BULLIS HISTORY "POPPING UP"

A couple weeks ago we found a calendar issued at the time of the Macedon Bicentennial (1789-1989), for the month of March. The word "Lapham" caught our eye twice:

1.  "March 7, 1811 - Dr. Increase Lapham born in Macedon. Founder of U.S. Weather Bureau."
(In case you missed it, here is a paragraph from our December 11, 2010 post: "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.")

2. "March 30, 1815 - During this year, Jacob Gannett and Daniel Lapham built first carding machine mill."

Once again, we are reminded of the Lapham family's strong  commitment to their community as well as their inventiveness, creativity, and business acumen.  Nettie Bullis was an embodiment of all these qualities, and this week we again celebrate and honor her birth. Here is a link to our March 19, 2009 post on Nettie Bullis: http://bullisbookchronicles.blogspot.com/2009/03/nettie-bullis.html

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.