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