TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: BILLY ALLISON BULL

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: BILLY ALLISON BULL (1926-2016)

This past week the citizens of Calhoun County have once again celebrated the graduation of this year’s high school seniors. It is always interesting to see what path each of our graduates have chosen to take in mapping out their journey in life. Along with the praise and elevated expectations that attending a college in pursuit of a degree will garner, there too is admiration in our students who join the military to serve and protect us all. Just as many, if not more, choose to go into the workforce. Many have skills and knowledge of a trade, and those skills are just as valuable in making our lives and our communities stronger and better. Welding is one trade skill that is always in demand, especially in communities like ours that are home to an abundance of big industrial companies. I have tried my hand at welding, and it was something that even with an abundance of concentration I was not good at. Welding is a skill that is high paying and is an art form. No one proved that more than local welder and artist Billy Allison Bull, and the art he created became nationally famous. 

Billy Bull was born in San Antonio on January 21, 1926, to W. A. “Bill” Bull, 26, and Jewell Hanna Bull, 18. His birth certificate shows that at the time of his birth, his mother was a homemaker and his father a bus driver. In the 1930 census the family of three are shown to be living with his maternal grandfather, Jessie M. Hanna in Victoria, Texas. His grandfather Jessie was a laborer on a pipeline; his father is listed as a steel welder. There was also a boarder who lived with the family, and he was a foreman in pipeline construction. The 1940 census states that the family had moved to Refugio, Texas, and his father was a welder for Union Production Oil Field. Billy had completed 7th grade at school. In 1946 when he was 20 years old, he was living in Agua Dulce, Texas upon which time he joined the service in the United States Army Air Corps, earning the rank of Tech Sargent. It was in Jim Wells, Texas that he met and married Wanda Hargis on 18, September 1946. The marriage produced 2 sons, James and Terry. 

The 1950 census states Bill, 24, was married and was living with his wife Wanda, 22, and 2-year-old son James in Jim Wells, Texas. He is listed as a welder working in oil field production, in that same census. 

Billy no doubt learned the skill of welding from his father and likewise his father-in-law, that is the trade he chose to work in. Billy worked 40 hours in the oil fields per week. It fed and clothed his family. He also made extra money welding branding irons, metal sculptures and most famously signatures. 

His work was brought into the spotlight due to the famous signatures he had sculpted being featured in magazines, and on television shows such as “The Eyes of Texas.” It was not long before his welding had become an art form and he switched from a welder to a welder artist. He was selective about the tools when cutting out his signatures and pictures using a Victor oxyfuel torch. He cut his signatures out of ¾ inch steel, and the prices that they brought were high enough to turn his artwork into a full-time business. On a piece done for “The Eyes of Texas,” Billy said he learned that he was good at forging signatures which he did free handed. He said that when he looks at a signature, he follows the flow of it and then sees in his mind how he would reconstruct the signature using his own free hand. After he draws it out, he tweaks things that need to be fixed or changed until it matches the original. By his ability to do it this was he does not need an original signature to fashion his work. The finished piece, brings about $250 and much exposure to his art. 

Billy has become famous for doing signature name plates for people like Pope John Paul II, Supreme Court Justices, Texas State Governors since Dolph Briscoe, and every U.S. President since Ronald Reagan. Billy was bestowed with the title of National Welder of Texas by proclamation of Gov. Mark White and President Ronald Regan. While he created various forms and styles of his work, the desk signatures are what he is best known for. 

Billy lived out his life in Port Lavaca. His family grew giving him grand-children and great-grand-children. His wife Wanda passed away in 2016 and laid to rest in Port Lavaca Cemetery. Billy lived to the ripe old age of 90 and passed away January 31, 2016. He is buried beside her in Port Lavaca, Texas. Billy’s work did not stop after his passing; it still is going strong through the artistic heart and hands of his grandson Thomas, who continues the craft that he learned from his grandfather and his great-grandfather as well. Thomas didn’t necessarily want to be a welder; but he did want to continue his grandfather’s work. He still gives time each week to continuing his grandfathers art. Between the two of them they have done over 2,800 signatures. It is considered an honor to have one of Billy Bull’s Signature Desk Plates on top of your desk. 

Great and beautiful things do not always just come from higher education, they also come from good, honed skills and raw talent. The point is to work hard and strive to be the best at whatever you do in life. Everyone has a talent, everyone has a dream, it is up to each of us to make it ours. 

Written by Sheryl Cuellar

www.texasarchive.org   

www.victoriaadvocate.com 

www.dignitymemorial.com