Former Slave Watson Bullock Honored with Grave Marker at Historic Batavia Cemetery

Pastor John Keller of Northgate Free Methodist Church dedicated a marker stone Thursday for Watson Bullock at Historic Batavia Cemetery, honoring a man who helped keep the Free Methodist Church alive in Batavia more than a century ago.

Watson Bullock was part of a small group of believers who refused to let the Free Methodist Church in Batavia die out. When the congregation sold the historic Holland Land Office building in the 1880s, Watson held the sale proceeds — about $500, or roughly $17,000 in modern money — in trust for four years. That stewardship by Bullock not only kept Free Methodism alive in Batavia, it ensured that another church, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, would have a sanctuary for another six decades, and counting, once the Free Methodist Church relocated to Bank Street.

“Watson was faithful, and he was full of integrity, and in 1893 his foresight bore fruit,” Keller said. “The funds that he held enabled the Free Methodist congregation to acquire a half-completed building at the corner of Ellicott Street and Lynwood Avenue.”

Keller honored three people who made the marker dedication possible: Pastor Vern Saile, Mark Logan and Charley Cannon. Captain Brad Moore from the Salvation Army of Genesee County also attended.

Sharon Burkel, president of the Batavia Cemetery Association, spoke at the dedication. “I just want to thank Northgate for placing this beautiful stone for Watson,” Burkel said. “You know, we’re so grateful. And I know it’s taken a long time, but we all finally got there. It’s wonderful that you all persevered and finally completed the project. You know, they say that you’re never really gone till the last person says your name. And so today we should remember Watson, his wife, Martha, and his children, Agnes, Mattie, Charles, Hattie, Edmund and Watson, and so that now everyone will know they’re here, because every soul has a story, and they all deserve to be remembered.”

Russell Nephew, who helped Burkel locate the previously unmarked grave site, also attended the ceremony. “I’m so glad that I received that call from the professor in North Carolina (Glenn Hinson), and that I acted on it,” Nephew said. “So I came here with the help of Sharon, we did a lot of walking, a lot of searching, and we found it. And so that was great. It really was, and I didn’t know at that time that it was going to end up like this. I mean, that’s fantastic. So I got to hand it to the church for doing this. It’s quite an honor. It really is. And so I’m glad I’m here.”

Keller read the full obituary of Watson Bullock, published in the Free Methodist Church Magazine in 1918, written by J. H. Harmon, then pastor of the Batavia First Fr

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