When we Bullis volunteers think of the words "women" and "history," our first thoughts are of our own Nettie Bullis. In the coming weeks, you will see more of her outstanding history related on this blog.
However, we cannot let the month of March go out (whether like a lion or lamb) without calling attention to Women's History Month and some of the books in the collection about women who changed the course of history in both small and large ways. Here is a partial list. We invite you to stop by and take a look at some or all of them.
WOMEN OF THE WAR, THEIR HEROISM AND SELF-SACRIFICE, by Frank Moore
(illustrated with steel engravings, Hartford, Conn., 1866
MOSLEM WOMEN, by A. E. and S. M. Zwemer, (illustrated)
Brattleboro, Vermont, 1926
FAMOUS AUTHORS (WOMEN), by E. F. Harkins, Boston, 1906
THE WOMEN OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, VOL. 2, by Elizabeth Ellet,
New York, 1849
WESTERN WOMEN AND EASTERN LANDS, by Helen Montgomery, (illustrated)
Norwood, Massachusetts, 1910
PORTRAITS OF CELEBRATED WOMEN, by C. A. Sainte-Beuve, Boston, 1868
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
NETTIE BULLIS
IN MEMORY OF JEANETTE AURELIA (NETTIE) BULLIS
March 23, 1893 - October 1, 1979
She titled her 1911 Macedon High School valedictory address, "Life Like Every Other Blessing Derives Its Value From Its Use." Nettie Bullis lived by the message she delivered that day.
After briefly attending Cornell University and teaching school in Marion, New York, Nettie found work as a bookkeeper at Gleason Works in Rochester. She held that position for about ten years and was seriously contemplating a change to work for the Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh Railroad Company, headquartered in Rochester. However, an opportunity for advancement within Gleason Works developed and she decided to remain there. She continued her diligent climb up the corporate ladder and at the time of her retirement was Assistant Secretary of Gleason Works.
She became a wealthy woman through careful planning, saving, and wise investments, and spent little of what she accumulated. Nettie generously shared this wealth during her lifetime with a long list of recipients. This sharing goes on after her death, with the number of individuals and organizations benefiting from her generosity growing annually.
Nettie practiced what she "preached" in her 1911 valedictory address. She added great value to her life by using it.
How do we express our appreciation for that life? By saying simply and sincerely, "Thank you, Nettie."
That is exactly what Palmyra-Macedon Central School District did on June 26, 2008 when they named Nettie a "Graduate of Distinction." The certificate is currently displayed here in the Bullis Room.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
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.)
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.)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
MIDWINTER WISH BOOKS
As the snow drifts grew higher in January and mid-February, visions of summer's blossoms danced in our heads. The colorful flower illustrations found in those wish books that arrived after the first of the year reassured us that warm days would come again, melt away the snow, and awaken dormant plants from their long winter's nap.
Nettie and her brother Charles, who saved some of their gardening catalogs, must have carefully poured over each page, looking at the new cultivars offered each year and then sending orders off to Burpee, Lovett or Vaughan. Dates on these catalogs in the collection indicate that this horticulture fascination went back to earlier members of the Bullis family as well, even before Nettie and Charlie were old enough to wield a hoe and shovel.
For example, from 1896 there are copies of DREER'S AUTUMN CATALOGUE and LOVETT'S GUIDE TO HORTICULTURE. Vaughan's colorful 1933 GARDENING ILLUSTRATED is preserved in our file along with copies of Peter Henderson & Company's 1896, 1916, and 1933 publications, which offered "seeds, bulbs, plants, roots, implements, sundries," all illustrated in black and white as well as color. Burpee's 1917 publication offered similar stock to the public and even enclosed in their catalog an "Application for Domestic Money Order" for the customer's convenience in remitting the amount due.
Those of you who enjoyed Charlie's garden on Canandaigua Road for many, many years were privileged to see the results of his catalog purchases as well as his expertise in producing his own cultivars. Today, it's our responsibility to carry on the local tradition, started by the Bullis family and other Macedon pioneering families, of leafing through garden catalogs (or scanning online versions) and placing orders (using credit cards instead of money orders). Then, like Charlie and Nettie, we sit back and wait for Memorial Day weekend to begin the process of turning our wishes into reality.
BOOK REPAIR
This week several Bullis Room volunteers met to repair books with missing or loose boards(aka "covers"). To accomplish this, here's what we did:
1. We arranged for an expert in book repair to instruct and guide us. This is essential, unless you are knowledgeable and experienced in this area.
2. Next, we assembled the supplies and materials needed: white glue, scissors, cork-backed rulers, pencils, sharp knife, wax paper, paper towels, binder's board, crash (a stiff cheesecloth material), craft paper, head bands, cloth or leather for covering the new boards, and paper for end sheets. These items can be purchased at art and discount stores or book binding supply houses.
