Burkley Bullock

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Sometimes spelled Berkeley, Berkley or Bullock

Burkley Bullock (c. 1830-1908), a formerly-enslaved man born in Louisa County; as an educated freedman, he became a successful entrepreneur and real estate investor in the Charlottesville area of Albemarle County.[1] Involved in community endeavors, Bullock was instrumental in establishing the Piedmont Industrial and Land Improvement Company (1889) —an all-African-American member development company.

Early Life

In 1830, Burkley Bullock was born into slavery in Louisa County as the son of Abraham and Cynthia Bullock, African-American slaves. The entire Bullock family —John, Burkley, Albert, Robert, and Martha— including both of his parents, were owned by Col. John R. Jones (d. 1860). Jones a wealthy financier and merchant engaged in the business of slavery and the slave trade, held a stake in a mercantile firm at Louisa Court House and also did “quite an extensive business” in Albemarle County. In Charlottesville, Jones owned a house at 109 East Jefferson Street, colloquially known as Social Hall, where he raised “a large family of ten children” and operated his business at Number Nothing in Court Square.[2][3] Bullock performed the duties of a house servant when Jones and his family stayed at Social Hall.[1] During his time at Social Hall, Peter Fossett, also enslaved there, taught Bullock to read and write. Fossett had in turn been taught to read and write by Thomas Jefferson's grandson, Lewis Randolph, before the Fossett family was sold away from Monticello at the 1826 mass auction after Jefferson's death. Teaching an enslaved person to read was illegal in Virginia at the times both men learned to read. When Jones discovered that Bullock could read, he put him to work in the commissary, and possibly sent him to work at Number Nothing.[1]

In 1855, after several failed financial ventures, Jones auctioned off much of his personal property, including the Bullock family. Bullock's mother, Cynthia Bullock, was sold for five dollars to a William Brand. Bullock was sold to an "S. Maupin" for $1,205 (equivalent in purchasing power to about $41,035 in 2022). According to the 1860 census slave schedule, Socrates Maupin of the University of Virginia enslaved a man matching Bullock's age and description.[1]

Bullock tried to emancipate himself several times. In his most storied attempt, he reached the Ohio River under the cover of darkness, using moss and lichens growing on trees to find his way north by touch alone. He was captured before he could cross the river and was taken back to Albemarle County as a fugitive slave, but his story inspired other enslaved people in Charlottesville. Bullock was able to emancipate himself (means forgotten) after the University of Virginia surrendered to the Union Army troops on March 3, 1865, now know as Liberation and Freedom Day. Bullock's granddaughter asserts that he was able to buy his mother's freedom before the end of the war.[1] Mary L. Minor (daughter of law professor John B. Minor and Socrates Maupin's neighbor) wrote in April of that year that Bullock left with one of Maupin's horses and his family, which by then included his wife, Mary Ann Washington Bullock, and several young children.[1]

Career

In September 1868, Bullock purchased a half-share in 243 acres of farmland in Albemarle County near Earlysville. The other half share was held by another African American couple, William and Caroline Brown, who secured the $3000 deed of trust with a house they owned in Charlottesville.[1] ($3,000 in 1868 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $62,593.52 in 2022). This was Bullock's first property purchase. He hoped to sell it for a profit. Instead, the two shareholders failed to make the last payment on the property, and it was taken from them. Despite this setback, Bullock purchased a new property from a white farmer. By 1880, he owned 75 acres near Hydraulic Road, in the Ivy Creek area. He is credited with founding Ivy Creek Baptist Church, today known as Union Ridge Baptist Church.[4] Over the course of several years, Bullock bought and sold more than a dozen properties in Charlottesville. He also served as a financial backer for community members who lacked the resources to purchase property outright.[1]

Around 1888, Bullock moved with his family to the newly incorporated City of Charlottesville to pursue new economic opportunities. The Charlottesville City Directory from that year listed him as the proprietor of a restaurant at Union Station, which still functions as an Amtrak station today. Bullock was beloved by the University of Virginia students who came to his restaurant, even if they believed him to be illiterate and subservient, as evidenced by an 1890 Corks and Curls article which profiled five well-known Black people around Grounds.[1][4]

In April 1889, Bullock and twelve other local African American men formed a joint stock company called the Piedmont Industrial and Land Improvement Company. The company's goal was to "extend aid and assistance, financial and otherwise, to persons of limited means in purchasing homes.” In its first month of operation, the company boasted that it had purchased 10 city lots and at least 15 more in the county. At Brenham's Farm in October 1891, the company held what was touted as the first county fair to be organized by African Americans.[4]

Late Life and Death

Bullock's headstone lists his date of death as January 23, 1908. He was buried in a family plot at Daughters of Zion Cemetery in Charlottesville. The Daily Progress, which typically ignored the Black community, published his obituary and funeral details on the front page of their January 25 issue. In contrast to the 1890 Corks and Curls profile and the Progress' typical tone towards African American people and affairs, which relied heavily on racial stereotypes, the obituary was respectful, listing Bullock's achievements and even deeming him "respected throughout this community" and a "pioneer businessman."[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Web. Burkley Bullock (ca. 1830–1908), Scot French, Website, Encyclopedia Virginia, April 14, 2022, retrieved August 10, 2022.
  2. Web. Social Hall, Sanjay Suchak, Website, Encyclopedia Virginia, 2019, retrieved August 9, 2022.
  3. Web. Court Square, Blair's Magazine of Lost History, June 20, 2017, retrieved August 10, 2022.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Web. UVA and the History of Race: Burkley Bullock in History’s Distorting Mirror, UVA Today, September 4, 2019, retrieved August 10, 2022.

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