Booker Mullins who went to Texas

I was thinking about James Mullins and his first wife, Agnes Little. I always heard that they never had any children, but raised two of the children of Booker Mullins, his brother. The story was always that Booker's wife, Martha Mullins, daughter of Ambrose James Mullins and Nancy Mullins, had died about 1840. Booker left his daughters, Sarah and Nancy, and went to Texas to make a new home.

What I rememered that I had found was Sarah, age 12, living in James and Agnes household in 1850. Old Booker Mullins, father of James and Booker F (who went to Texas) father. I thought I had found a census with Booker F and a daughter Sarah who was too young to have been the daughter of a new wife in a Texas census. So I set out to find those records and see what I could figure out on them. I couldn't find ANYTHING on Booker in Texas with a Sarah. So I started over.

James Mullins is in Perry County, Kentucky in 1850. Listed in his household is

James 64, farmer
Agnes 58
Sarah 12
Booker 88.

This is the start of the family legend I heard.

I found Booker Mullins, age 39, no occupation living in Titus County, Texas by himself.

After much searching around, I found that Booker had married Cynthia Clayton about 1847.

Cynthia was the daughter of Daniel Clayton and Lucy. Daniel was from North Carolina and was in Logan County, Kentucky at the time of his death. At some point this family was in Henry County, Tennessee. Cynthia married Bennett Caudle, son of James Caudle (or Caudill as it came down our side of the family) and Mary Pertis. James was a son of James Caudill and Mary Adams. This James was a brother to Stephen Caudill and Matthew Caudill (both my ggx grandfathers). James, Stephen and Matthew all went from North Carolina to Letcher Count, Kentucky.

The son, James Caudle, who married Mary Pertis, moved first to Henry County, Tennessee in the 1820s.

Bennett Caudle's brother, Marcus, married Cynthia Clayton's sister, Rebecca in Henry county. These two couples -- Bennett & Cynthia Clayton Caudle and Marcus & Rebecca Clayton Caudle -- along with other Caudle family members moved to Texas.

About 1846 Bennett Caudle died. They had seven children: William Hawkins, Mary Ann Elizabeth, Daniel Clayton, Sarah Francis, Mahala Jane, James Hatley and Bennett Harrison.

Cynthia married Booker Mullins. They had a daughter, Rebecca Louisa in 1848.

While Booker is listed alone in the Titus County Census, Cynthia is listed as head of household in a separate listing for Titus County. She uses the Mullins name and even uses it for the children who were fathered by Bennett Caudle. Their enumeration is:

Family 413
Mullens, Cynthia, 39, KY
William 21, laborer, KY
Daniel 15, TN
Sarah 13, TN
James 9, TN
Bennett 7, TX
Louisa 2, TX

I found Cynthia in the 1860 census. She is still living in Titus County, in Sparks township. She has taken back the name of Caudle and is listed as a widow.

Cordle, Cintha, 50, widow, KY
Bennett H. 17 TX
Rebecca L. 12 TX
John W. 6 TX
James H. 18, day laborer TN

So who is John W.? It appears that Cynthia is his mother. Would he also be a son of Booker?

I have Cynthia's date of death as March 29, 1895. I have not found her in the 1870 or 1880 census records. When I started this search I was told that there were no records for this part of the country because of Indian uprisings etc. I will just say I haven't found them yet.

About 1861 Booker married Susan S. Lynn from Kentucky. They have at least six children:

Martha J. born 1863
John Riley born 1865
Annie Agnes born 1866
Mary Etta born 1873
George
Minnie.

My first impression was that Susan had died leaving Booker a widower. And the first census I found sort of made that possible.

I did not find him in 1860 or 1870, but in 1880 Booker Mullins is the head of household in Palo Pinto County, Texas. The census reads:

Mullins, Booker F, head, 70, laborer, KY TN SC
Smith, Martha, daughter, 17, keeping house, TX KY KY
Smith, William A, son-in-law, 27, works on railroad, TX FL FL

So here is Booker, alone, with his daughter and her husband.

Then I started following the other children.

John Riley Mullins, son of Booker and Susan, married Bertha Irene Thompson from Illinois. In the 1900 census for Little River, Cleveland County, Oklahoma it shows:

Mullins, John R. 35, head, Feb 1865, married 11 years, TX WV KY farmer
Bertha I. 28, wife, Oct 1871, had 4 children, 4 living, IL IL KY
Cordelia, 8, daughter, Aug 1891, Indian Territory TX IL
Jessie G. 6, daughter, Oct 1873, TX TX IL
Minnie F. 4, daughter, Dec 1895, Indian Territory TX IL
Lonnie L. 1, son, Oct 1898, Indian Territory TX IL

Bertha Thompson Mullins died on June 30, 1903.

John Riley Mullins married Organ Peary in 1908 in Oklahoma.

In 1910 they are in the Holdenville, Hughes County, Oklahoma census as follows:

Mullins John R, 44, head, marriage 2, 2 years, TX WV KY
Mullins, Organ, wife, marriage 1, AK AK AK
Mullins, Cordelia, 18, daughter, OK TX IL
Robertson, Jessie, 16, daughter, widowed, TX TX IL
Mullins, Minnie, 14, daughter, OK TX IL
Mullins, Royal, 6, son OK TX IL
Mullins, Susan, mother, widowed, had 7 children 6 living, KY KY KY.

Susan was alive in 1880 when Booker was living without a spouse in his household in Titus County Texas. I have not found her in 1880 or 1900, but I am still looking.

So basically, Booker's first wife, Martha died. He left his two daughters (some say there is a third, Rhoda) with his brother, James, and left for Texas. In Texas he married a widow, Cynthia Clayton Caudle, with seven children and had one (Rebecca Louisa) or two (John W. Mullins) children with her. They did not live together in the 1850 census. In the 1860 census Cynthia has taken back her Caudle name. In 1861 Booker married Susan Lynn and had about seven children with her. In the 1880 census he is alone in a household with his oldest daughter and her new husband. I can't find Susan in 1880 or 1900, but in 1910, she is living with her and Booker's son, John Riley Mullins. So many holes to fill in.

I have all the census records which I listed plus others for other members of the family. I have a few pictures of some in this line. If Booker's line and what happened to him is of interest to you, or if you other information to share, please write to me at karenchat@aol.com and I will share what I have with you. I will share with members of the family. I don't want to even talk to you if you have all this information and can't or won't tell who you are and how you are connected to the family. I have had a few of those on other articles and they were nothing but a pain and totally useless.

I will still keep looking for that census that I thought I found listing the other Sarah, and will update if I come across more.

Update 1

I was following Booker and Susan's daughter, Annie Agnes Mullins. She was born in 1866 in Texas. She married Berry Crittendon Wilkin. In 1880 they were living in Cooke County, Texas in the Wilhight family home as boarders.

Wilkins, Berry, 21, laborer, TX MS TN
Anna, 13, TX MS TN

They had a child, Berry Crittendon Wilkins in May of 1883. Wilkins Sr. either died or they separated.

In 1894 Annie married Edward Mushany who was born in Missouri. His parents were from Baden, Germany.

In the 1900 census Annie and Edward are:

Mushaney Edward, head, Jan 1840, 60, married 6 years, MO Germany Germany farmer
Mushaney, Anna, wife, May 1866, 34, had 2 children, 2 living, TX IA KY
Mushaney, Walter, son, Mar 1896, 4 TX MO TX
Mushaney, John E. son, Aug 1898 1 TX MO TX
Wilkins, Crittendon, stepson, Mar 1883 17, TX TX TX, farm laborer

I have seen some family trees on ancestry where they have changed the name to McShaney and claim that Edward was Irish, but when I followed the family back to Missouri, his father was listed there as a widower with the Mushaney name and said he was from Germany. The writing looked clear to me on both census records, so I believe the name was Mushaney not McShaney.