3. Prior to our session, we measured the books to be repaired and cut the replacement parts out of the new materials.
4. With books and supplies organized on a large work table, we then carefully listened to and followed the expert's instructions, as she patiently guided us through the process. (Please take note of the word "patiently.")
The results were books with new endsheets and boards, securely bound together with the text block. Hurray! We hope to give this same TLC to other books in the collection that are showing signs of aging.
Note: if you're interested in repairing your own books, we suggest you contact your local book-repair expert or use your favorite search engine to locate illustrated instructions on the web. Good Luck.
1. We arranged for an expert in book repair to instruct and guide us. This is essential, unless you are knowledgeable and experienced in this area.
2. Next, we assembled the supplies and materials needed: white glue, scissors, cork-backed rulers, pencils, sharp knife, wax paper, paper towels, binder's board, crash (a stiff cheesecloth material), craft paper, head bands, cloth or leather for covering the new boards, and paper for end sheets. These items can be purchased at art and discount stores or book binding supply houses.
3. Prior to our session, we measured the books to be repaired and cut the replacement parts out of the new materials.
4. With books and supplies organized on a large work table, we then carefully listened to and followed the expert's instructions, as she patiently guided us through the process. (Please take note of the word "patiently.")
The results were books with new endsheets and boards, securely bound together with the text block. Hurray! We hope to give this same TLC to other books in the collection that are showing signs of aging.
Note: if you're interested in repairing your own books, we suggest you contact your local book-repair expert or use your favorite search engine to locate illustrated instructions on the web. Good Luck.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
IN HONOR OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH
THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE, ANCIENT AND MODERN. THE FORMS OF SLAVERY THAT PREVAILED IN ANCIENT NATIONS, PARTICULARLY IN GREECE AND ROME. THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE AND THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. Compiled From Authentic Materials by W. O. Blake, published by J. H. Miller, Ohio, 1858.
A few weeks ago, a volunteer set aside this book and suggested the rest of us look it over and consider it for a Black History Month entry on this blog. We did and were equally impressed.
Anyone who needs information about the formation and continuance of the slavery system in this country will find invaluable information between the covers of this factual, well-documented 150-year-old book. On the first of 832 pages, the author states:
It is certainly a curious fact, that as far as we can trace back the
history of the human race, we discover the existence of Slavery.
Then follows the history of Mosaic institutional slavery, Sparta's Helots, Greek and Roman slaves, and slavery in Africa, England and in the New World. Two chapters, titled "Early Opponents of African Slavery in England and America" and "Movements in England to Abolish the Slave Trade," document the abolitionist efforts of Quakers and the historian Thomas Clarkson.
The book ends with sixteen pages of statistical information compiled from the 1850 census about free and slave states and a record of the United States Supreme Court's decision in the Case of Dred Scott vs. Sandford, in their December term, 1856.
Eleven images enhance the reader's understanding and interpretation of the facts reported in these 34 chapters. You can view these images at: http://people.uvawise.edu/runaways/images/blake.html
We invite you to stop by the Bullis Room and take a look at our copy.
A few weeks ago, a volunteer set aside this book and suggested the rest of us look it over and consider it for a Black History Month entry on this blog. We did and were equally impressed.
Anyone who needs information about the formation and continuance of the slavery system in this country will find invaluable information between the covers of this factual, well-documented 150-year-old book. On the first of 832 pages, the author states:
It is certainly a curious fact, that as far as we can trace back the
history of the human race, we discover the existence of Slavery.
Then follows the history of Mosaic institutional slavery, Sparta's Helots, Greek and Roman slaves, and slavery in Africa, England and in the New World. Two chapters, titled "Early Opponents of African Slavery in England and America" and "Movements in England to Abolish the Slave Trade," document the abolitionist efforts of Quakers and the historian Thomas Clarkson.
The book ends with sixteen pages of statistical information compiled from the 1850 census about free and slave states and a record of the United States Supreme Court's decision in the Case of Dred Scott vs. Sandford, in their December term, 1856.
Eleven images enhance the reader's understanding and interpretation of the facts reported in these 34 chapters. You can view these images at: http://people.uvawise.edu/runaways/images/blake.html
We invite you to stop by the Bullis Room and take a look at our copy.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
BULLIS FAMILY HISTORY, PART II
JOHN LAPHAM BULLIS, From Corporal to Brigadier General
After the surrender of Lee, Corporal John Lapham Bullis's unit was ordered to Texas (along the Rio Grande River, near Brownsville) for Reconstruction duty. He was mustered out of the Volunteer Army on February 6, 1866 at White's Ranch, Texas, after serving almost three and a half years in the War of the Rebellion.
