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.