Sherod

 

During my investigation of the family of Elijah C. Townsend of Anson County, North Carolina, who migrated south and west after the Civil War, leaving his daughter, Henrietta Rose Townsend, with her mother's family and then willing his estate to her two young daughters upon his death in Texas, I was left with an unanswered question. Did Elijah's father, Sherwood, (also seen as Sherod) die, leaving his bride, Elizabeth Covington Townsend, a widow, or did he also escape west, an act that his son. Elijah woud emulate?

Elijah's story can be found in this post: Two Little Girls .

Sherod's story begins here. 

In the early deeds of Anson County, North Carolina I discovered this transaction in Book 13, and Page 554, titled;

Elijah Covington to Susan and Belinda Townsend

"This Indenture made this (day excepted) day of August AD 1851 Between Elijah Covington of the first part and Susan and Belinda Townsend of the other part all of the County of Anson and State of North Carolina."

To understand the deed, and its pertinence to the story, first one needs to know who the people mentioned in the deed are and how they related to each other. Elijah Covington (1794-1859), was the father of Elizabeth Covington Townsend and father-in-las of Sherwood Townsend. 'Belinda' Townsend was actually Malinda Townsend Williams (1824-1886) and Susan her sister, daughters of David Townsend and sisters of Sherwood Townsend. Malinda is seen with an "M" in all her other records. There wasn't a "Belinda". 

"Witnesseth that whereas by virtue of a deed of Trust to me executed by Sherwood recorded December 4th, 1843 conveying his undivided interest in the lands of David Townsend, dec'd lying and being in the county aforesaid, and being thereby authorized to sell the said Sherwood Townsends interest in the Lands of the said David Townsend after.....public sale to highest bidder'

David Townsend, father of Sherwood, Susan and Malinda, passed away in July of 1843. On December 4th, 1843, Sherwood had signed his interest in his inheritance of his father's land to his father-in-law, Elijah Covington and Elijah was authorized to sell it. For more context, by 1850, there was no sign of Sherwood or his wife, Elizabeth, in Anson County. The couple had four sons, Elijah C., obviously named for his maternal grandfather, was the eldest, born in 1838.  There was also William Hampton born about 1841, James S. b 1841 and Benjamin, born in 1845. All four fought in the Civil War, only Elijah and William came back alive. Both are mentioned in their Grandfather Elijah Covington's property settlement in lieu of their mother, Elizabeth, who was deceased. It is assumed Elizabeth died shortly after the birth of Benjamin. The boys were raised afterwards by Elijah Covington and his wife, Hannah, his second wife and not Sherwood's mother. As the grandparents grew older, the younger boys stayed with other of their mother's family, her siblings, and especially her single brother, Benjamin Covington. 

The deed goes on to reiterate that Elijah Covington, through the rights endowed to him in the deed of trust, had the right to sell the land and that it was purchased by Sherod's young sisters for $90. Malinda would marry afterwards, but Susan would not, and their shared lands would be split again.

But what about Sherwood? We know of Sherwood from his father's estate records, but don't know the year of his birth from anywhere in Anson County. Elizabeth Covington was the oldest child of Elijah C. Covington and wife, Margaret Bailey. Their second born child was James Melton Covington, who was born in 1817. Serena was third, followed by Elijah Jr., Benjamin D., Margaret, Emmaline, William T., Risdon B., Ann Adeline, Abijah Andrew, John W. and Nancy Hooker Covington. By second wife Hannah Hooker, were born sons Lemeul Hardy and Gaston J. Covington. Elizabeth's year of birth is estimated at 1815, placing two years between she and her brother James, which was average. 

Sherwood and Elizabeth would have four known sons, Elijah C. Townsend, the oldest, was born in 1838 or 1839. This would have placed Elizabeth in her early 20's at his birth. He was followed by James S, William H.and Benjamin F. Benjamin is listed in the census records as 5 in 1850, 15 in 1860 and 18 when he enlisted in the Confederate army in 1863, all giving him a year of birth of 1845. So, Elizabeth was alive at least until his birth. She passed away before 1850, however, all else points to her decease shortly after the birth of Benjamin. So why did Sherwood sign a Deed of Trust over to his father-in-law in 1843, before the birth of all of his children?

