Biography of Ralph G. Bullock, Miami, Dade County, FL

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Transcribed from:  The History of Florida:  Past & Present, The Lewis Publishing Co., Vol. 
II, page 212, 1923.
 
BULLOCK, RALPH G. is a member of one of the old and distinguished Georgia families engaged 
in the real estate and brokerage business at Miami, Florida.

He was born June, 1874, on a plantation in Wilkinson County, Georgia, son of ERASMUS and 
MATILDA (HARVILL) BULLOCK both now deceased and both natives of Wilkinson County.  The 
BULLOCKS were originally an English family.  The founder of the name in America was the 
great-great-great-grandfather of RALPH G. BULLOCK, who introduced and manufactured the 
first bells ever made in the United States.  He settled in North Carolina, but his descendents 
soon moved to Georgia, where another spelling of the name is BULLOCH.  THEODORE ROOSEVELT's 
mother was a BULLOCK.  Another member of the family was Governor RUFUS B. BULLOCK of Georgia.

After a public school education, RALPH G. BULLOCK took up railroading at the age of twenty 
as a clerk in the office of the Central of Georgia Railroad at Macon.  He was a railroad man 
nearly eighteen years, and few men achieved more rapid advancement and higher promotion within 
that length of time.  After serving in various grades he was made trainmaster on the Central 
of Georgia, acting in that capacity at various points on that system.

Mr. BULLOCK came to Florida in 1913 as general yard master in charge of the terminals of 
the Florida East Coast Railway at Jacksonville and South Jacksonville, late being promoted 
to trainmaster in charge of the Transportation Department on the north end of the system 
with headquarters at New Smyrna.  Then, in August, 1914, he was transferred to Miami, where 
he was trainmaster in charge of the Southern Division.  Mr. BULLOCK resigned in 1918 and 
since then has made a conspicuous success in the general real estate business.

While still a railroad man he made a number of judicious investments in Miami property, 
and the bulk of his business is looking after his own properties in Miami and vicinity.  However, 
his thorough knowledge of real estate values and his wide acquaintanceship brings him an 
extensive business as a general broker in real estate.  A loyal son of Georgia, Mr. BULLOCK 
in May, 1922, organized the Georgia Society of Miami, of which he is secretary, together 
with JOHN T. SEYMOUR, formerly of Athens, Georgia.  It is a remarkable testimony to the 
influence and power wielded by former Georgia men in Miami that the membership of the society 
started with over four hundred, including many of the most prominent and successful citizens.  
The Georgia Society is one of the most successful social organizations in the state.  His 
work in organizing his fellow Georgians residing in Dade County, Florida, into a society 
for their mutual benefit shows that he still loves and holds in the highest esteem the people
from his mother state, yet he is full of praise for Miami, THE MAGIC CITY (sic), and its 
wonderful climate and possibilities.

Mr. BULLOCK is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner and a member of the Miami Realty Board and 
the Chamber of Commerce.  He married Miss REBECCA (GRIST) who died in 1916.  Her father 
was Col. WILLIAM GRIST of Fort Gaines, Georgia.