Apparently Edward died or they separated (too many times they go separate ways and the woman will tell the census taker she is a widow) because in the 1910 census it shows:

Family 9
Mashiney, Annie, head, 43, widow, had 4 children 4 living, TX KY KY washerwoman, public
Mashiney, Walter, son 14, TX TX KY
Mashiney, John E. son 11, TX TX KY
Mashiney, Robert L. son, 9 TX TX KY
Mashiney, Freddie, son 4, OK TX KY
Mullins, Susan, mother, 73, widowed, had 6 children 5 living KY TX KS

So here on the same page of the census a brother and sister are both claiming that their mother, Susan is living with them. Regardless, it shows Susan Lynn Mullins was still alive in 1910.

Nina Pratt Mullins - a beautiful family

I started to title this "I met a new cousin -- sort of..." but it was so close to another title that I did which got me several angry emails that I changed my mind so that I wouldn't jinx this story.

The person I met isnt' exactly my cousin, but he is a cousin of my cousins and he likes doing his family tree. He has shared some of his history with me.

My dad had two brothers and one sister. They were Lonnie, Jesse, Vera and James (my dad). My uncle Jesse was one of my favorite uncles. I loved going over to stay all night with them. I used to love to sit and listen to him lead the songs at church. When you are a kid you don't know who made you related to an aunt or uncle -- they just are your aunts or uncles, so I never felt like this was my uncle and that was his wife. I usually loved them both regardless who was the blood relative.

Jesse, J.D., Lonnie & Vera

So, I love my Aunt Nina, too. I remember staying with them for a week when I was probably 5. I didn't know how to ride a bicycle when I went, but I was flying around on one when I went home. I remember Aunt Nina made hot chocolate from the recipe on the Hershey can. My mom was a great cook, but I think we used Nestle chocolate that you stirred into white milk and maybe we heated it up. I just don't have a memory of mom making us hot chocolate. I never see a Hershey's can of cocoa that I don't think of that hot chocolate that Aunt Nina made. I remember that week that I stayed that Aunt Nina made us Kool-aid to drink. It was grape and she put real lemonade in it so there were bits of lemon in it. We had orange Kool-aid on Saturdays with popcorn as we watched the old Tarzan Johnny Weismueller movies, but even Kool-aid was special at Aunt Nina's.

Uncle Jesse & Aunt Nina at our Mullins reunion.

I love to hear Aunt Nina tell a story. I love her laugh. I don't see her much now that she and her family have moved from Ohio to Colorado, but I still think of her often.

I got an email this week asking for some information on a Basil Sisk. I first thought, boy does that person have the wrong woman -- surely Basil must be someone I just have as a married in person who is 7 generations from me. But when I looked it was from Aunt Nina's family.

Aunt Nina had a sister named Madeline. She was married to Leonard Salyers. Now I knew they weren't my "blood" relatives, but we called them Aunt Madeline and Uncle Leonard just the same, and they felt like family. I saw Aunt Madeline last year at Aunt Lake's funeral in Whitesburg. She was pretty as a picture. I believe she someone has found that "Honey, I shrunk the aunt" ray to use on her because she is tiny, tiny, tiny.

I have tried to search out each of my cousin's families so that if they want their family history, it won't be so one-sided from me.

Nina Margaret Pratt was born on December 8, 1917 in Letcher County, Kentucky. She was the daughter of Canary Madelyn Sisk and Talmadge Pratt.

Talmadge Pratt was born on December 15, 1894 in Piney Creek, Allegheny County, North Carolina. In 1900 he was six years old living with his father, George, his brother Harley and his Aunt Mary Pratt. In 1910 Harley and Talmadge were still in Piney Creek with their father, George. George was 70 years old.

Some time before 1920 Talmadge had made his way to Letcher County where he had married Canary Madelyn Sisk who was from Virginia.

Canary was the daughter of James Anderson Sisk and Sarah Bythinia "Sally" Lyons. James was an engineer for the railroad. He and Sally had nine children: Wiley, Canary, Gertrude, Nelly, Verner, Golden, Roland, Basil and Hazel. By 1920 James was working in the coal mines. Wiley was married, but listed with his parents at Robinson, Wise County, Virginia. Gertrude was married and living with her parents. Golden, Roland, Basil, and Hazel were still single. Velma, Wiley's bride, and Ballard Beamer, Golden's husband, were in the household, also.

Canary and Talmadge were in their own home at 184 Hemphill Road. Talmadge was listed as 23, Canara as 21. Nina was 2 and baby Madolin was 9 months old. Also in their household was Verna Sisk, Canary's sister, and a boarder by the name of Elizabeth Yonts, who was a 19 year old widow.

In 1921 Talmadge Frankin Pratt was born followed by Charles Lloyd Pratt on January 12, 1923.

On January 17, 1923 Canary Madelyn Sisk died from bronchial pneumonia. Nina was six years old with three little siblings.

Talmadge married a second time to Nora Quillen. I really haven't worked out who her parents were yet. They had a daughter, June.

When I think of Nina separately as a woman, I think of her as a threesome with Nina, Madeline and June.

What I had never seen was pictures of Aunt Nina as a child or any of her family. My request for information on Basil Sisk led me to treasures from Richard, a cousin of Aunt Nina's through Canary's sister, Nelly. Let me show you what beautiful pictures that he sent to me:

Sarah Sisk family portrait taken about 1903 – James was apparently at work
Back row: Canary, Sarah (sitting), Verna, Wiley
Front row: Nellie, Golden, Gertrude

James and Sarah Sisk family portrait taken about 1911 – oldest child Wiley had been drafted for World War I
Standing in back: Verna, Canary, Gertrude, Nellie, Golden
Front row: Basil, James, Roland, Sarah, Hazel

Canary Madelyn Sisk Pratt and her daughter, Nina Margaret Pratt Mullins.

Madeline Pratt Saylers and her sister, Nina Margaret Pratt Mullins.

I cannot thank Richard enough for sharing these beautiful pictures.

DNA Results

I knew that my g-g grandfather, James Mullins (or Booker James Mullins as he is referred to in one court document of 1837) had married Rebecca Hays on September 29, 1859 when he was 72 and she was 18. They were married for 16 years and had four children, the youngest of which was my great grandfather, Joshua Mullins.

I did not know that anyone questioned that James was the father of Rebecca's children until I ran into other Mullins researchers from other lines than James who held the opinion that because of James' advanced age, he could not have fathered Rebecca's children. They referred to them as "the supposed children". I had never heard that Rebecca had been unfaithful to James, and the only reason for their opinions were the age thing.

I was glad to have run into a cousin who headed up a group collecting the DNA on the Mullins family. The findings were good and bad. James' father was Booker Mullins. His father was supposed to have been William M. Mullins who was married to Katherine Elizabeth Varner. Only when they did DNA tests of some of Booker's descendants and some of his brother's descendants the two brothers DNA matched, but Booker's did not. Booker's matched an Adkins family line. Booker was brought up as a son of William and Katherine, but it means that either Katherine had a child by an Adkins or one of her daughters had one which they raised as their son or something of that ilk (a niece, a neighbor) happened.

The DNA tests only males in a direct line from their ancestor. So, for example, we go Booker, to James (g-g gpa) to Joshua (g-gpa), to James (gpa), to James (father), to James or David (brothers) -- with those relationships in parentheses being how the person relates to me. Now my Uncle Jesse had no sons and his grandsons were fathered by Murphys, so they were not eligible to be tested for the Mullins line.

I didn't like this automatic assumption that James was not the father of Rebecca's children nor that Rebecca was an unfaithful wife. Things get carried down the line and when there is another person involved, someone usually hears something about it. This was just opinion.

I believe that there is a letter from one of Sherwood's grandchildren which in effect said 'well if our one grandpa had married our grandma, we would be be Adkins instead of Mullins' which would mean it wasn't too far of a stretch when the DNA came out saying Booker's genes matched the Adkins group and not the Mullins group. The person thought to be Booker's father is a Sherwood Adkins.