Name	Elija Covington
Gender	Male
Marital Status	Married
Estimated Birth Year	abt 1794
Birth Place	North Carolina, USA
Age	65
Death Date	Sep 1859
Cause of Death	Typhoid Fever
Census year	1860
Census Place	Anson, North Carolina, USA
Line	12

Elijah C. Covington died of Thyphoid Fever in 1859. The grandsons he had custody of were either old enough to be on their own at that time, or were living with other family members. Fifteen year old Benjamin was living with the newly married Daniel and Margaret Covington Gatewood, his aunt and her husband.

Name	William Townsend
Age	19
Birth Year	abt 1841
Gender	Male
Race	White
Birth Place	North Carolina
Home in 1860	Smiths, Anson, North Carolina
Post Office	Wadesboro
Dwelling Number	875
Family Number	838
Personal Estate Value	600

Household members

Name	Age
Benjamin Covington	35
Risden Covington	26
James Townsend	21
William Townsend	19
Lavinia Covington	35
Benjamin Covington	5

James and William were living with their uncles Benjamin and Risden. Risden had married and began his own family by then. Elijah was 21 and working as a Farm Laborer for the Winfree family. 

But back to Sherwood, again, we know he was alive in 1843, when he assigned the Deed of Trust to Elijah Covington. He was necessarily alive in 1845, for the birth of his son, Benjamin, but he was at least alive 9 to 10 months prior to that. 

Sherwood or Sherod Townsend was the son of David and Tabitha Thomas Townsend.  David signed his Will on July 15, 1816. It was proved in July Sessions of Court in 1843. One of his two executors, Benjamin Williams, would go on to marry his youngest daughter, Malinda, afterwards.  Sherwood had siblings Naomi, Solomon R., David Jr., Richmond, Gilbert, Alice Charity, Hampton or Hamilton (seen both ways), and of course, Susannah (Susan) and Malinda (Belinda). Sherod (Sherwood) is thought to have been the youngest son. All of these siblings were born and mentioned in the Will, so before July 15, 1816, even though Malinda is shown in records with a birth year several years younger. She was young enough to have given birth to a child in 1864. One thing I've discovered while doing genealogy, women have been lying about their age for a very long time. 

Above is from a paragraph on David in a Townsend family history. 

David last shows up in census records in 1820, as a father of 12, he and his wife both over 45. He was also a slave owner, with one adult female and four chldren in his home. He had two sons under 10, one of them would have been Sherwood. 

Name	David Townend
Enumeration Date	7 Aug 1820
Home in 1820 (City, County, State)	Mays, Anson, North Carolina, USA
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10	2
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15	1
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 18	1
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25	3
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over	1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10	1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15	2
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25	1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over	1
Slaves - Males - Under 14	3
Slaves - Females - Under 14	1
Slaves - Females - 26 thru 44	1
Number of Persons - Engaged in Agriculture	6
Free White Persons - Under 16	6
Free White Persons - Over 25	2
Total Free White Persons	12
Total Slaves	5
Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other	17

By 1830, only son Solomon R. Townsend, who will later be found in Richmond County, NC, is found in Anson. Where was Sherwood at this time? Who could he have been living with? 

Name	Solomon Townsend
Home in 1830 (City, County, State)	Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5	1
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39	1
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19	1
Slaves - Males - Under 10	1
Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23	1
Slaves - Females - Under 10	2
Slaves - Females - 10 thru 23	1
Free White Persons - Under 20	2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49	1
Total Free White Persons	3
Total Slaves	5
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored)	8

Solomon, in his thirties appears to have had a wife still in her teens and a young son. He, like his father, was also a slave holder, having a total of 5 persons in his household enslaved. These seem to have been the same five people his father listed a decade earlier. 

Name	S C Townsend
Home in 1840 (City, County, State)	Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5	2
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29	1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29	1
Free Colored Persons - Females - 24 thru 35	1
Slaves - Females - Under 10	1
Persons Employed in Agriculture	4
No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write	2
Free White Persons - Under 20	2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49	2
Total Free White Persons	4
Total Free Colored Persons	1
Total Slaves	1
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves	6

Sherwood C. Townsend shows up 10 years later in 1840. He is in his 20's, as is Elizabeth. He has two sons under five, which would have been Elijah and James. A free female of color lives in his household, a young woman, between 24 and 35. An enslaved little girl, a child under ten, lives with them as well. I wonder who they were?