He attempted a personal business of providing logs for the steamboats on the Mississippi for about a year. It was said that civilian life just did not provide as much excitement as military life provided and he entered military service again. He was appointed 2nd Lieutenant in the 41st Infantry, September 3, 1867. This duty permitted little opportunity to advance, so in November, 1869, he requested transfer to the new Twenty-fourth Infantry, composed of white officers and black enlisted men.
With the Twenty-fourth Infantry, he participated in operations against Indian raiding parties and cattle rustlers. While stationed at Fort Clark (150 miles West of San Antonio along the Rio Grande) he received command of a special troop of Black Seminole Scouts. In 1873 and 1874, Bullis and his 20 scouts played a major support role to Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie as he battled against tribes from the Texas Panhandle and Mexico. He received brevet citations for his "gallant service" in the years of 1875 through 1881 and the title of "friend of the frontier" from the state of Texas. He left the Black Seminole Scouts in 1882 for other duties in Indian Territory.
In 1888 he served as agent for the Apaches at San Carlos Reservation. He was transferred to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1893, to act as agent for the Pueblos and Jicarillo Apaches. In 1897, he returned to Texas as Major Bullis and was appointed paymaster at Fort Sam Houston. He saw service in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. After forty years military service, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him brigadier general in 1904 and the next day he retired.
We know less of his personal and civil life than his military career. He married Alice Rodriguez of San Antonio in 1872. She died in 1887 and he married Josephine Withers of San Antonio in 1891. In 1885, during his first marriage, he became one-third owner of Shafter Silver Mines of Presidio County, Texas.
John Lapham Bullis died in San Antonio, Texas on May 26, 1911.
Places named in his honor:
1) Bullis Gap Range, a ten-mile chain of peaks near the Rio Grande
2) Camp Bullis, a military training base near San Antonio, posthumously, in 1917
3) Bullis, Texas, a Southern Pacific Railroad station founded in 1882 as a siding and nonagency station and abandoned by the railroad after 1944
NOTE: Information contained in this article is from the STATEMENT AS TO THE MILITARY RECORD IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY OF BREVET MAJOR JOHN L. BULLIS, 24TH INFANTRY, U.S. ARMY and other family papers.
After the surrender of Lee, Corporal John Lapham Bullis's unit was ordered to Texas (along the Rio Grande River, near Brownsville) for Reconstruction duty. He was mustered out of the Volunteer Army on February 6, 1866 at White's Ranch, Texas, after serving almost three and a half years in the War of the Rebellion.
He attempted a personal business of providing logs for the steamboats on the Mississippi for about a year. It was said that civilian life just did not provide as much excitement as military life provided and he entered military service again. He was appointed 2nd Lieutenant in the 41st Infantry, September 3, 1867. This duty permitted little opportunity to advance, so in November, 1869, he requested transfer to the new Twenty-fourth Infantry, composed of white officers and black enlisted men.
With the Twenty-fourth Infantry, he participated in operations against Indian raiding parties and cattle rustlers. While stationed at Fort Clark (150 miles West of San Antonio along the Rio Grande) he received command of a special troop of Black Seminole Scouts. In 1873 and 1874, Bullis and his 20 scouts played a major support role to Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie as he battled against tribes from the Texas Panhandle and Mexico. He received brevet citations for his "gallant service" in the years of 1875 through 1881 and the title of "friend of the frontier" from the state of Texas. He left the Black Seminole Scouts in 1882 for other duties in Indian Territory.
In 1888 he served as agent for the Apaches at San Carlos Reservation. He was transferred to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1893, to act as agent for the Pueblos and Jicarillo Apaches. In 1897, he returned to Texas as Major Bullis and was appointed paymaster at Fort Sam Houston. He saw service in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. After forty years military service, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him brigadier general in 1904 and the next day he retired.
We know less of his personal and civil life than his military career. He married Alice Rodriguez of San Antonio in 1872. She died in 1887 and he married Josephine Withers of San Antonio in 1891. In 1885, during his first marriage, he became one-third owner of Shafter Silver Mines of Presidio County, Texas.
John Lapham Bullis died in San Antonio, Texas on May 26, 1911.
Places named in his honor:
1) Bullis Gap Range, a ten-mile chain of peaks near the Rio Grande
2) Camp Bullis, a military training base near San Antonio, posthumously, in 1917
3) Bullis, Texas, a Southern Pacific Railroad station founded in 1882 as a siding and nonagency station and abandoned by the railroad after 1944
NOTE: Information contained in this article is from the STATEMENT AS TO THE MILITARY RECORD IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY OF BREVET MAJOR JOHN L. BULLIS, 24TH INFANTRY, U.S. ARMY and other family papers.
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