Anyway, back in December or January, I had Dad do a DNA test. I wanted to prove the connection of Joshua to James. I did have a cousin throw in a monkey wrench when he told a story about another person who he thought was my dad's father. I didn't buy the story, but I didn't discount it since anything is possible. Another cousin told me that story was ridiculous that it was my grandmother's sister who had been with the person my cousin thought was my dad's father. I just hoped that it wouldn't interfere with the test results for Joshua because there were few descendants from James and Rebecca who could be tested and the other known potential person had decided not to be tested.

At first the tests seemed inconclusive. On March 11th they finished a second set of tests and Dad matched totally back to Booker which means he is the son of James who married Cora Wright, who is the son of Joshua who married Annie Houston, who is the son of James who married Rebecca Hays, who is the son of Booker only known to have been married to a Sarah. Booker's DNA matches the Adkins family.

If James, the son of Booker was born in 1787 as is most often reported, he was 81 years old when he fathered Joshua. Rebecca, born in 1841 was 28 when she conceived.

James died in 1875 when Joshua was six years old.

And they thought Tony Randall was old when he had his children.

Sarah Jane Mullins & Samuel Pee Collier

I was searching for my grandmother Rebecca Hays Mullins Adams death certificate. I look for it off and on, thinking one of these times I will find it. I also was searching for her father's death certificate. Many people have him dying in Wisconsin which makes no sense to me, but I can't find him. I also don't know the last name of his second wife. So at times I just do another search hoping I will come across something that will open up the little mysteries for me.

I was making a census file for Rebecca, well for James, really, I had started with a question in my head about old Booker. I made a second file for the Hays since Rebecca lived with her father and his second wife after James died.

When I added in the census records for the children of James and Rebecca, I got kind of into their daughter, Sarah. She was born January 29, 1866. She married Samuel Pee Collier who the son of William Dee "Willie" Collier and Rebecca Meade. He was a brother to Willis Kirk Collier who was the father of Sadie. So my great aunt Sarah was an aunt by marriage to Sadie Collier.

Samuel and Sarah had 9 children that I am aware of. They married about 1891 and in the 1900 census they were in Millstone with 3 children: Nancy J age 9, Rebecca M, age 7 and John A. age 4. Rebecca had had two other children who died before this census was taken. I don't know their names yet.

In 1910 they were still in Millstone. Samuel P 37, Sarah 43, John A. 14, Martha Ann 9, Willie J. 4, Elijah B 2, and Ollie a baby not even a month old. Also living with them was Jane Short, who was listed as a step daughter. I stopped when I read that and wondered if i had the wrong census. I know there is another Samuel P Collier who was married to Martha Roark. I couldn't find where either Samuel had but one wife. I searched for a while trying to figure out who Jane was, but I didn't figure it out tonight. Maybe Janice will know.

In 1920 the transcribers had them as Calliers, but the writing looked like Collier to me. Samuel was 49, Sarah M. 54, John A. 23, Elijah B. 13. Living with them was their son in law, William M. Craft, 30 and his children Samuel P, 9 and Sabrina, 3. I assume either Nancy or Martha was the wife of William, but I don't have any details on either of the girls so I don't know which one it was. Again, maybe Janice has figured this one out. Lastly, living with them is Elizabeth Ratliff and her son James and daughter Etta. Elizabeth is listed as a servant.

I spent a long time searching for the family in 1930. I tried Collier and Callier and drew a blank. Maybe next search they will pop right out at me, but I couldn't find them.

Samuel died on December 8, 1956 at Millstone and was buried in the Dave Collier cemetery there. Sarah died on March 17, 1945.

This picture came from cousin Janice. It is Samuel P. Collier and her dad, Willie Bentley. I don't have a picture of Sarah or for that matter either of her brothers, John or Booker. I am surely glad to have this one.

Auld Lang Syne

There are many signicant events which happened in our family in 2008. Here first are some of those who we lost during the year.

March

Edna Mae Bentley, born September 27, 1908 to Sherman & Ada Sergent Bentley married Willie D. Bentley, son of Otho & Sadie Collier Bentley. Aunt Edna died on March 3rd of this year.













May



Wayne Lee Greene was the son of Glenn Walter Greene and Stella Elizabeth Bentley. He ws born on September 22, 1935. He died in Sharonville, Ohio on May 8.





June

Lake Bentley Pass was born on December 21, 1919 in Letcher County, Kentucky to Otho & Nancy Alice Hall Bentley. She married Asberry "Berry" Pass. She died on June 5, 2008.











Lester D. "L. D." Bentley was the son of Benjamin E. "Ben" and Lola Bentley. Benjamin was the son of Elbert and Sabrina Craft Bentley.


This is the obiturary that ran in The Mountain Eagle:

Funeral services for Lester "L.D." Bentley, 81, of Millstone, were held June 14 at Everidge Funeral Home. Burial was in Green Acres Memorial Park at Ermine.
A son of the late Ben and Lola Lark Bentley, he died June 10 at Whitesburg Appalachian Regional Hospital. He was a brother of the late Kenneth Bentley and Roberta Maggard.
He was a member of Lonesome Pine Masonic Lodge #884 and the Millstone Methodist Church.
Surviving are his wife, Billie Jean Bentley; four sons, Gary Bentley, Lakeland, Fla.; Daniel Gail Bentley and Ben Bentley, both of Millstone; and Tim Bentley, Georgetown; a daughter, Lisa Fleming, Neon; a sister, Millie Ann Burke, Green County; nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.








December

Jonah Mac Stodghill was only five days old when he died on December 20th. He was the great grandson of Jimmy & Vicky Long through their oldest daughter. He was the son of Alicia and Joseph Stodghill.

But there were additons to the family, too.

There was also an additon by marriage. James David Mullins and Casie Newkirk married on October 31st, their favorite holiday. "Jimbo" as we called him when he was young is the son of Jesse James Mullins and Debra Purvis.




We also had additions by birth....



Claire Elizabeth Mullins, daughter of Jason and Erika Mullins. Jason is my son. Claire is my granddaughter.








Elaina Noel Dursch decided to come on the day we had hurricane force winds from Ike which were called a dry hurricane in Ohio. Hundreds of thousands of people were without electric -- some for weeks from that 'dry' storm. Elaina is the daughter of Christina and Michael Dursch. Christina is the daughter of Gary & Donna Mullins Dursch. Donna is my sister.

Jon Stiles

Dayton Daily News
November 18, 2008

Spc. Jon Stiles, a no-nonsense outdoors enthusiast with Miami Valley ties who refused medical leave after being injured in a bombing in October was killed Thursday, Nov. 13, in another bombing in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, the Defense Department said.

Lynn Stiles, the soldier's father who lives in Butler Twp., said his son lived in the Miami Valley from 2004-06 after he was discharged from the Marines and Army.

He moved to his childhood home in Colorado to join the National Guard. Jon Stiles, of Highlands Ranch, was 38.

"He had a great, great sense of honor," Lynn Stiles said Monday, Nov. 17.

Jon Stiles was awarded the Bronze Star for the October incident that left him with vocal chord and lung damage. A transport vehicle traveling in front of Stiles' vehicle was bombed. He crawled under it to free two soldiers under heavy fire, Lynn Stiles said.

On Nov. 13, an "improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle" and caused the injuries that led to his death, according to the Defense Department.

After growing up in Colorado, Stiles enlisted in and spent nearly 13 years in the Marines after high school. He spent more than two years in the Army before moving to the Miami Valley to help with his father's printing equipment business, Miyakoshi America.

"On the day he left (the Army), he said, 'I should have stayed,' " Lynn Stiles said.

Jon Stiles joined a National Guard unit in Colorado slated for deployment to Iraq. When those plans were postponed, he moved to a unit set for deployment to Afghanistan.

Stiles was assigned to the 927th Engineer Company (Sapper), 769th Engineer Battalion, Louisiana Army National Guard in Baton Rouge. His specialty, Lynn Stiles said, was "hitting very small targets from very far away."