In this version, one can see he is living near Benjamin Williams, one of his father's executors, and a "Matilda" Townsend. I now believe this was Malinda Townsend. Bailey's, a family name, also lives near him, and Rueben and William Hildreth. This helps place the general area in which they lived.

We know by 1850, Elizabeth is deceased and her sons are either working as teens or living with her family.

Where is Sherod? There is a theory circulating online

Name	Sherod Tawnsend
Gender	Male
Race	White
Age	26
Birth Year	abt 1824
Birthplace	North Carolina
Home in 1850	Peach Creek, Gonzales, Texas, USA
Line Number	37
Dwelling Number	17
Family Number	17
Inferred Spouse	Martha Tawnsend

Household members

Name	Age
Sherod Tawnsend	26
Martha Tawnsend	19
Arabella S Tawnsend	7

Sherod Townsend from North Carolina, is living in Peach Creek, Gonzalez County, Texas. This is a lowland, flat, but green area, not so different from his North Carolina home, except minus the rolling hills.

He's living with Martha, 19, and Arabella, 7. Right off the bat, it appears that Martha is too young to have been Arabella's mother, and correctly so, because it appears that at the time of the 1850 census, Sherod and Martha had been married less than a year.

Name	Martha A. Stevens
Gender	Female
Marriage Date	12 Sep 1849
Marriage Place	Carroll, Mississippi, USA
Spouse	Tounsend Townsend

They married on September 12, 1849 in Carroll County, Mississippi. The documents of Martha's future children would show that she was indeed Martha A. Stevens. The actual document also says "Sherwood Townsend" not Townsend Townsend. 

Name	Sherod Tawnsend
Residence Date	1850
Residence Place	Peach Creek, Gonzales, Texas, USA
Number of Enslaved People	1
Role	Slave Owner
All Enslaved People	All Enslaved People Name Sherod Tawnsend

The 1850 census also indicates that Sherwood Townsend had one enslaved person in his home. Was this the child from the 1840 census now grown?

Name	Sherod Townsend
Event Year	1851
Event Place	Dewitt County, Texas, United States
FHL Film Number	002282170

Just one year later, he is taxed in DeWitt County, Texas, which borders Gonzalez.

Name	S Townsend
Age	36
Birth Year	abt 1824
Gender	Male
Race	White
Birth Place	North Carolina
Home in 1860	Division, Hill, Texas
Post Office	Greenwades Mills
Dwelling Number	216
Family Number	203
Occupation	Credit Man
Personal Estate Value	600
Inferred Spouse	Martha Townsend
Inferred Child	Sherad H Townsend; Susan Townsend; Frances Townsend; Theadore Townsend

Household members

Name	Age
S Townsend	36
Martha Townsend	27
Sherad H Townsend	7
Susan Townsend	5
Frances Townsend
Theadore Townsend	1

By 1860, the family had added four more children, Sherod H. 7, Susan 5, Frances 3, and Theodore, 1. There is no more Arabella, possibly the girl was a victime to any number of maladies that struck children at that time. Sherod is working as a "Credit Man", or a lendor, or someone who investigated credit-worthiness for a lender. In an area under high-growth, this was a valued white collar career. 

Hill County is shown above in the white area. While not bordering Gonzalez, it was not too far west of it. 

Always on the move, 'Sherwood' was enumerated for taxes in Bosque County, Texas in 1868. There are no War records for Sherod or Sherwood Townsend, despite the fact the the Civil War had raged in between these two dates.

Also in 1868, Sherold took an Oath as Sheriff. This may have been the reason he did not get swept up in the War.

Name	Sherod Townsend
Age in 1870	47
Birth Date	abt 1823
Birthplace	North Carolina
Dwelling Number	16
Home in 1870	Precinct 4, Hill, Texas
Race	White
Gender	Male
Post Office	Hillsboro
Occupation	House Carpenter
Male Citizen Over 21	Yes
Inferred Spouse	Martha Townsend
Inferred Children	Hensley Townsend; Louisa Townsend; Frances Townsend; Eudora Townsend; James Townsend; John Townsend; Alick Townsend

Household members

Name	Age
Sherod Townsend	47
Martha Townsend	38
Hensley Townsend	17
Louisa Townsend	15
Frances Townsend	13
Eudora Townsend	11
James Townsend	9
John Townsend	7
Alick Townsend	3

By 1870, three more children had joined the family, James, John and Alick. 'Hensely' is the age Sherod H. would be, Louisa the same age as Susan, Frances, then 3, now 13, didn't change, and Theodore is now Eudora. As Theodore in 1860 was a one year old female, Theodore was always Eudora. Sherod is now a House Carpenter, and still on the move.

