Chester County PA Archives Biography of Levi BULL, D.D., 1881

Contributed to PAGenWeb Archives by Diana Quinones [audianaq@msn.com]

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Futhey and Cope, History of Chester County, 1881.  pp.461-504. 
 
LEVI BULL, D.D., was born Nov. 14, 1780, at Warwick Furnace, in what is now 
Warwick township. His mother prayed for a man-child, and, in token of having 
dedicated him, as far as in her lay, to the priesthood, named him Levi. Her 
wishes and prayers seemed for a long time frustrated, as his youth, up to 
manhood, gave no signs of interest in religion. At an early age he entered 
Dickinson College, where he graduated in his seventeenth year. He made choice 
of the law for a profession, and entered the office of James Hopkins, Esq., a 
lawyer of distinction at the bar of Lancaster, with a view of qualifying himself 
for admission to the bar. While pursuing his law studies, he came to the 
conclusion that "necessity was laid upon him to preach the gospel," and, abandoning 
the law, he began a course of study in preparation for the ministry under the 
direction of Rev. Nathan Grier, of Brandywine Manor. He entered the ministry of 
the Episcopal Church, and was by Bishop White ordained deacon in 1805, and priest 
in 1806. His first and last field of labor was the region in which he was born. 
The social position and public reputation of his father, the extraordinary personal 
qualities of the son, the interesting facts and notoriety of his conversion, his 
zeal and boldness, drew all minds in these parts to the young preacher. He preached 
in churches, in court-houses, in school-rooms, and in private houses. He addressed 
masses of people in public, and also families and individuals in private. All 
wondered at the life and power which appeared in his ministry, and no preacher of 
that day had ever in those parts made such an impression. In the immediate 
neighborhood of his father's residence there was then no church, but a proposal was 
soon made for the organization of a parish and the building of a house of worship. 
This resulted in the founding of St. Mary's Church (in what is now Warwick township) 
in 1805, about a mile from his home. There, with one intermission, he continued to 
labor till age and other infirmities withdrew him from active duty. The intermission 
was that of a year at Wilmington, Del., where he was rector of Trinity Church. Deaths 
of relatives and the difficulty of filling his post in St. Mary's Church induced him 
to return and resume his first charge. In connection with St. Mary's he had the care 
of St. Thomas', Morgantown, Berks Co., nine miles from his residence; Bangor Church, 
Churchtown, Lancaster Co., nine miles distant; and he preached once a month in 
Pottstown, Montgomery Co., twelve miles away, and very often in Reading and Birdsboro'. 
Out of his labors grew, besides St. Mary's Church, St. Andrew's, in West Vincent, and 
St. Mark's, Honeybrook, the one six and the other five miles distant, the last two being 
off-shoots of St. Mary's Church. The labors which he performed were abundant and blessed. 
He married Ann, daughter of Cyrus Jacobs, Esq., of White Hall, Church-town, Lancaster Co., 
of which marriage there were fifteen children, all of whom but one lived to adult age, 
and seven only of whom survived him. Possessed of a competent estate, his house was the 
seat of a generous hospitality, and he was held by all who knew him in the highest 
estimation. He was noted for his disinterestedness, and was ever ready to use his ample 
income for charitable purposes. The title of "Father," given to him in his later years, 
indicated the respect and confidence of his clerical brethren. He died Aug. 2, 1859, at 
his residence in Warwick township, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, and was buried 
in St. Mary's churchyard, in a tomb beside his wife and children, near the walls of the 
church which more than half a century before had been founded by his ministry.