Stiles' interests leaned toward outdoor life. One famous family photo shows him fishing in temperatures 20 degrees below zero. "He would go fishing in a blizzard," Lynn Stiles said.
Today, Nov. 18, would have been Stiles' eighth wedding anniversary, his father said.


Dayton Daily News
News Death Notice


STILES, Spc. Jon of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, died November 13, 2008 after being wounded by a roadside bomb in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Jon, a decorated war hero, was a member of the Colorado Army National Guard State Honor Guard. He was a Soldier in the 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery, but was augmenting the 927th Engineer Company, Louisiana Army National Guard. He was mobilized for Afghanistan in March 2008.

Jon was 38 yrs. old, born July 6, 1970, in Bartlesville, OK. Jon loved serving in the armed forces as evidenced by his service in the Marine Corp., the Army, and in the National Guard. Jon was a proud patriot who enthusiastically re-enlisted to serve his country.

Jon is survived by his wife, Launa Stiles. He is also survived by his father Lynn Stiles with wife Cecilia and brother Kenneth of Dayton, Ohio. His sister, Sr. Airman Natalie Stiles at Lackland AFB San Antonio; Texas, his brother Charles Lynn Stiles, with his wife Laura and their children Nathan and Jessica of Grandview, MO., his mother Linda Barnett and her husband Larry, of Springfield, MO; and his grandparents, Maxine and Kenneth Stiles in Lockwood, MO. Jon also leaves a large extended family of cousins and friends.

Jon enjoyed playing golf and was an avid fly fisherman. Funeral arrangements have not been finalized, but memorial services will be held at Mountainview Community Christian Church, in Highlands Ranch, CO. Date and time will be posted on the churchs web site: http://www.mountainviewfamily.org/.

Jon will be laid to rest at Ft. Logan National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the Stiles family suggests donations to the Colorado National Guard Foundation, 6848 S. Revere Parkway, Centennial, CO 80112 or to a charity of your choice.

These pictures were on http://www.flickr.com/photos/lbmarelli/3049865617/ of the arrival of Jon's body and his funeral.

Please click on this link or copy and paste it to go the blog where Jon's arrival home and his funeral were captured in moving words and pictures: http://elbmd.blogspot.com/2008/11/honoring-sgt-jon-stiles-at-fort-logan.html

There is also a slideshow of pictures taken at the funeral and one of Jon in happier times at his address:

http://cfapp2.rockymountainnews.com/photos/index.cfm?xml=slideshows/112108stilesfuneral/112108stilesfuneral.xml

Guess who is coming to dinner?

I found this among some Mullins pictures. It was taken on Mullins land and reminded me of a story that I heard from Uncle Glen and Aunt Vera last year. This coon is no where near the size of the one in the story.Here is the story:

January 27, 2007

Tonight I attended the wedding of my cousin, Laura’s son, Billy. While talking with Uncle Glenn I mentioned that I was fine and so were the coons in my attic. He started chuckling and asked if I had heard about the folks who kept a raccoon as a pet. I had not and he proceeded to tell the following.

James Mullins (his father-in-law and my maternal grandfather) lived next door to relatives named Quillen who kept a raccoon as a pet. It was kept on a chain outside in the yard like a dog would be. One day the Mullins had the Quillens over for dinner. The Mullins house had a screened in porch on the front and the back of the house. They were all sitting around the dinner table when they heard the back door slam and they all waited to see who else was coming in to dinner. Enter the raccoon. Uncle Glenn said that James Mullins didn’t hold to having ANY animals in the house and proceeded to get up and yell at the raccoon to GET OUT. It just looked at him and stood still. James rared back to kick the raccoon and before he knew it the raccoon wrapped around his leg and went to nipping at him. James and the raccoon danced toward the back door and by the time he got to the back door the raccoon was finally off of his leg and up in one of the apple trees in the back yard.

Several dogs in the neighborhood circled the raccoon while he was treed as James and the family watched to see what would happen. Soon all but one of the dogs tired of circling the tree and left. Uncle Glenn indicated that this coon was about 3 feet tall when he stood up. The coon got directly over the remaining dog and jumped down on his back and then flipped him over and held him there for some time. I am glad the raccoons in my attic are not someone’s wayward pet that have grown to that size.

As he finished the story Aunt Very came over and he reminded her of the dinner where the raccoon latched on to her dad’s leg. She said “ oh yeah, and did you tell them about the dogs in the back yard?” and proceeded to recount that the raccoon was “this” high and showed the exact same measurement that Uncle Glenn had used to show us how big the Quillen’s pet raccoon was. The only thing I don’t understand about the story was that James didn’t get a gun and shoot him out of the tree or that he stayed a pet after that dinner. I guess he respected the rights of others even when they strayed over the line into his rights.

Booker Mullins and the Bear

I originally found this version of the story of Booker Mullins fighting a bear:

Boyd J. Bolling, interviewed by James Talyor Adams in Flat Gap, Wise County on March 11, 1942.

"Guess you've heard about old Booker Mullins. He as said to be the greatest bear hunter and fist and skull fighter that was ever in this part of the country. I've heard my father talk about him. Said that one time him and his brother were out bear hunting and they run upon a big bear.

Booker told his brother to hold the dogs and let him fight the bear, which seemed willing for the match. They had around and around and at least the bear got Booker in hits hug and was about to squeeze him to death. He holldered to his brother, "Turn the dogs loose!" "Not do such a thing!" his brother said, "Im not going' to show foul play in a fight. And he didn't, but Booker finally killed the bear. Booker called him(self) the champion fighter , and I guess he was.

One time he (Booker) was traveling through Kentucky and passed where they were raising a house. He boasted around some, and after he went on one of the fellows said, "Jis wait til he comed back by and I'll beat he devil out of him. Well that evenin' Booker come back by and this fellow picked a fuss with him. They went into it. And Booker whipped him and three others who run in and took hit up for him.

Now that was what I found in oh about the mid eighties or nineties.

Today I ran across this article which was published in Norton, Virginia and written by Connie Bolling. I don't know the name of the newspaper but Norton shows on the clipping at the top of the page. Connie celebrated his 100th birthday this year. Connie is the son of Jesse Boyd Bolling & Fannie Williams. Jesse was the son of Jesse Bolling who was the son of Jeremiah Bolling.

The story of how Bear Fork got name



It appeared that my great uncle, Booker Mullins, of the upper Pound region,
enjoyed bearding the bears in the early 1800's.

When Paw told me the tales about Booker and the bears, he called him Uncle
Booker and said that he didn't know where or why he called him uncle, but maybe
he came from his mother's side of the family.

Anyway, this the way Paw told me the scary tale about Booker and the
bear:

In about 1800 or a little later when the Pound River country was settle,
Uncle Booker Mullins was a man with muscles like ropes all up his arms and down
his shoulders and around his chest, and when he was 22 and stood six feet six
inches tall and weighed about 250 pounds he could "ride" any man that scuffled
with him.

Anyhow when he couldn't find anyone who could stand in with him, he started
out to find a 1-year-old bear to fight and he said he knew he would kill it with
his bare knuckles and feet.

Well, Big Booker began begging my Grandpaw Jeremiah (Jerry) to go out and
hunt for the bear and Grandpaw kept telling him that he was crazy to tackle a
bear that way and such a bear like that would kill him. But Big Booker would
shake his head and say, "Nuh! Nuh! that bear's not going to tech me. I'll knock
the breath out out'n him with my first kick in the ribs with my hob nailed boot
heels."

Big Booker kept after Grandpaw to go with him back in the Cumberlands to
look for a bear for him to fight and he kept on at him until finally Grandpaw
said, "Well if you just have to, I'll take you, in the morning, to the far
creek.

I saw signs of how the bears was a raking in the leaves for chestnuts as I
was coming back from Kingdom Come about a week ago."

"But I warn ye if that bear tears you up, don't blame me, I've told ye,"
Grandpaw.

Again Big Booker only shook his head and danced around and around punching
and jabbing his big fists towards Grandpaw.