Next up is Hamilton County, that borders Bosque, where he was Sheriff in the 1860's.

Name	Sherod Townsend
Age	56
Birth Date	Abt 1824
Birthplace	North Carolina
Home in 1880	Precint 4, Hamilton, Texas, USA
Dwelling Number	134
Race	White
Gender	Male
Relation to Head of House	Self (Head)
Marital Status	Married
Spouse's Name	Martha A. Townsend
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace	North Carolina
Occupation	Farmer
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
Sherod Townsend	56
Martha A. Townsend	48
James Townsend	18
John H. Townsend	14
Martha J. Townsend	7
Emily Townsend	24
Louisa Andrews	24
Martha J. Andrews	2
Jefferson Andrews	1

He and Martha's last and final child, Martha Jr., has been born. Emily is a daughter-in-law and Louisa is their daughter, Susan Louisa Townsend Andrews and her two children.

Sherod Townsend died on August 12, 1890 in Bosque County, Texas. He was buried in Hamilton County, Texas. Martha outlived him by nearly three decades, joining him in rest in 1919.

They were the parents of: Sherod Hensley Townsend, Susan Louisa T. Gilbreath, Frances Melissa Thompson, Eudora Townsend, James Eli Townsend, John Henry Townsend, William Alexander Townsend, Thomas Green Townsend, and Martha Jane Anderson. Some of their children died as minors. Thomas never appeared in  census, but is noted in the cemetery.

James Eli Townsend

These North Carolina Townsends became part of the Texas milieu. Was this the same Sherod? Was Arabella the daughter of Elizabeth Covington Townsend? She was two years older than Benjamin, the youngest son. If so, why did he take his daughter and leave his sons? Perhaps one day, DNA can solve this mystery.

Rollie and Vollie; Twins in the Family

I ended my last post with a mystery still dangling like meat off of a broken bone. I can't do that. 

Ellis D. Gaddy and wife Martha Caudle Gaddy were the parents of four children, two sons and a set of twin girls named Carrie and Annie, described as having been beautiful and well-educated by the newspapers. 

Ellis and Martha were both born in Anson County, NC and married there about 1863. The family would later end up in Cleveland County, Arkansas. Ellis died sometime between 1890 and 1896, as he was alive when his son Frank married, but deceased by the time Carrie married. Martha lived on in Risen, Arkansas until 1922. 

Twin sisters, Carrie and Annie were born October 26, 1977. Annie because a school teacher, then married well at 35, to a prosperous local business man. She had a daughter, and raised another, a grand-niece of her husband, as her own, and lived to be an octogenarian. Her twin sister Carrie was not so lucky. She married, and even became a mother, but did both at an early age and lived a much shorter life than her sister.

The mystery comes in as to how many children did Carrie have? It seems that the Mullis family tree, the one she married into, became a little muddled.

Carrie Gaddy married Henry W. Mullis on January 15, 1896 in the village of Clio, Cleveland County, Arkansas.  That's a fact. She was a blushing young bride of 18, and Henry was 19. 

Carrie shows up in one census as a married woman, the 1900. The young couple had a number of boarders, including a cousin of Henry's, and a young son named Guy, with a birth year given as 1896, the year they married.

Carrie passed away on March 15, 1901, just a year after this census. She was 23 years old. We don't know what the cause of death was. It didn't make the papers and death certificates had not yet gotten into popular use. There were any number of ailments that could have taken the life of a healthy young woman at the time, influenza, Thyphoid, pneumonia. She may have even suffered with another, and this time deadly, pregnancy. The medical field was still very primitive and not easily accessible.

She was buried at the Mount Zion Cemetery in Rison. Find-a-Grave, the source of her date of death, connected her to the cemetery profile of her mother, her husband, who outlived her for quite awhile, and to a child named Vollie Roderick Mullis. Who dat?

Carrie was seen in her only census as the mother of one son, Guy. The only way to untangle this mystery was to look closer into the tenebrous future of the Mullis family and what may have fell her widower, Henry.

My next step was to find where Guy, who would be about 12 or 13, was in 1910, supposedly with his father and his father's new family if he remarried. This is where I found him.

