John Mullis (abt. 1640 - bef. 1723)

Born about 1640 in Michaelstow, Cornwall, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 1723 before about age 83 in Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County, Colony of Virginia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Arthur Mullies [send private message]

Biography

John Mullis was born in about 1640 in Cornwall County, England. He was the first documented MULLIS to arive in colonial America by or before 1658 as one of ten individuals whose Head Right Grant of 50 acres each was claimed by Thomas Brereton. 16th & 17th century Parish Registers in England provide a strong clue as to John's origins. In CORNWALL COUNTY a Mullis family in neighboring parishes of Michaelstow and Altarnun had been using the names of STEPHEN, JOHN, RICHARD, and GEORGE for succeeding generations well before John Mullis went to Virginia in 1658, the very names he gave his sons born in Virginia. This was the only Mullis family ANYWHERE in Europe which had this given-name tradition prior to 1658. The Mullies spelling was used interchangeably with Mulles, Mullys and Mullis in this family since 1585.

By 1676 John was settled in Christ Church Parish in Lancaster Co. , farming land near the confluence of the Rappahannock and Corotoman Rivers four miles from Chesapeake Bay. This land was the 450 acres which his wife Elizabeth inherited from her father John Edwards in 1685. John and Elizabeth had seven (7) children all of whom were born and raised to manhood in Christ Church Parish, Lancaster Co., Va. (NOT ESSEX CO. AS ERRONEOUSLY REPORTED IN THOMAS GRIFFIN FAMILY HISTORY (1949) and incorrectly passed on by family researchers since 1956). These children were identified in 1702 Land Gift Deed as follows, with birth years deduced from Tax Lists.

1. Stephen Mullis born ca. 1685 died: 1713; One son: Stephen Mullis who married Dorothy Chilton died (1761) childless according to his Lancaster Co. Will of 1760.

2-3. John Mullis and George Mullis, b. late 1680s, were both deceased by 1710, resulting in amended Gift Deed of that year; neither was married and left no heirs.

4. Abigail (Mullis) Rhodes, daughter, married John Rhodes, with daughter Elizabeth.

5. Elizabeth (Mullis) Curtis, daughter, married Richard Curtis, son John Curtis by 1710 who in 1723 was on lands of grandfather, John Mullis, deceased sometime after last appearance on 1720 Tax List.

6. Mary, mentioned in 1702 Gift Deed, nothing further given about her and likely also deceased by 1710.

7. Richard Mullis born: ca.1690-95 in Lancaster Co., VA died after 1762, married Elizabeth (maiden name is not recorded). Richard was the only son of immigrant John and wife Elizabeth whose two sons survived to continue the surname, both born in Christ Church Parish: John, b. ca. 1719, m.. Margaret Brumbelow (part Cherokee) in Orange>Chatham Co., N. C. in Anson Co. N. C. by/before 1779, and George b. ca. 1722, married Sarah (maiden name unknown) in Chatham Co., N. C 1774. and settled in Wilkes Co. by 1776/7.

John married Elizabeth Edwards sometime prior to 1685 in Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County, Virginia. He died in Christ Church Parish after1720 (the last year he was on the county tax list), and 1723, the year inheriting grandson John Curtis was in possession of lands bequeathed him by John and Elizabeth in 1710. The registry for Christ Church Parish for years spanning John and grandchildrens' lifetimes has been lost, which would have provided specific dates for his family's biography.

Research Notes

In 1958 an article by Mable Mullis Mathews in the MONROE INQUIRER of Union Co., N. C. cited a Swiss correspondent who claimed "all Mullises everywhere originated in Flums, Switzerland," without any supportive documentation. Since then, Arthur Mullies has established there was an older English Mullis family in Devonshire and Cornwall Co., England whose origin was two Norman knights at Hastings in 1066 who were from Meulles (phonetic Latin: Molis, in legal records of their descendants through mid seventeenth century in Devonshire and Cornwall County). As of 1700, 95% of all immigrants arriving in Virginia colony were English; few Swiss immigrants in Virginia during 1600s with the first proven Swiss Mullis recorded in America ca. 1837 in Illinois, named Conrad.