Now Big Booker was jumping with joy as he headed for home on the head of
Cumberland. The next morning bright and early Booker was stomping on Grandpaw's porch raring to get going.

Grandpaw said, "I'll take my two bear dogs along and we'll just lead them
and we'll have them in case we have to track some bear down."

"Oh no! no! Jerry. " Booker said, "You be shore and hold'em dogs back cause
I want to track the bear myself and if I find one to fight, hold'em dogs and you
mustn't turn'em loose no matter what happens."

"Well, go after him ye fool," Grandpaw said, as they wormed their way
through the laurel and ivy and out onto chestnut flats on the crest of the ridge
on far creek.

"This is it," Grandpaw said "this is where I saw where the bears had been
eating the chestnuts -- now we must slip along so the old bear won't hear us in
these dry rattling leaves. Oh! be quiet Booker, with ye big noisy boots you'll
roust any bear up a mile yards away."

Booker hunkered down and began to crawl along and ever once in a while he'd
look up at grandpaw and say, "Do you see 'em yet?" Do ye see anything?

About that time, Grandpaw whispered, "Be quiet! Be quiet! I hear something
a raking in the leaves behind that big dead chesnut log over yonder."

Booker eaased upright and his eyes, followed Granpaw's finger pointing
toward the log and about that time, just a little bit of a bear's head heaved up
and down above the log.

"That's one, that's one," whispered Big Booker as he pulled his big long
wet middle finger from his mouth and held it straight up and said, "The wind is
a coming from him to us; so now he cain't wind us and smell us'n the dogs and
I'm goin to slip right onto him and if'n he ain't too big I'll jump right on his
back, and don't you turn them dogs loose."

"Git goin, ye big fool and if'n he eats you up I'm not turning nary one
loose," Grandpa said, as Big Booker went a crawling toward the big log and the
bear.

Well, he crawled right up to the log and just as he touched the log a big
bear's head bobbed up just so his eyes could see over the log. But he
never did see Booker and he went on a raking back the leaves and eatin'
chestnuts like nuthin wuz a happinin.

Big Booker looked back at Grandpaw an seen him motion with his hand to go
on after the bear. That's all it took -- Booker was on the log like a cat
after a mouse, and he landed on the big bear's back with his big hobnailed boot
heels.

Booker kept bobbing up an down and all the time he wuz a kickin and a
kinckin the 'le bear in the back and the ribs. All at once though the bear
gave a might growl and he came up with Booker in a bear hug and he screamed at
Grandpa, "Turn them dogs loose."

For God's sake, Jerry, turn 'em dogs loose; this bear is tearing my mortal
leaders out", screamed Booker again.

Still, Jerry held onto his dogs and yelled, "I show no foul play.
Booker, you told me never to turn the dogs loose, so go get him like you
said."

About that time they both went down behind the log and such a rattling and
thumping like you never heard before.

Grandpa was uneasy 'cause he wuz afraid that the old bear was a chawing on
Booker, so he run up to the log and looked over and there laid Booker one way
and the old bear the other way, both a panting; they wuz tired to death. Grandpaw's dogs wuz already loose by now and they pounced over the log and began nipping at the 'ole bear's tail!

But just one good nip by the dogs and he old bear was awake and went shambling down trhough the leaves snappng aback at the dogs as they chased him.

By now Booker was up and a leaning back on his elbows and said, "you know
what, Jerry, that bear wuz a two-year-old; I saw his teeth."


Well... I never knew Booker was so tall. So I learned he was six feet six. And again we have one of those recreational fighters. Remember my grandpa Fleming was called "Fightin' Fred" Fleming. I had always assumed it was fighting in the Civil War until I learned they used to punch each other silly til one of them passed out, died or gave up.

I was wondering about those hobnails. I looked them up and those are the pictures at the beginning of this story.

Guess I will be on the lookout for more stories by Connie Bolling.

Samuel Pee Collier & Sarah Jane Mullins

Samuel Pee Collier was the brother of Willis K. Collier. He married my great-great aunt, Sarah Jane Mullins. Sarah was the older sister of Joshua Mullins, my great grandfather.

.

In the back row are their children, Rebecca, John and Martha Ann. Row 2 is Samuel Pee, Sarah Jane and their daughter, Nancy. In front sitting by himself is their son, Elijah.

Nancy was the oldest born in 1891.

.

Rebecca was was born July 27 1892 and died November 28, 1987. She married Wilburn Hall, son of Richard Reuben "Dick" Hall and Mary Elizabeth "Polly" "Pop" Fleming. Richard was out of Granny's Hall line. Mary was a sister to my great grandmother, Elizabeth "Betsy" Fleming Houston.

.

Sarah had two children beteen 1892 and 1895 who died.

.

John was born March 8, 1896 and died April 6, 1970. He married Rinda M. Hall the daughter of Marion John Hall and Maxaline Hall. Both Rinda and Marion were out of Granny's Hall line.

.

Martha Ann was born in 1901.

.

Willie J. Collier was born in 1906. He died as a child.

.

Elijah Booker was born November 23, 1907. He died October 26, 1964.

.

Ollie Collier was born in 1910. I don't know if she died very young or if she just wasn't in the picture.

Four Stories

My grandfather was James Mullins. His parents were Joshua and Annie Houston Mullins. Joshua's parents were James and Rebecca Hayes Mullins. James father was Booker Mullins. One of Booker's children's death certificates lists his mother's name as Sarah. Other women are listed as Booker's wife, but I have never found that he had more than one marriage -- and the only clue for his wife being the Sarah listed on the death certificate.

Booker grew up in the home of William and Katherine Mullins. With DNA tests of today Booker's descendants are not matching those of his brothers descendants. It is thought that he was fathered by one of the daughters of William and Katherine and Sherwood Adkins who was known for his attachments to young girls. Of course, those who tell that story can never tell me the name of the daughter who might have been the mother. Why couldn't it have been Katherine who dallied with a younger man? Regardless, Booker was brought up as if he were a child of William and Katherine. They lived in Franklin county, Virginia.

I found an article by James Taylor Adams. It tells a bit about Booker, a bit about the naming of Pound, a bit about Susan Dean Sowards and finally how John Fox used Susan and her husband as models for characters in his book, "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine".

Pound is the only place I ever heard which always had "the" in front of it. We are going to "the Pound". We never said we are going to "the Dayton". Put most times growing up I would hear it referred to as "the Pound." I just never knew til I read the article that James Taylor Adams wrote that my family, through Booker, had anything to do with the name.

Here is the article:

Kingsport Times
Kingsport, Tennsesee
July 19, 1950 page 8

The Forks Of The Pound Is Historical Ground

By James Taylor Adams
Daily News Correspondent

Big Laurel, Va. July 19 – Historic ground. That’s the story of the forks of the Pound… and a quarter of a mile there from in every direction.

If Col. Christopher Gist’s journal has been read correctly, it was in the little scrap of level ground, just west of the meeting of the two streams that the first white man’s fire was kindled in all the territory now embraced in Wise County; and a little to the
east near the center of the present incorporated town of Pound.

Booker Jim Mullins, seeking adventure and a home in the wilderness moved in from Franklin county, Virginia, and established himself and the first mill, capable of turning corn into meal, to be operated in this region. Mullins’ mill was not a mill in the exact sense of the word. It was simply a mortar, operated by horsepower, which pounded the corn into meal. But it was sufficient unto the needs of the settlers for twenty miles around; and its pounding was enough to give a name to a river and a town.

Mullins didn’t stay long. He was a man who wanted plenty of elbowroom. So, when other settlers began crowding in on him to the limit of a mile, he sold out to William Roberson, a native of Greenbriar County, and moved on across Pine Mountain and fixed himself on Shelby.

It was sometime in the 1820’s that Roberson made the deal with Booker Jim Mullins; and soon thereafter he abandoned the pounding mortar and built a water mill. Hut folks had become
accustomed to calling the place “the Pound”; and it’s been “the Pound” ever since.

