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Stephen
Bull's story is a sad one.
Over the
years he was left to mourn the passing of his immediate family one by one
until there was no one left to grieve for him. Equally beset by misfortune
was his only son whose three wives died in quick succession over a period
of a mere 15 years along with an infant daughter.
By the time Stephen was 64 years old when his wife died, he was
left with nobody except his surviving son and one grandson. He then
at age 67 is found in Canada where he no doubt went to be near his cousins'
families. It is unknown when he returned to Dutchess County but he
may have returned to bury his son 8 years later in 1879.
At that time he may have been completely alone in the world since his only
possible survivor would have been a grandson. If alive, the grandson
would have been only 17 years old. No death date has been found
for his surviving grandson, but he was known to have been a bartender a
year later in 1880.
By then the friendless old man with no one to comfort or care for him,
probably gave up the struggle. In 1882 at age 78, he gave his one
possession, the family Bible, to a distant niece and five months later
was admitted to the Dutchess County Poorhouse where he died. There
is no indication that he was buried with the rest of the family in the
old Pittsbury Presbyterian Church Cemetery. It's highly likely
that he would have been buried in the Poorhouse Cemetery.
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