Name	Guy R Mullis
Age in 1910	13
Birth Date	1897
Birthplace	Arkansas
Home in 1910	Justice Precinct 2, Hall, Texas, USA
Sheet Number	18b
Race	White
Gender	Male
Relation to Head of House	Son
Marital Status	Single
Father's Name	Henry R Mullis
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Name	Mattie C Mullis
Mother's Birthplace	Georgia
Native Tongue	English
Occupation	Farm Laborer
Industry	Home Farm
Employer, Employee or Other	Wage Earner
Attended School	Y
Able to read	Y
Able to Write	Y
Enumeration District Number	0125
Out of Work	N
Number of Weeks Out of Work	0
Enumerated Year	1910
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
Henry R Mullis	59
Mattie C Mullis	52
Ura E Mullis	28
Moscoe I Mullis	22
Roy W Mullis	18
Guy R Mullis	13
Vollie R Mullis	13

Guy is 13, living in Hall County, Texas, and there is Vollie, also 13. There's Henry, with a Mattie C. Mullis, but who are Ura, Moscoe and Roy? Henry really wasn't old enough to have had older children of that age. Wait a minute, Henry wasn't that old. This wasn't Henry Walton/ Walton Mullis, this was his father, Henry Ruffin Mullis, and Mattie McLeod Mullis, his mother, and his three youngest siblings, Zera, Moscow and Roy. Guy and Vollie, the two 13 year old boys, are claimed by Henry and Mattie as sons, and truly, they could as Mattie was only 39 when they were born, but we know Guy was Carrie's son and living with her in 1900. Had Carrie and her mother-in-law been pregnant at the same time? And, where was Henry the younger?

Name	Henry W Mullis
Age in 1910	34
Birth Date	1876
Birthplace	Arkansas
Home in 1910	McLean, Gray, Texas, USA
Sheet Number	22a
Race	White
Gender	Male
Relation to Head of House	Head
Marital Status	Married
Spouse's Name	Theodocia Mullis
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace	Georgia
Native Tongue	English
Occupation	Postmaster
Employer, Employee or Other	Wage Earner
Home Owned or Rented	Own
Home Free or Mortgaged	Mortgaged
Farm or House	House
Able to read	Y
Able to Write	Y
Enumeration District Number	0114
Years Married	6
Enumerated Year	1910
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
Henry W Mullis	34
Theodocia Mullis	37
Clifford Bryant	19

Henry W. Mullis had also moved to Texas, and was living in Gray County, Texas, where he was a Postmaster. He had remarried 6 years prior to Theodocia, who was 3 years his senior, and she had never had children. Clifford Bryant was simply a boarder. He was also the Assistant Post Master and had been a Boy Scout who was awarded a medal for a heroic deed. 

Texas is a big place with many counties, so how close were Gray and Hall Counties? Had Henry W. traveled with his parents? Hall sits at the base of the panhandle.

Gray County sits a little further up the panhandle, doesn't border Hall, but wasn't far. It's a very flat area.

What brought the Mullis family there? A quick look at the Mullis family finds that Henry Ruffin Morris was born in 1851 in Union County, NC, the son of Henry (No Middle Name) Morris and Ester Ross Mullis. The Mullis family were close in proximity to the Gaddy and Caudle families of Carrie's family and may have even known them. This is another example of how they would move hundreds of miles just to marry within the same old circle of people! His wife Mattie McLeod, however, was born in Georgia and grew up in Arkansas. Her family was an example of those riding the mudslide south. 

In 1920, Henry Ruffin and Mattie were still in Hall County, Texas, and alone. Henry died there in 1922 and Mattie in 1925.

She had pancreas cancer. He had angina.

Where were the rest of the family in 1920? The oldest child under Henry III was a daughter named Lillian Genevieve Mullis who was born in 1879 in Arkansas, and would grow up to marry Taylor Morris Faulkenberry. The Faulkenberry family would settle in Hale County, Texas, Hale, not Hall. Taylor was, like Henry III, a postmaster, and when he died, Lillian took over. They had four children; Frank, Kent, Zerah and Ruth.

