333 Randolph PlaceThey moved north in the early 1900's from the Carolinas and were married in NJ and lived in the Big Woods until 1965
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333 RANDOLPH PLACE
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The Bullock Family lived for the most part at 333 Randolph Place - but no image is available for that home. Shown here is 157 Liberty Street, where they rented a home, owned by the McPhaul family, in the 1940's.
Street sign recovered in 2021 near the home of the Bullock Famly on Randolph Place
Church window at St. Luke's AME Zion Church on Downer St. in Westfield in memory of Virginia Bullock.
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Hunter Bullock was born around 1888 in Henderson, North Carolina; his future wife, Martha Byrd, was born in 1896 in Greenville, South Carolina. In 1910, Hunter and his mother were still in Henderson, but had moved in with his sister’s family; Hunter was a laborer at Corbitt’s Motor Buggy Company.
As was true of most African-American families who eventually moved to the Big Woods in Westfield, Hunter and Martha migrated north in the early 1900’s. They were married in New Jersey in 1911. The 1915 State Census reported the Bullocks owning a home in Scotch Plains on Richmond Street (south of Plainfield Avenue); their daughters Dorothy and Virginia were 3 and 1 years old respectively; and Hunter listed his employment as a laborer. The Westfield Leader in June, 1919 reported that Virginia Bullock sang for the year-end meeting of the McKinley School PTA. The 1920 US Census identified Hunter and Martha, now parents of five children, ages six months to six years old, renting a home on New York Avenue in Scotch Plains; Hunter was working as a moulder in a foundry. By 1928, the Bullock family, now including six children, had moved to the corner of Netherwood Avenue and Randolph Place, within the future site of Brightwood Park. They paid $20 per month in rent. Hunter found work at the Union County Mosquito Commission, a job he would retain until his retirement. The 1930’s were a mixed blessing for the Bullock family. In March of 1931, Virginia Bullock was mentioned again in an article about a play performed by Roosevelt School students. Sadly, three years later, Virginia died at the Bonnie Burn Tuberculosis Hospital (later to become Runnells Hospital) in Berkeley Heights. Her funeral took place at St Luke’s AME Zion Church on Downer Street in Westfield and she was buried at Fairview Cemetery. The wedding of Nora Bullock to Russell Waller in 1935 and their reception at the Shady Rest Country Club may have provided some consolation to the Bullock family. Also in 1935, the family moved to 157 Liberty Street, a house owned by Allen McPhaul. The 1940’s also did not start well for the Bullock family either. In February, 1940, their rented home at 157 Liberty Street caught fire and was partially destroyed. Two months later a shed and pigsty in the back of 157 Liberty Street were lost in a second fire that a news report said had started in the “adjoining garbage dump”, presumably Turkey Swamp. Hunter was subsequently cited by the Westfield Health department for keeping pigs and ordered to remove them. The Bullocks moved to 228 Smith Street near their former home on Randolph Place, which was also near to the rental home of their married daughter Nora, her husband Russell, and their daughter Martha. In 1948, Martha Bullock arranged a Variety Show at St. Luke’s AME Zion Church on Downer Street to raise money for a church window in memory of their daughter Virginia. Martha was very active in Church life at St. Luke’s teaching Sunday school, serving in the Church Choir, leader of the Junior Choir, and Church Stewardess. When Hunter retired from the Mosquito Control Commission, he worked as the custodian for St. Luke’s. Hunter and Martha Bullock remained in the Big Woods until 1965, but as the Town moved forward with acquisition of the Park site, they moved to Plainfield. Hunter died four years later. Martha died fifteen years after Hunter; at her death she was survived by her six children, 16 grandchildren, and 22 great grandchildren. |