The Roberson house stood on a gentle rise of ground, between
the emptying of Bold Camp and Mill Creek. One night there came a timid tapping on their door. Pulling the bolt, they found a little girl standing on the step. Although the night was cold and uncomfortable to the well-clad, the child was barefoot and her clothes were thin and well worn.

The little girl, destined to become immortalized in tradition
and story, said her name was Susan Dean. Her parents were dead, she told the Roberson, and she had no kin who would take her in; so she had just started out. “I come from back yunner,” she said, with a nod of her head in the direction of the Clinch Valley which lay twenty-five miles to the south “an ‘I run nearly ever’ step of the way.”

Susan Dean never forgot that lonely childhood journey. Long years after, when she was old, she would tell it to her grandchildren. It seemed she always chose a cold and blustery
night for narrating the hardships she suffered on her first (and last) trip to the Pound…. For she never left the neighborhood where fate had brought her. She had almost forgotten the very names of her parents; and she might, she said, sometimes forget the many hardships of her early life on the Pound; but she would never forget how, barefooted and almost naked, she madder her way over miles and miles of snow covered wilderness trail to reach the haven of the William Roberson home. There was a light snow on the ground; and she remembered how she would run from one mud puddle to another, holding her feet in the water and slosh to keep them from freezing.

While Susan Dean was in her early teens young Eff Sowards came a courting; and it was not long until they were married and were building a house, just above the clearing that Peter Reedy had made some years before but had abandoned.

Here they settled down; and here they reared their several sons and daughters.

One day, during the War Between the States, the Federal
soldiers, who had captured the town of Gladeville, but were then retreating through Pound Gap to escape a Confederate Army moving up from Wytheville, left one of their company on the Soward porch. The captain, in charge, told Mrs. Sowards that the man had died of a fever; and he requested that she see to his burial.

It was a mile to the nearest neighbor; and Susan Sowards did not like the idea of leaving the dead man alone while she went for help. So, seating herself on the porch, she took her baby on her lap and began singing it to sleep with a lullaby.

All at once the sheet, which she had used to cover the body, began to move; and the next moment, the “corpse” pawed the sheet from his face and, looking Mrs. Sowards in the eye,
cried, “Sissie, oh Sissie!”

Susan Sowards, hugging her child to her breast, started to run away. “Hut,” she said later, “I couldn’t leave those pleading eyes.” So all through that day and til midnight she nursed
and doctored the dying man; the man who but a few hours before, had been engaged in laying waste the farms and towns of her land.

“Aunt Susan,” as Mrs. Sowards was affectionately called by her younger neighbors, would break down and cry, as she would tell this story of the dying “Yankee.” It was just after the hour of midnight, she said, that the soldier looked up into her face and, with a smile crinkling the corners of his fever-arched mouth,
whispered: “Sissie, I’ll be alright.” And, with that, he was
gone. She sat by the corpse the remainder of that long and awesome night. The next day, Jim Roberson, son of William, came along; and he “put out the alarm”: and some others came in and helped to dig a grave and bury the unknown soldier …. Unknown unto this day. How long, how long, did “Sissie” wait and watch for his return?

When John Fox, Jr., was gathering material for his novel, “The Trail of the Lonesome Pine”, he with the late Hennie Gilliam, visited the Soward’s home. He was so taken with the old couple, particularly the conversation of “Aunt Susan” that he returned for several other visits; and “Uncle Eff” and “Aunt Susan” became the “Uncle Billy” and “Old Hon” of his story.

From that old mortar mill owned by Booker Mullins where 'the pound' could be heard from miles around when the mill was working came the name. I will think of the Pound differently in the future.

Goose Creek Cemetery behind R B Meade's

I am searching for my great grandmother's grave. She was Annie Houston Mullins. She was the first wife of my great grandfather, Joshua Mullins. Their son was my grandfather, James Mullins. She died in chilbirth in 1906.

After Annie died, the children stayed with her parents, Thaney & Betsy Houston. I followed Thaney and Betsy through the 1920 cenus and then they just dropped off the records. I thought they might have died before the 1930 census, but I could not find a death certificate for either. Since I knew that there was a cemetery behind one of the family homes at Goose Creek, I thought that is probably where Annie had to be buried. I was also hoping that it is were Thaney and Betsy were buried, too.

My cousin, Rosie, verified through another cousin that Annie had been buried at Goose Creek. They did not know about Thaney and Betsy.

Rosie had the directions on finding the cemetery. We agreed since it was raining Saturday and snowy today we would go today to find the cemetery. I was anxious to see what this cemetery and knew that it would probably be behind a locked gate on the weekends, but I went anyway.

I followed Rosie's instructions and they were perfect. She was right. I ran into a locked gate. I was turning around to leave when another car came up the road. Since it is one lane, I let her come up and waited. I went down the road then turned around and went back to the car and asked about the cemetery.

Turns out one of the women in the car was Denton Houston's step-granddaughter. My Annie was Denton's sister. The other lady was a Hall by marriage. She sent me to her father-in-law's home because she said he knew everyone.

I went and Mr. Hall was sleeping, but his wife and son were the most hospitable. They told me so many things about Goose Creek. I know of four other cemeteries there. Rosie and I will try to find at least two of them.

Mrs. Hall told me that I should call one of R. B. Meade's sons. She gave me his number. The cemetery where Annie should be was behind their house. R. B. was married to Siller Houston who was Denton Houston's daughter.

Cousin Meade said he couldn't help me with Annie's grave. He said it had been 53 years since he had been there, but he couldn't remember an Annie. He said he was so sorry, but all he remembered was his grandpa's parents were buried there. Who were they? I asked. Thaney and Betsy Houston.

I asked if Thaney and Betsy had tombstones. He said "oh yes." He said when they were first buried they had houses over their graves. Over the years the houses fell apart and they were taken down. He said that when you go up there was a fence around the graves. But outside of the fence were four graves belonging to Jenny McCray, her husband, a child of Denton named Mae and a baby (who at this moment I can't remember).

He said inside the fence next to Jenny's grave was Thaney's and next to him was Betsy's grave.

I have gloves, a broom, chalk and my camera to take to the cemetery today. I will post the results after I get my main computer back and can access the pictures from my camera. It may be two weeks. Hopefully not.

I can't believe I am still connected. I have so many things that I have discovered.

Elizabeth Leatha "Lettie" Mullins Fleming

I love when I find more about someone who folks assummed was gone.  Robert Fleming and Betsy Stumbaugh had a son Robert Jefferson "Big Jeff" Fleming.  He had children with at least four women.  One of them was Elizabeth Leatha "Lettie" Mullins.  She had eleven of his children.  She was born in September of 1825 in Pike County.  Her father was William Mullins.

In most genealogies I have seen where Lettie is listed they have her date of death as April 1900.  When starting out on someone I will put down what I find but then I have to try to document.

Again, because of the contact with my Yonts cousin, I was got into working on the Flemings.  I had stopped at William "Red Billy" Fleming and left myself a note to pick it up later.  I started on it this morning. I always end up going up and down the line and as I find census records or death certificates I add the information in to document what I have.  I started going through William's children and trying to find his wife.  I found his death certificate and it said his wife's name was Nicatie Fleming.  Whenever I see the same last name for the wife, I try to figure out if the document has the real maiden name for the woman or if that truly was her family name.  So I went looking for Nickatie Fleming.

I found she was the daughter of Solomon Fleming and Mahala Sarah Mullins.  In looking for any census records for this couple I found a death certificate for a Farrell Fleming.  It was the wrong age for Kenes Farrell, one of their sons, but I determined it was their grandson.  He was coal miner in Clintwood.  He died in Letcher county when he fell from a moving train and fractured his skull and incurred other various bodily injuries.  His wife's name was Ruth.

I kept striking out on Kenes, but I had found through that death certificate that his wife's name was Lydia Deel. Well, they had it as Lybia, but I figured that was an error.  I found the 1900 census right away under her name.  Kenes was spelled Kenis by the transcriber, but there was no dot for an i on the original record.  I picked up two sisters for Farrell and saw that William Fleming lived next door to Kenes and Lydia.