Many Scots-Irish settled in North Carolina in the 1700s, but none were surnamed Mullis (No Mullis in Scotland, Ireland or Northern Ireland until 1800s). Despite this fact, Scots-Irish origins are claimed by many Mullis families. These are examples of maternal- family lines overlying paternal lines. There were two Mullis marriages in Wilkes Co., N. C.: Wm. Hendren (Sarah, in 1788) and Francis Denney ( John, in 1810), both of which were Scots-Irish families. Recent analysis of 1790 Census surnames in North Carolina reveals two-thirds of them were English, originating in Virginia as was the case with the Mullis family.

John Mullis was born about 1640-1644 for an age corresponding to his arrival in VA. before 8 June, 1658 (Land Grant issued to Thos. Brereton). He was on annual Tithables (Tax) Lists of Christ Church Parish in Lancaster Co., Va., from 1676 through 1720, deceased by 1723 when his grandson John Curtis was in possession of land his grandparents granted him in 1710 to take effect only after their demise. He married Elizabeth Edwards, daughter of John Edwards, cooper, and she inherited 450 acres of land in her father's estate in 1685. John was literate, signing his name to "Instructions to our Burgesses" in 1677, served in the county militia in 1685, and in late 1690s gifted cows to his children. IN 1702 he and wife gifted their four sons about 70 acres each--Stephen, John, George and Richard--increased to 80 acres in 1710 following the deaths of sons John and George. In 1708 John Mullis Sr. & Jr. both challenged the fines assessed them for failure to attend Anglican services as prescribed by law, successfully pleading the Act Excusing Dissenters (aks The Toleration Act of 1689), and the fines were dismissed. Eldest son, Stephen, also appeared in court that day on the same charge but did not challenge, agreeing to pay the designated fine of 5 shillings or 50 lbs. of tobacco. John's church affiliation is unknown, but since 1685 a Presbyterian pastor named Andrew Jackson had officiated at Christ Church, as Anglican pastors were far and few between and Presbyterian pastors were deemed acceptable substitutes by authorities. Perhaps John Sr. and Jr. claimed in court that they were of that denomination. The court record is silent on how they applied the Act, which specified one had to belong to a Christian denomination--excepting Catholics and Quakers.

Sources

• Source: Wm. A. Mullies, A Documentary History of the English Mullis Surname: 1053 - 1660; Colonial America: 1658 - 1790 (2014)
• Source: The Monroe Enquirer, Oct 23, 1958, and MULLIS MELANGE (1989) perpetuated the erroneous Flums, Switzerland origin of the Mullis family.
• Source: This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was, Note: Data: Text: sncestry.com, APID: 1030
• Source: The Family of Ernest DeWitt Mullis and Elizabeth Hanna Mullis, as compiled by their daughter, Ethel Geraldine Mullis Allen, 2001, accessed Jan 3, 2017.
• Source: Parish registers for Michaelstow and Altarnun parishes in Cornwall Co., England. 1658 headright grant issued to Thos. Brereton in Va. naming John Mullis as one of ten transported persons; Lancaster Tax Lists 1676-1720; land partition agreement between John and wife Elizabeth and other heirs of John Edwards, 1658 Lancaster Co., Va. Land and other records of John and family through 1723.
• Source: Land Patent issued Thos. Brereton June 1658 lists John Mullis with nine others which grantee claimed he had paid transportation costs to Virginia.
• Source: Last Lancaster County, Virginia Tax list which give names, 1720, until ca. 1740 when names were again listed.
• Source: ca. 1722/3 : John Mullis's grandson John Curtis in possession of lands his grandfather had gift-deeded him in 1710 subject to grantor's decease; thus, original grantor, John, died between 1720 and 1723.
• Source: Name on headright grant 8 June 1658 issued to Thos. Brereton in Virginia, subsequent records in Lancaster Co., Va. from 1676 thru 1720.
• Co. tax list, land processioning records of Lancaster Co., Va.
• Parishes in Virginia

Virginia Head Right Grants, 1658. Lancaster Co. Va. Tax Lists, 1676-1720. Lancaster Co., Va. Land Processioning Rolls, 1714, 1718, and 1723, in which boundary lines between owners were confirmed by owners themselves. Lancaster Co., Va. Deeds.