Name	Lillian G Fortenberry
Age	38
Birth Year	abt 1882
Birthplace	Arkansas
Home in 1920	Justice Precinct 4, Hale, Texas
Street	Number 55
Residence Date	1920
Race	White
Gender	Female
Relation to Head of House	Wife
Marital Status	Married
Spouse's Name	Taylor W Fortenberry
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace	Georgia
Able to Speak English	Yes
Able to read	Yes
Able to Write	Yes
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
Taylor W Fortenberry	45
Lillian G Fortenberry	38
Frank R Fortenberry	13
Kent J Fortenberry	9
Zera E Fortenberry	8
Ruth M Fortenberry	6
Moscoe A Mullis	31

In 1920, the family is in Hale County, and her brother, Moscoe, is living with them.

Lillian made the history books as the first female Postmistress in the area. Notice in the above 1967 Obituary that she was survived by two brothers, R. W. of San Jose and V. R. of Amarillo.

Henry Ruffin and Mattie's other daughter, Zera Evelyn Mullis, would marry a Homer P. Smith in 1911 in Collins, Texas. They would move to Union County, New Mexico, which is where she would be found in 1920, and raised their large family of Smiths there. She died in 1964 in New Mexico.

We know Moscow was living with Lillian, so that leaves Roy Weaver Mullis. He's not found in 1920, neither is Guy,and neither is Henry Walter Mullis, Guy's father.

Vollie Roderrick Mullis is found in 1920, livng in the same County in Texas as Henry Sr. and Mattie. He married in 1916, to Velma May Robertson. 

The Mullis Slide

Going back a few generations to the first Henry Mullis, father of Henry Ruffin Mullis, the Mullis slide from North Carolina to Arkansas to Oklahoma, Texas and eventually New Mexico, wasn't just the trail of Henry Ruffin's descendants. They were not alone. Henry and Esther Ross Mullis are found in Union County, NC in 1850, but had moved to  Dallas Couny, Akrnasas by 1858. Their large family of 19 children spread out acorss Arkansas, Texas and some on to New Mexico.

Ross Family Story

Henry MULLIS was born in 1813 in Anson Co. NC.287 He was living in 1858 in Dallas Co. AR.287 According to the Monroe Enquirer, Henry Mullis moved his family to Dallas County, Ark in 1858. There he reared 19 children and died on his farm in 1867. He appeared in the census in 1860 in White Oak Township, Jefferson Co. AR.1059 Henry Mullis was living next door to Alex Polk, born NC. With Henry, age 45, were Esther, 41 b NC; James P., 20, b NC; Eli H. 19, John M. 18, Ellen J. 17, Sarah A. M. 15, Caroline 14, Dugal R. 13, Martha G. 11, Mary M. 10; Henry G.R. 9, Sandra C. 6 Lydia A. 5,; Ashley B. (male) 3 NC; Irwin A. 2, AR; Esther A. 3 mos. AR. He owned Cleveland Co. AR on 1 Apr 1861 in Cleveland Co. AR.1060 A Henry Mulis obtained 157.22 acres in Section 7, 8S, 11W in Cleveland Co. AR (adjacent to Dallas Co.) in 1861. In 1882, Dugal R. Mullis obtained 160 acres in Section 6, 8S, 11W. John Mullis obtained 40 acres in 1869 in Section 12. Cary Tolson obtained several plats in Sections 2, 3, 32, and 33, 10S, 12W in 1860 and 1861. He died in 1867 in Dallas Co. AR. Reared 19 children per the Monroe Enquirer, October 23, 1958. The same article had his father listed as Thomas Ross Mullis. Parents: Charles MULLIS and Rebecca CAUDLE.

 

Spouse: Ester ROSS. Henry MULLIS and Ester ROSS were married in Anson Co. NC.421 According to Goodspeed, the family had 19 children, and D.R. was the 8th. At the time the article was written, there were 5 sons and 4 daughters living. The 3 eldest sons served in the Confederate army and one son was killed.

.

Roy W. Mullis shows back up in 1930, this time, he is married to his first wife, living with Vollie 

.

Name	Voolie Mullis
Birth Year	abt 1898
Gender	Male
Race	White
Age in 1930	32
Birthplace	Arkansas
Marital Status	Married
Relation to Head of House	Head
Home in 1930	Albuquerque, Bernalillo, New Mexico, USA
Map of Home	Albuquerque,Bernalillo,New Mexico
Street Address	North 11th St
House Number	924
Dwelling Number	240
Family Number	259
Home Owned or Rented	Rented
Home Value	35
Radio Set	No
Lives on Farm	No
Age at First Marriage	21
Attended School	No
Able to Read and Write	Yes
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace	Arkansas
Able to Speak English	Yes
Occupation	Brakman
Industry	Steam Railroad
Class of Worker	Wage or salary worker
Employment	Yes
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
Voolie Mullis	32
Velma Mullis	31
Roderick Mullis	12
Mildred Mullis	9
John D Mullis	2
Roy W Mullis	38
Waldene Mullis	34
Roy W Mullis	12
Thomas W Mullis	10

He was  working as astockraiser, and may have been in the cattle business. Vollie was working as a brakeman on the railroad., a thriving business at this time.