With William was a sister-in-law named Deel.  Since I knew Kenes' wife was Deel, I looked harder.  Turns out this William was the one I started with on this little journey.  William "Red Billy" was living with his wife, Lydia Robinson.  Also in the household was his  mother, Letty Fleming.  Since I had the April 1900 date of death for her, I went to the top of the census records and found it was done in June 1900.  If she died in 1900 it certainly wasn't in April.

I guess that is one of the things I really like about having the census records available online.  As much as I hate the transcription errors for the indexes, it does allow me to find folks who were near to Letcher county but across a state line and therefore would have been a much harder search when using paper or microfilmed records.

One of the people I was working on the other day I believe went from Kentucky to Oregan and then back again.  I would never have looked in Oregan for him.  His wife died.  He remarried.  There was a lapse of 20 years between census records so when I picked him up again he had been married for 17 years.  Then suddenly he is back in Kentucky again.  Boy would I like to know why he moved and why he came back.  I am still working on him, but when I figure it out, I will write more of his story.

So now I am back to Red Billy and his mother and the Flemings.  I love these puzzle pieces.

Twins

I don't know how suprised Uncle John Vint, Freddy or Jerry were to find out that they had had another sister in their family with May Bentley.  I wouldn't be surpised to find that Uncle Joe had known.  He ususally knows everything.  He will confirm or deny if you ask him straight on, but he doesn't necessarily volunteer the information.

I was suprised to find out that my mother had lost a set of twins.  Aunt Sue -- Anna Sue -- had told me that when I visited her in the nursing home last November.  Maraget had always said that she was a twin and one had died at their birth.  I didn't believe that, because I thought Mom would certainly have said something if that were true.  So I asked Aunt Sue, are you talking about Margaret?  Was she really a twin?  No, she answered.  Your mother had a set of twins and lost them. 

I came home and asked dad. I thought he would say she must have been mixed up.  He said it was true.  When I asked where in the line they would have fallen he said it was between me and Jim.  There are only two years difference between us.

Donna was born on October 17, 1955.  David was born on October 19, 1954.  When Donna has her birthday for two days they are the same age.  We always kidded and said they were twins for two days. 

When I was pregnant with Jason Mom said she wished I was having twins -- a boy and a girl -- so I could do it all at once and be done with it.  I assummed she thought that if I had one girl and one boy I would never feel the need to have another child.  At one point I tried to adopt a set of twin girls.  It didn't work out -- the mother decided she wanted the welfare money for them.  We had a lot of opportunity to talk twins.  My mother never said a word to me about having a set of her own and losing them.  She never told any of us kids that I know of. 

I would never have known if I had not talked to Aunt Sue.

I was sad not to have known about them.  I did do some checking in the family I have documented so far.  There are about 45 sets of twins in the family.  They were about equally divided between the Mullins and the Bentleys.  The most were through Granny's family.

My brother's daughter, Angie, had twins, Kelsey and Kortney.  I thought it was back a few generations that there were twins.  I had no idea then how close they had been in our line.

It makes me wonder what else Mom kept to herself.

How much do you love someone?

Lana stayed with me Saturday night.  We spent the day at the Pretzel Festival in Germantown with my son, his wife and my other granddaughter, Claire. 

Claire

Also, there were my sister, Donna, and her husband, Gary Sr,  son, Gary Jr, and grandson, Peter.  It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun walking through the booths, eating festival food, and listening to the music.

Lana and Peter Dancing to the music while Donna keeps an eye on them.

 Lana enjoyed the park swings and slides.

Afterward, Lana went home with me.  We stopped at an apple orchard and bought cider and picked up a bundle of wood.  We then went to Wallyworld and picked up hot dogs, buns and marshmellows.  We sat around a fire and Lana was so happy to eat a hot dog -- well maybe more to put her stick in the fire.  We looked at the stars.  She said, "Nana, do you know how much I love you?"  We went back and forth about how much we loved each other each answer topping the other.

Sunday morning when we got up she said again, "Nana, do you know how much I love you?" and again, we tried to top each other's answers.  I said I loved her more because I had known her all her life and loved her even before she was born.  She said, "I loved you twenty years before I was born when I was with the tooth fairy and the angels and we picked you to be my Nana."  I couldn't top that.

Fleming Class of 1942 part 2

I just got a new picture which is a better one of Fleming High School's  Class of 1942.  Johnny Fulton's daughter, Sharon, sent it to me.  Thank you so much, Sharon!  In case you are saving this picture, I wanted the better shot to be available.

Also, I found out that Mr. Fulton was class president. Roy Reasor, Jr. was Vice President of the class.

Look at the earlier post for who's who.

Bad Lewis Hall husband of Rhoda Bentley

Our Daniel Bentley, the son of Thomas and Hannah Bentley, married Nancy Jane Lewis.  Their son Thomas was a brother to our grandfather Benjamin Bentley who married Elizabeth "Betsy" Crase.  Thomas married Betsy's sister, Margaret Mary Crace.  Their daughter, Rhoda S. Bentley married John Lewis Hall.   He was known as Bad Lewis Hall.

Rhoda was born in 1832 in Perry County, Kentucky.  John was born in 1835.  She married Lewis on December 3, 1853 in Letcher County, Kentucky.  He was 18 and she was 21.

Lewis Hall was not part of our Hall family.  Nor was he part of the Anthony Hall line. As far as I have been able to find his grandfather was actually Jonathan Hill and Rhoda Coombs who were from Rhode Island and moved to  New Hampshire.  Their son Johathan Hall was born in New Hampshire and moved to Kentucky.  He married Nancy Higgens.  Lewis is only related to us through his married to Rhoda.

In 1880 Rhoda is on her own in the census.  She lists herself as a widow in Letcher County.

• Hall, Roda, 45, widowed, keeping house
• Thomas, 21, son, works on farm
• Harlon, 17, son, working farm
• Wilborn, 15, son, working farm
• Frankey, 10, daughter
• All born in Kentucky

I found several newspaper articled about Lewis.

The Centralia Enterprise, a newspaper in Centralia, Wisconsin, ran the following story on May 16, 1891

         

GUNFIGHT IN THE SOUTH: THREE MEN KILLED AND ONE WOUNDED FOUR TIMES IN WEST VIRGINIA

Perryville, W.Va., May 11 -----Lewis Hall and his son, Lewis Hall, Jr., got into a quarrel near Knox Creek, with Samuel Steel and his son Hiram.

Samuel Steel was mortally wounded, dying shortly afterward, and Lewis Hall received four slight wounds, but escaped to the mountains.

Lewis married Mary "Polly" Mullins about 1900.In the fight which ensued, Lewis Hall, Jr., was shot through the heart and instantly killed; Hiram Steel was pierced with seven bullets, and died in a few minutes.

On February 15, 1903 the Atlantic Constitution ran the following article:

ATLANTA CONSTITUION NEWSPAPER SECTION CALLED THE SUNNY SOUTH  (EXCERPT OF STORY ABOUT THE CLAN TRIALS OF LETCHER COUNTY, KENTUCKY) \RE: "BAD LEWIS" HALL

Contrary to mountaineer custom, very few greetings were exchanged along the road, and my somewhat foreign appearance seemed to arouse suspicion. One old fellow, however, with a very long red nose, and wearing an ancient shotgun over his shoulder, instead of the customary sidearms, walked with me for several miles. He was, as I discovered afterwards, one of the "bad ones," but thoroughly harmless in his badness and most enjoyable as a companion.

"BAD LEWIS" HALL he is called, and the shotgun that he carries is famous throughout the mountains for its exploits. Most men of his type carry rifles, but BAD LEWIS will trust nothing but this old - fashioned gun of his. I innocently asked him if he had killed any game with it and the question appeared to amuse him greatly, confirming him in the opinion that I was a tenderfoot. Then he explained that he was a "bad man" and reputed to have committed eighteen murders in the various "troubles" in which he had been engaged. He was a near relative to "TALT" HALL, who was brought to the gallows in Wise County, Virginia, by the "Red Fox of the Mountains" a few months before the latter suffered the death penalty for his own misdeeds.

