, a mechanical "movie" in the form of a small book containing over 600 separate pictures that show the correct movement of wrists, hands and fingers at a piano keyboard. By fanning through the sequenced pages, the fingers appear to move from one position to another.

The Quinn-Dex was copyrighted in 1922 by Dr. Marcus Lucius Quinn and used as a part of a How to Learn Piano correspondence course offered through his Conservatory of Music in the Social Union Building, Boston, Massachusetts. The Bullis Room's Quinn-Dex is stored in a small brown cardboard mailing box bearing Nettie Bullis's name and address, stamped "4 cents postage, Permit No. 924," and mailed from the Colonial Road Uphams Corner Station, Boston.

Several questions come to mind as we look at this piece of Bullis history: Did Nettie Bullis take Dr. Quinn's correspondence course? And if so, where did she practice? (We have no record of the Bullis family owning a piano or organ.) Did she visit the Conservatory or perhaps study on the Boston campus?

We will continue our search for more information about Dr. Quinn, his Quinn-Dex, and Nettie Bullis's involvement in music and will keep you informed of our progress. In the meantime, can you answer any of our questions or tell us more about this unique method of learning to play piano?

WINTER DRIVING ADVICE

THE SHOVEL AND THE ASHES
By Nettie A. Bullis
May 15, 1948

So often the snow has been followed by rain,
I feel very certain will happen again.
And then later on as it turns into sleet,
It is all you can do to stay on your feet.
Then go to the ash can and fill up the pail
They'll help you along when your hand's off the rail,
For a few scattered 'round
are as good as the ground.

And take them along when you go in the car,
For sometime you'll find you won't get very far.
Then if you skid as you turn at the gate
You won't need to worry for fear you'll be late.
Or if your wheels spin and you find you can't start,
'Though there's no one to push, you needn't loose heart,
Just scatter them 'round
You'll take off like a hound.

Yes! take them along, this shovel and ashes,
They may help you avoid some of the crashes.
And often you'll find when you're stuck on a hill
That a few scattered 'round will save a tow bill.