Guy Raleigh Mullis

The name Raleigh is seen is various records as 'Rollie', "Raweligh' and various phonetic spellings. I'll stick with the spelling 'Raleigh', the state capitol of North Carolina, as that seems to be the corrct one. He is found in the 1930 census, after missing the 1920, in which I feel he may have been living with Henry Walter Mullis, his father. 

Name	Raliegh G Mullis
Birth Year	abt 1897
Gender	Male
Race	White
Age in 1930	33
Birthplace	Arkansas
Marital Status	Married
Relation to Head of House	Head
Home in 1930	Precinct 1, Briscoe, Texas, USA
Map of Home	Precinct 1,Briscoe,Texas
Dwelling Number	192
Family Number	192
Home Owned or Rented	Rented
Radio Set	Yes
Lives on Farm	Yes
Age at First Marriage	19
Attended School	No
Able to Read and Write	Yes
Father's Birthplace	Arkansas
Mother's Birthplace	Arkansas
Able to Speak English	Yes
Occupation	Farmer
Industry	General Farming
Class of Worker	Working on own account
Employment	Yes
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
Raliegh G Mullis	33
Mittie P Mullis	34
Bernalle M Mullis	13
Omalee F Mullis	10
Jefferson C Durham	22

He's living with his brother-in-law, Jefferson, and farming in Briscoe, Texas. Guy married Mittie Pearl Durham, and they had two daughters, Bernell and Omalee. In 1931, they would have a son, who died as an infant.

Henry Walton Mullis aka "Walter"

Following various records of Henry's travels, like his draft card and City Directories, he had moved from  Hall County, Texas in 1918 to Wichita Falls in 1927, to Hall County again in 1930, where he and Theadosia are farming, to Clovis, Curry County, New Mexico by 1935, and there he remained.

Name	Henry Walter Mullis
Race	White
Birth Date	11 Feb 1876
Residence Date	1917-1918
Residence Place	Hall County, Texas, USA
Physical Build	Stout
Height	Medium
Hair Color	Gray
Eye Color	Blue
Relative	Theodocia Mulis

Henry shows up in the last census in 1940, which gives us a small insight into his life and career.

Name	Henry Mullis
Respondent	Yes
Age	64
Estimated Birth Year	abt 1876
Gender	Male
Race	White
Birthplace	Arkansas
Marital Status	Married
Relation to Head of House	Head
Home in 1940	Clovis, Curry, New Mexico
	Clovis,Curry,New Mexico
Farm	YES
Inferred Residence in 1935	Clovis, Curry, New Mexico
Residence in 1935	Clovis
Resident on farm in 1935	Yes
Sheet Number	4B
Number of Household in Order of Visitation	79
Occupation	Proteur Leaser
House Owned or Rented	Rented
	15
Attended School or College	No
Highest Grade Completed	College, 2nd year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census	40
Class of Worker	Working on own account
Weeks Worked in 1939	52
Income Other Sources	Yes
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
Henry Mullis	64
Theo Docia Mullis	68

Described, as you see above as stocky or stoutly built, with gray hair and blue eyes, Henry was last working as a Pasture Leaser, of cattle. He rented a house, worked 40 hours a week and had 2 years of College, which was not common at this time. His wife was a stay at home wife, and they lived next to a jeweler.

Henry W. Gaddy passedaway on April 27,1947 in Clovis, he was 71.

Name	Henry Walter Mullis
Gender	Male
Birth Date	11 Feb 1876
Birth Place	Cleveland County, Arkansas, United States of America
Death Date	27 Apr 1947
Death Place	Clovis, Curry County, New Mexico, United States of America
Cemetery	Mission Garden of Memories Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place	Clovis, Curry County, New Mexico, United States of America
Has Bio?	N
Father	Henry Ruffin Mullis
Mother	Mattie C Mullis
Spouse	Theodocia Mullis; Carry Mullis
Children	Vollie Roderick Mullis

Theadosia, his second wife, followed him to the grave four years later, in 1951, and was buried beside him. She was 79. Find-A-Grave has Vollie Roderick Mullis linked to Henry as his son, but was he?

