Richard Mullis (abt. 1695 - aft. 1762)

Born about 1695 in Christ Church Parish, Lancaster, Virginia

Ancestors

Descendants

Died after Oct 1762 after about age 67 in Orange, Virginia [uncertain]

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Biography

Richard Mullis was born in Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County, Virginia Colony in about 1695, Gift-deeded land by his parents in 1702, he did not appear on county Tax Lists until 1712, which occurred after one attained the age of sixteen and lived separately from parents.

Richard named in 1702 land Gift Deed as son of John and Elizabeth Mullis, amended in 1710, Richard now owned 80 acres. In 1734 he sold that land to Dale Carter, in which his wife is recorded only by given name, Elizabeth and, as eldest son, John Mullis co-signed his approval of the sale in accordance with primogeniture law and custom.. That same year, Richard was in Orange Co., VA, where he was joined by his sons John in 1739, and younger son, George, first recorded there in 1741. Richard and sons recorded in Orange thru 1747 (John), 1748 (Richard) and George in adjoining Culpeper Co. (from Orange, 1749) in 1763, and all three were in Orange Co. North Carolina before October, 1762.

He died after Oct.,1762 when he was chain bearer of survey crew in Orange Co. N. C., surveying land his son John was thinking of buying, but did not follow through on., He was then in his early seventies. He may have died in Orange Co. but more probably in Chatham County which was created from Orange in 1771 where his sons John and George were recorded in 1774, George was in Wilkes Co. in 1776/7, and John in Anson Co. by the winter of 1779. If Richard survived into his eighties, he could have been with either son in their respective county when he died.

Richard's children were

1. John Mullis, eldest son, b. circa 1719 (based on his apprenticeship in Lancaster County in 1731). Apprenticeships were generally arranged when boys were 12 years of age). Apprenticed to learn trade of carpentry.
2. George Mullis, b. ca. 1722 approximate date of birth as he was in Orange County, Virginia Court in 1741 regarding a small debt, indicating an age of eighteen.

There is no record that Richard's son John had a middle name of Jackson It is probable that his namesake son, John Mullis b. c. 1760, had the nickname of Jackson. Middle names were very rarely given children prior to 1800, first coming into practice around 1820 in proven Mullis family records. Nicknames are something different, should appear in quotation marks, viz. "Jackson."

Willoughby Mullis is first found in records commencing 1772, selling a cow in Culpeper County, Va. (from Orange Co, 1749): signing as "wilobi mulis." The only Mullis in that county previously was George (b. c. 1722) with a long overdue small debt under £ 3 in Culpeper Co which came to court after George had gone to North Carolina with his father, Richard, to join John. George signed, "garge Mulis" (1768) and Willoughby also signed phonetically: "wilobi mulis." The time, place and signatures strongly suggest that George was Willoughby's father. Willoughby remained in Virginia through his lifetime, father of brides Elizabeth (1785), Polly (1795) and Nancy (1806) Goochland Co. Va., and a probable son James who was born in 1795. Willoughby's family in Virginia and George's descendants in Wilkes Co. N. C. remained in contact over several decades, two James, cousins representing each family were close neighbors in Whitley Co. Kentucky in 1850.

Richard's mother was Elizabeth Edwards Mullis, his wife's name was also Elizabeth, as given in 1734 Lancaster Co., Va. land transfer document by which Richard sold land given him in 1702 Gift Deed by his parents (referenced in that document), her maiden name unknown). Sale of land was agreed to my their eldest son John by his signature. There is no record known of Richard having a wife named Sarah. In 1740 Coply parish Westmoreland Co. Va. Richard and Elizabeth appeared on the rent rolls. Otherwise, Richard and his two sons were in Orange Co. Va. 1738 past mid 1740s.

In 1748 Richard was chain bearer in survey crew for land in Orange Co., Va. which indicates good health, and the last record known of him in Virginia.

