HISTORY OF THE POPES

There is so much interest in Pope Francis's visit that we looked through the Bullis stacks for books about previous popes. And we found these two:

The History of the Popes During the Last Four Centuries

by Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886)

Published by G.Bell & Sons Ltd., London, 1906

and

The Pope and the Council

by Johann Joseph Ignaz von Dollinger (1799-1890)

Published by Roberts Brothers, Boston, 1870

These books cover a variety of topics such as:

Theory of Ecclesiastical Policy

Conflicts of Opinions

Latter Times of Sixtus V

Election and Character of Clement VIII

Jesuit Programme for the Council

Modern Civilisation and Constitutionalism Condemned 

Personal Attitude of the Popes

The "Curia"

Trials for Witchcraft

... and lots more!

Stop by and spend some time with these more-than-a-century old books. It'll be worth your while.

THE REST OF THE STORY

Subtitle: Some answers to the posts "LOOK WHAT WE FOUND!" and "WHAT'S IN A NAME?"

A member of the Bullis Committee did some more "digging" and found information that points to the identity of the baby girl whose birth announcement is shown in our August 26 post.

From the information we now have, it seems that Dorothy Josephine Knapp's family was living on Main Street in Macedon at the time of her birth, and her Grandmother Knapp lived close by on Bickford Street.

And ... here's the really big scoop: There is a family connection with the Nettie and Charlie Bullis.

That's all for now. We'll let you know more later ... honestly, we will!

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

The birth announcement shown in our last post has generated several questions. Among them is the significance of the baby's given names--Dorothy and Josephine--and the year of birth.

Nettie and Charlie's mother was named Josephine, so it's possible that is the source of the baby girl's middle name. But what about that first name?  We have not found any Dorothy's in the immediate Bullis family tree.

Could the Knapps have been influenced by L. Frank Baum's book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?  It was published in 1900, and the movie version premiered in 1939. According to the official website of the Social Security Administration, Dorothy was the second most popular baby girl's name in 1920 and the third most popular in 1930.

So, if the Knapps followed the "naming trend" of their time, was Dorothy Josephine born between 1900 and 1930? Perhaps ... but honestly, we can't say for sure.

And then there's that movie star, Dorothy Lamour, who was popular in the late 1930s through the 1950s. Hmmm - oh well.

It's fun to think about and to do some "what ifs,"  but when all's said and done, we have to return to our original premise: we do not know. However, this is the kind of thing that keeps us volunteers fascinated with the history of the Bullis family. So we'll keep on with our speculating and let you know when we come up with some answers.