John Bull

John Bull (June 1, 1731 - August 9, 1824) politician, military officer, statesman, and planter. Initially, his military career started under John Forbes in the Forbes Expedition during the 1750s. During the American Revolution, he was a delegate in the Pennsylvania Provincial Conference which declared Pennsylvania independent from the British Colonies. Benjamin Franklin and Bull sat on many committees together. Bull was a very active participant in many different roles during the revolution. He was mainly in charge of the defenses of Fort Billingsport. He held the rank of Colonel in Pennsylvania's 2nd Regiment and eventually rose to the rank of Adjutant General of the Pennsylvania Militia by the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council in defense of Philadelphia during the Philadelphia campaign. Bull was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania where he was raised on a farm. By 1758, he participated in the French and Indian War as a captain where he met George Washington and the two became friends. During the 1760s he was involved in local politics. In 1770, Benjamin Rittenhouse married Bull's oldest daughter Elizabeth. Bull became good friends with his brother American astronomer David Rittenhouse. During the revolution, George Washington visited Bull's Masonic Lodge while he was in Valley Forge. Bull was attending as the Worshipful Master of the lodge. After the British evacuated Philadelphia Bull continued to proved defense to the city. Bull's son-in-law Benjamin was superintendent of the gunlock factory in Pennsylvania. After the American Revolution while he was in his seventies he briefly held the position of Pennsylvania assemblyman. History Bull was born in Providence Township, Philadelphia County now called Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Thomas Bull and Elizabeth Rossiter. His mother died at 92 years old and his father died in 1747. He had two brothers and a sister William, Thomas, and Elizabeth Betson. John married a Welsh woman named Mary Phillps on August 13, 1752. Bull participated in the taking of Fort Duquesne as a captain along with George Washington and other troops under the direction of General Forbes around May 12, 1758. By 1761, he became a justice of the peace in Philadelphia, and by 1768 he was justice of the Court of quarter sessions in the same county. By 1771, he was in possession of 534 acres in Norristown, PA.