The Life of Raleigh

Guy Raleigh Mullis had a birth certificate

He applied for it himself on August 21, 1943 in Curry County, New Mexico. This was just a few years before Henry's death. He gave his birthplace as Kedyon, Arkansas and his birth date as August 23, 1897, so he was approaching his 47th birthday. He named his father as Henry Walter Mullis, born in Cleveland County, Arkansas and his mother as Carrie Gaddy, born in North Carolina. He stated his parents were 21 and 20, respectively, at his time of birth. His father, Henry, signed and swore as witness to the information, naming himself as father and giving his age as 67.

Guy R. Mullis and wife Mittie Pearl Mullis

We'd last saw Guy in 1930 in Briscoe County, Texas. Records show him and his small family in the town of Silverton, in Briscoe in 1935, but by 1940, they had joined Henry in Clovis, New Mexico. This is the only time, besides as a toddler in 1900, that we find Guy and Henry near each other. In 1940, Guy and Mittie are empty nesters in Clovis. Bernalee was 22, married to Don Woods and living near them in Clovis. Omalee was 20, had married Richard Lowry, and was already the mother of two tiny girls. They had remained in Briscoe, Texas.

Their mother, died, that year. Shortly after the census, on August 2, 1940, Mittie Durham Mullis died at age 44. 

Nothing gave clue for the cause of her early departure, only that she 'died at home '. Her body was returned to Hall County, Texas,  for burial.

Guy would continue west to California, where he would meet and marry a young widow, Esther Smiley Howe, who had two young daughters, Eleanor and Carol, whom he would help raise. Guy would remain in Santa Clara, California the remainder of his life, passing on February 9, 1968. His widow, Esther, lived another three decades and died in 1999. The Mullis family slide had moved from North Carolina to Arkansas through Texas to New Mexico and lastly to California in three generations.

Vollie Roderick Mullis

We'd last seen Vollie in 1930, after marrying Velma May Robertson in 1916, and living in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Ray Mullis and his family.

Like both Guy and Henry, Vollie is found in Clovis, Curry, New Mexico in 1940. He remained there until at least 1945, then moved to Amarillo, Texas by 1950. Vollie worked for the railroad, like Guy. He was working for the Kansas, Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway for awhile and received a US Railroad Retirement pension. 

Vollie Roderick Mullis and wife Velma had three children, Roderick Leo, Mildred Fay and John D. Mullis. Vollie died on February 25, 1969 in Burnet County, Texas.  His wife lived another three decades and died in 1997. 

Guy 'Rollie' and Vollie Roderick Mullis had a lot in common. Both worked for the Railway, grew up together, the same age, lived in the same places at times. Both died in February, but a year apart. Their names certainly just twins, the rhyming, the 'R's'.  But there were some things they didn't have in common.

Vollie's WWII draft registration gave his description as being of medium height, brown hair and blue eyes, like Guy, but while Guy was stout, Vollie was slim.

He also had a death certificate. Vollie died of Acute Myocardial Infarction. His date of birth was September 25, 1896. He was a retired Railroad Conductor. He was born in Arkansas to H. R. Mullis and Mattie McCloud.

Vollie also had a birth certificate. He filed for it on December 12, 1958 in Hale County, Texas. He stated he was born in Rison, Cleveland County, Texas. He claimed his parents were Henry Ruff Mullis from North Carolina and Mattie C. McLeod from Georgia. The witness to this event and document was Lillian Fortenberry, aged 77, relationship sister.

Lillian was in her late teens when Vollie was born.

In conclusion, Find-a-Grave has it wrong. Carrie and her mother in-law, Mattie, were pregnant at the same time, one 19, one 20. Both had sons, one in August, the other in September. Carrie died young. Henry W. Mullis left his infant son with his parents. His mother, having just had a boy of her own was better equipped to care for an toddler in 1896 than a young, traveling man. 

Guy and Vollie were not twins, though they may have been raised as such. They were Uncle and Nephew. It happens. My granddaughter has an aunt on her father's side who was two when she was born. They attend the same school, two grades apart and there is a family resemblance and they have the same surname. The staff thinks they are sisters.