San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-02
San Angelo Residents Provide
Home for Aged Baptist Pastor
Rev. N. D. Bullock Esi-
mates He Travelled as
Much as 10000 Miles in
a Buggy in Preaching
Gospel to Congregations
in Nine Counties During
His Forty Years Of Ser
vice in Community.
San Angelo, Tex, Mar. 4. - II

San Angelo, Tex, Mar. 4. - TIL.
greatest treasures are those stored uI
in heaven, sayeth the Good Book, in
substance. but the prayers of the Rev
n. u. Bullock have been answered and
his faithfulness in. over forty years
service of the Lord have in part been
rewarded on earth in the presenting
to him of a modest home here in which
he and his wife may comfortably spend
their reclining days. Friends-not
| all of them Baptists-raised the funds
for the home and the labor on it was
contributed. 1t is located in Lake
View, a suburb to San Angelo, and
was occupied February 4, Rev. Mr..
BullockFs 9th birthday.
Rev. Mr.. Bullock blazed the trail
for the Baptist faith in West Texas.
Coming here 30 years ago, he was
for the first six months of his stay
in San Angelo the only Baptist min
lister in nine West Texas counties,
which he served to the best of his
ability. In the interim, he estimates
that he Travelled as much as 100000
miles in a buggy in nine counties,
which comprise the Concho Valley
Baptist Association. Over 600 have
been baptised by him. For six years.
Rev. Mr.. Bullock was missionary for
the association then with 23 churches.
The early days offered little in COM
parison to the ease that accompanies
q church pastorate today, for none of
the churches served were much closer
than 80 miles. And yet in this time.
while using horse and buggy, Rev.
Mr.. Bullock ayers that he never miss
cd an appointment-and his congre-
cations were almost as dependable as
he himself. He served the Baptist
Church at Sterling City when there
were only two ranches between that
place and Sherwood, 80 miles apart.
Coming too late to encounter the In
dian, the aged minister has seen the
wolf, the wildcat, other predatory ami
mails, and the rattlesnake almost ex-
terminated, along with booze, the
greatest disturber of all.
Times Have Changed.
Times have changed for the kindly
old preacher. Today he serves but
four churches, each about 80 miles dis
tant from his home. But now he has
a Ford, the cranking type. and is just
as punctual as he was with the horse
and buggy. Not so with the congrc-
cation, however. There's not the ten
dency TO faithfulness there was in the
years gone by. Rev. Mr.. Bullock finds.
He oscribes this to the allegation that
large part of the people are growing
more worldly.
Conditions now are such that it
take more faith, more zeal and more
love to be a Christian" he says. "The
worldly class, as long as they are edu-
Gated without Christ in their hearts,
contribute to the making of bigger
devils, and more hypocrisy"
A thousand dollars a year has been
the maximum that this Job among
preachers has received. and that, too,
at time when he was travelling al
most continually. From that sum he
has paid his expenses and raised a
family. Small wonder that with the
allotted three score and ten approach
ing, the minister has been unable to
provide home Of his own. Converted
at the age Of %. when he was farm
ing and had given no other thought
save to the making of money. he says
he has never been in as good circum-
stances since. But at 67, Rev. Mr..
Bullock is satisfied with the great
blessings that his services and the
hardships he has undergone have
brought, for
IL believe one receives reward
for his faithfulness and not in his
worldly success" he says.
Trials Have Left MarIl.
Trials, and tribulations too, have
left their mark, but these have only
contributed to greater faith. a great
er desire to die in the service Of the
Lord. OF nine children born to Rev.
and Mrs. Bullock, five died, four of
them when they were small, and an
other while attending college. Left
to them are two daughters. their health
shattered, and son, partially an in
valid from the kick Of a horse when
but child. and another boy, who re-
sides in another part of Texas. And
with it all. the aged minister says he
has been blest in the confidence. good
will and love of friends, which he
terms the greatest helps of his life
and the most-worthwhile thing.
Il have never preached but that I
had real friends" he says. "That
means more than millions Of dollars
to me. I'd rather be as poor as / am
and have spent my life among peo-
pie on the frontier with its lack of
conveniences than to rank today among
the monetary successes. People out
here are so appreciative of the SER
vices / have rendered. The home for
my last years is evidence enough OF
that.
Was Broncho Rider.
Il expect to spend the rest OF my
life telling the story of Christ and
his love. The church is my work, and
am as restless as fish out of water
when kept from my clement
Rev. n. d. Bullock was born Feb
ruary, 4. 1856, in Vim Parish, Louis
lana. He came to Texas at the nge
Of II and in his earlier years was a
broncho rider of no mean ability, never
being thrown by any horse: and he
took them as they came. In retro
spect, he asserts that those were days
Of ignorance, yet II relish seeing a
good rider even today.
The minister was married in 1879 to
Miss Maggie Collins at Bryan. Texas
The two, growing old gracefully and
enjoying excellent health, expect tc
spend the remaining days in the home
so graciously provided by their friends
their reward for services 20 pro
ductive Of good and so thooughly ap-
preciated.