In 1762 his eldest son, John, initiated application for a Granville Land Grant in Orange Co., NC on the accompanying land survey plat Richard Mullis was a chain bearer. There is no subsequent record for a Richard Mullis in N. C. after the survey of 1762 (nor was there any Richard Mullis in Virginia records). Consequently, 1762 Richard chain bearer was John's father and not a son.

Most online Mullis Trees show Richard's sons John and George were born in Essex Co., Va. which is TOTALLY INCORRECT--based on un-sourced detail in "History and Genealogy of the Thomas Griffin Family" (1949) which referred Essex Co. Va. much later during the Revolutionary War era. They were born and raised to manhood in Lancaster Va. John was first to go into NC sometime before 1755 and the first Tax List of Orange Co., somewhere in the district which in 1771 became Chatham Co.; his brother George joined him sometime before 1768 (when he signed a petition) . Their neighbors included Griffins and Stewarts. All lived in a part of Orange which became Chatham Co. in 1771, after which their records are Chatham Co. until 1) George's departure for Wilkes Co. near the Tenn. Border by 1775/6 and 2) John Mullis and family into Anson Co. by 1779. "Mullis Branch" was a boundary reference in Orange Co. deeds of 1757 and 1760 and, after Chatham Co. was formed, "Mullis Branch" a boundary reference once again in a Chatham Co. deed. Thus, John Mullis resided in a single place between 1755 and 1777 in Orange>Chatham Co. North Carolina and was never in Essex Co. Va. during that time span. In fact, no Mullis, period, was recorded in Essex Co. Va. between 1700 and 1786.

Research Notes

• 1702 Land Gift Deed issued by parents John and Elizabeth Mullis in Lancaster Co., VA. in which they named and gifted their sons, including Richard.
• 1734 Land transfer sale of land referenced Richard's parents' 1702 Gift Deed, giving wife's name as Elizabeth, document signed by their eldest son, John.
• Richard, sons John and George in Orange Co. Virginia court records between 1734 and 1749.
• Muster rolls of the Chatham Co. Miliitia, Sept. 1772.

Richard was named as son and heir of John and Elizabeth (Edwards) Mullis in their gift deed of 1702 Lancaster, named again in the codicil filed in 1710, he began appearing on Lancaster Tithables Lists in 1712, recorded in land processioning records in 1718 and sporadically thereafter; was in Lancaster Co. court in 1731 consenting that his son John be apprenticed for five years to learn the trade of carpenter, sold his land in Lancaster in 1734 which required signatures of his wife Elizabeth and their oldest son, John. That same year Richard was summoned to Orange Co. court for unpaid debt to James Garton, recorded there again in 1738, John in 1739, and George also there by/before 1741, recorded together with Richard in 1745, John as delinquent in county Tax List of 1747, Richard in 1748 as chain bearer in a survey crew. Last known record for Richard Oct. 1762 Orange Co. N. C. associated with his son John's application for a Granville District Land Grant, which he later abandoned.

Sources

• County court records of Lancaster, Orange and Culpeper counties, Virginia.
• County court records of Orange and Chatham counties, North Carolina, Wilkes and Anson counties after 1775 and 1789, respectively.
• Mullies, Wm. Arthur; Documented History of the English Mullis Surname: 1053-1660; in Colonial America: 1658-1790" (2014).
• Apprenticeship of John with consent of his father, Richard, in Lancaster Co., Va. court of 1731.
• Muster Rolls of Chatham Co. Militia, Sept. 1772: John Mullis, Richard and Thomas Griffin, Jacob Pyburn, and Wm. Stewart. The latter three were sons-in-law of John Mullis.
• Court Records of Lancaster Co. and Orange Co. Virginia, and Granville District Orange Co. grant application to Richard's son John Mullis in Oct.1762 , all three copies of which are in the state archives at Raleigh, One copy to Lord Granville, one to John Mullis, the third to county recorder. Since that did not happen, John did not take up that grant and all three copies are in Raleigh today.