"BAD LEWIS," with becoming modesty, assured me, however, that his own record was too highly colored by popular tradition. "I ain't killed mo' than three in my day and time," he declared, "an' I jest had ter kill them. They was no account, triflin' folks, they was, an' 'peared like they would be plum better off whar they kaint do no mo' whar they be now."

Singularly enough, "BAD LEWIS" is at present on the side of the law, and has no use for the Kuklux Gang, in this quarrel appearing to side altogether with JOHN WRIGHT. He expressed considerable solicitude, also, as to my welfare while tramping through the kuklux land, and gave me a sort of way bill to the houses that would be best for my health to leave severely alone. Considering the source, the advice was not without a touch of grim humor. "Ef yo' meets up wi' one o' them lawbreakers, " he said as we were parting not far from the Pound Gap, "don't meddle nor make wi' him. He mought be a kukluxer, an' he mought not. Ef he ain't a kukluxer he mought have a trouble o' his'n, an' then ef yo' meddle wi' him, his trouble will be yourn. An' ef he be a kukluxer, atter all, he's lookin' fer trouble wi' you an' eve'r man he meets. So, the best thing fer you, stranger, is to keep yo' gun handy, yo' feet squar' en the road, an' yo' mouth shet so tight, th' devil hiss'ef couldn't squeeze out o' hit." And I did.

Rhoda died in 1908.

1910 CENSUS May 11, 1910, Elkhorn City, Pike County, Kentucky

• Hall, Lewis 73 head, marriage 2, ten years, KY US KY Farmer

• Polly 44, wife, marriage 2, had 9 children, 8 living. farm laborer

• Sada 11, daughter, farm laborer

• Nicttie 8, daughter

• Doff 7, son

• Moore, William 19, step-son

• All KY KY KY except Lewis

February 11, 1912 from the Atlanta Constitution:

FEUD LEADER & HIS SON SHOT

PIKEVILLE, KY., February 10 -- One of the most noted feud leaders in th e BIG SANDY VALLEY, LOUIS HALL, who had boasted of killing twenty-two men, was shot and instantly killed at SHELBY GAP, in the Pine mountains, y esterday morning by CONSTABLE GEORGE JOHNSON and his son, MORGAN HALL, m et the same fate a moment later at the same cool hands. People of that s ection fear a revival of the feud war.

JOHNSON had a warrant for MORGAN HALL, who was suspected of operating a " blind tiger," and had openly defied detectives to enter his home at the f orfeit of their lives. JOHNSON followed HALL out of a store to the porc h, and was in the act of reading the warrant when HALL made signs of re sistance. The elder HALL, who was 83 years old, rushed out of his home a s hort distance away, carrying the rifle on the stock of which it was his b oast he notched the score of his victims. JOHNSON at once opened fire, s hooting first the father and then the son.

The last article I clipped is from an unknown newspaper.

John & Morgan Hall killed while resisting arrest.

LOUIS HALL and his son MORGAN were killed at MILLARD BURKE'S STORE, SHELBY GAP, PIKE COUNTY, by CONSTABLE GEORGE JOHNSON, who had a warrant for MORGAN'S arrest. They resisted and the officer shot both, killing them instantly. The charge was illicit liquor selling. LOUIS HALL was 83 years old and had a bad record. He killed three men named STEEL on TUG about ten years ago in a fight over whiskey.

Joshua & Rosie Mullins at Millstone

I have learned about my great grandfather, Joshua Mullins, and his third wife, Rosie Adams Fulton since I met Johnny Fulton, Rosie's grandson by her first marriage to the first John Fulton.

Joshua had a number of children with his first wife, Annie Houston. After she died the children lived for a time with Annie's parents, Nathaniel and Elizabeth "Betsy" Fleming Houston. He next married Jesse Wright's sister, Susan. In 1912 after Susan had died, Rosie and Joshua married. I don't believe he was actually still with Susan because Rosie was pregnant with Ada Mullins before they were married. This was whispered to me even 96 years later.

Joshua's children who were not grown lived with them. The same person who whispered to me about Ada learned from me that the other children were not Rosie's. He said he never saw a difference in the way Rosie treated the children and thought all of them were whole brothers and sisters. In 1914 there was a second daughter, Ida.

Joshua and Rosie lived up the right fork of Millstone on the left hand side across from where Lucky Fulton's property is today. They had a farm and made their living from it. I printed the picture of Rosie on the mule which she rode to Hemphill selling butter and other farm products.

Johnny Fulton told me that he used to visit with the family and would move from home to home spending a few nights with each family on his visits. Here are the things that I learned from Johnny's emails:

• In the 1930s the high point of my summers was to spend a week or so on Millstone. Most of the people who lived there then were related to the Fulton family in some way or other. So what I did was spend a day or so at one home and then move on to another. By the time I got to Aunt Oggie's my summer vacation was about over.




• The first home I would visit was Rosie and Joshua's. They had no children near my age, but they welcomed me and tried to make me feel 'at home'. Which I did. They lived in a log cabin style home which was built in two sections connected by an outside walkway. The first section had a living room- bedroom, kitchen, and dining area.




• There was a music instrument against a wall called an organ which resembled a piano which Rosie could play though she seldom did. Dad could play the organ and that was the instrument he learned to play on in the long ago.




• The second section was a large bedroom with two beds. Rosie and Joshua, like the other Millstone folks, had no electricity, so at dusk they lit up the kerosene lanterns. Since they did not own a radio and TV had not come along, early dark was also bedtime. Rosie would take one of her lanterns and escort me to the second section and wait for me to get in bed. She said goodnight and took the lantern and left me alone. My bedroom then became the quietest, darkest, place on earth. I made every effort to get to sleep as soon as possible.
  
  
  

William Jesse Wright

I have written about Jesse Wright and his wives Elizabeth Moore, Mary Brummett, Maggie Perdue and Nickotie Vanover.  At our Mullins reunion Aunt Vera brought some pictures of Jesse that I had not seen before.  I had one that she had seen but did not have.  I realized I had put a cropped version of mine on the blog but not the full version.  I also printed one of Jesse in the story about Big Jim Wright's death.  Here are all the pictures I have of Jesse.

This is Jesse Wright with his daughter, Cora, and her husband, James Mullins.  The children are Jesse, J. D. and Vera.  I would guess 1928.

That's Jesse Mullins leaning against the barrel, Jesse Wright, J. D. squatting, Vera by Jesse and a woman and child that are unknown.  This was takn at Pine Mountain where the rangers station.  Had to be before 1935.

This was at Big Jim Wright's funeral in 1930.  Jesse is on the left of the coffin standing by Nickotie Vanover, his fourth wife.  She is directly beside the coffin.  On the far right we have identified the last man as Marvin Wright, Big Jim's brother.  Big Jim was James Monroe Wright, son of Jesse's brother, Joel Martin.  BIg Jim was his nephew, but for a short time he was also his son-in-law when Jim and Jesse's daughter, Susan, were married for a short time.  Susan and Jim had one daughter.  They divorced and she married Olvin Houston and then Noah Burcham.  Jim married again, too, first to Lillie Hall and then to Martha Jane Brown.

When I wrote the story about Jim's death there is another picture showing the crowd at this funeral.  Aunt Vera said the house that was in that picture was Big Jim's.  It was HUGE.

This Jesse and his daughters.  Alice is standing, Cora is in the middle holding a baby.  Jesse.  Stooping is Gertrude with an unidentified child.  Alice and Gertrude were the daughters of Nickotie. Cora is the daughter of Maggie Perdue.

This is another of Jesse's daughters.  Cora, Eliza and Susan.  Cora and Eliza were daughters of Maggie Perdue.  Susan was the daguther of Mary Brummett. She was known as Mother Houston.