The Story Of William Madison Mullins
William Madison Mullins was born to Thomas and Matilda Mullins on the family’s tobacco farm on October 17, 1845, in Rockingham County, North Carolina [1]. Just 6 months later, his parents loaded up the entire family and all their possessions in two wagons pulled by 8 mules, and a 2-seated carriage pulled by 2 horses, to move to McNairy County, Tennessee [2]. William’s father, Thomas Jefferson Mullins, had an uncle and two aunts who had moved there some years before, and he purchased land in McNairy County from his uncle Samuel Mullins [3]. Seven years later, in 1852, William’s father sold the farm in McNairy and moved further west to Christian County, Missouri, where he again established a tobacco farm [4].
Civil War Times
When the Civil War started in 1861, 3 of William’s older brothers joined the Confederate Army: John, Thomas Jr., and James [5]. By the time William turned military age in 1864, the front had moved far to the South. In fact, James and Thomas Jr. were prisoners of war in Louisiana toward the end of the war [6]. They were released when the Confederacy ended, on condition that they swore allegiance to the United States of America. In the last year of the war, William enlisted in the Union Army one day before his 19th birthday, on October 16, 1864. He served for the duration of the war in the 46th regiment of the Missouri Infantry, in Springfield, Missouri [7].
William’s regiment did not participate in any large battles during his service, but Missouri was famous for brutal guerrilla warfare on both sides. It is possible that William saw some deadly hostilities. His service records indicate that he was paid an enlistment bonus of $100, and received $100 per month in pay.
After The Civil War
Shortly after the end of the war, William’s father moved the family about 100 miles south to Faytetteville, Arkansas, where he bought 80 acres of land from William’s future father-in-law, Edward Freyschlag, for $600 on September 7, 1866 [8]. The new Mullins farm was adjacent to the Freyschlag property, so William and Sophia Freyschlag would have met around the time the Mullins’ arrived. The couple was married less than 5 years later, on March 28, 1871.
William and Sophia continued their family’s farming tradition, growing and processing tobacco. In addition, William served as a County Judge in the 1880s, and he periodically entered horses in local Fayetteville races [9]. His steeds periodically won these races.
William lived until 1913.
The Story Of Sophia Freyschalg
Sophia Freyschlag was born in Fayetteville on June 25, 1845. She was a first-generation American; Her father, Edward Freyschlag, was born in Frankenthal, Germany. Sophia was educated at the Sophia Sawyer Female Seminary, in Fayetteville, as was her mother Lucy Hawkins Freyschlag.
Sophia Sawyer was an Indian activist who established her school for Cherokee girls in 1839. The school quickly caught on among the white settler families as well and had the financial support of several influential Fayetteville residents, including our relative Judge David Walker. A contemporaneous newspaper article stated,
“One of Miss Sawyer’s admiring pupils was Lucy Hawkins – the future Mrs. Edward Freyschlag. When their first child was born she was named Sophia Sawyer.”
Sophia Sawyer Freyschlag was said to be “the beauty” of the Freyschlag children. Sophia died of typhoid fever at age 56, in 1901.
William And Sophia’s Children
She and William had 6 children, including 5 who lived to adulthood.
- William Edward Mullins (1872-1944) m. Effie Mabel Francis Landry (1874-1944)\
- Lucy Gertrude Mullins (1873-1958) m. Hugh Sanders Hayes (1873-1938)
- Maty E. Mullins (1875-1877)
- Norma Freyschlag Mullins (1879-1958) m. Judge James Earnest Dowell (1876-1967)
- George Walker Mullins (1881-1956) m. Hazel Pearl Provence (1883-1970)
- Thomas Clinton Mullins (1885-1954) m. Ruth Wilson (1892-1996)
© 2013 W. Mullins