Pike County AlArchives Photo tombstone.....Mullins Cemetery November 21 2004 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Christine Thacker http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00033.html#0008100 November 29, 2004, 1:14 pm Source: The Messenger (Troy Al., Newspaper pg 10) Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/pike/photos/tombstones/ph367mullinsc.jpg Image file size: 99.8 Kb Joe Frank Walters and other family members have taken a renewed Interest In the Mullins Family Cemetery near Troy and made Improvements to the final resting place of the patriarch and matriarch of the family - Thomas K. and Amelia Mullins. Those Involved In the preservation project are Walters, Gene Howell Sapp, Florida; Nell Brannen ArsIc, Virginia; Ballely Talbot IV, VIrginia; Hugh D. Murphree, North Carolina; Thomas Murphree, North Carolina; Howard Murphree, South Carolina; Mimi Sherrill, Florida; Marjorie Brannen, Florida; Beth Jernlgan, Georgia; Tom Murphree, Troy; Sam Murphree, Georgia; Dianne Christi, Texas; and Mary Gene Ezell, Montgomery. At top, only three grave markers remain In the Mullins Family Cemetery. TIme and Mother Nature have taken a toll on the cemetery. However, recent Improvements will preserve the family burial plot. As many as 12 to 13 graves are thought to be unmarked. The Messenger, Sunday, Nov. 21, 2004, page 1c and cont. on page 3c. Walters stays connected to family through cemetery preservation By Jaine treadwell The cemetery sits atop an unobtrusive hill in the Pike County countryside. It's shaded by a lone oak tree and the three grave markers glisten when the sun strikes them at just the right time of day. Without the fence that guards those within, probably passersby wouldn't even notice that the cemetery's there. And probably no one' cares except the family of those buried there. And, not even all of those are remembered lovingly or any other way. ''We don't know how many people are buried here," said Joe Frank Waiters, whose great-great grandparents' lie beneath two of the marked graves. "There are probably 12 or 13 other people buried here but the markers - if there ever were any - have been destroyed by time and weather. No one can be sure, but it's very possible that slaves are buried outside the fence. We don't know who all is buried here and probably never wilI." The property on which the family cemetery stands. has been in Joe Frank Waiters' family for more than 150 years. ''My great-great-grandfather, Thomas Kinion Mullins, was born in North Carolina and moved to Pike County around 1849," Walters said. ''He was married to Amelia Howard Brockman and they set up a permanent home on a plantation about three miles out of' Troy." The land Thomas and Amelia Mullins settled has remained in the family continuously. The Mullins Family Cemetery that occupies center space in an expanse of pasture has been a constant reminder of the early settlers who. forged a place in history for the Mullins family. "For a while, they weren't much more than names," Walters said of his ancestors. "But they are family and I got interested and wanted to know more about them." . What Walters learned was that T.K Mullins was an important figure in the Baptist churches of the area. According to genealogical research, Mullins was regarded by the church as "a model deacon, standing high in the confidence and affection of his brethren. " He was a kind and considerate man and preferred doing for others rather than for himself, Walters said. . When Mullins died of malarial fever on Dec. 9,1886, his obituary in The Troy Messenger stated that he had lived an exemplary life. " If the rising generation of young men would only strive to be just as upright in all their dealings and just as devoted to home, native land and the God of heaven as was T.K. Mullins, the world would be a much happier and better place than when they found it.'" The more Walters learned about his great-great-grandfather, the more he appreciated him and the contributions he made to Pike County. But, time had taken a toll on the Mullins Family Cemetery, robbing many of those buried there of the identity and hiding the remaining markers with weeds and debris, as if they, too, were to be forgotten. . Walters was determined that would not happen. He began to make plans to bring dignity back to the old cemetery and create renewed remembrance Of those who came to their final rest there. "I wanted to get the cemetery looking good again and make sure that the three graves that are marked are kept up, Walters said. "After all, these people are family and family is very important -' even those who came long before you. They are your heritage. These people buried at the Mullins Family Cemetery are where I came from. My heritage and I appreciate it." . Walters cleaned the weeds and debris from the cemetery and had the markers repaired. To keep the weeds out and the cemetery looking well groomed. Other family members donated money to have copping and chipped granite added as the finishing touches. Page 3 C Amelia Mullins died before her husband, on March 31, 1880. The inscription on her marker reads: Gone to rest. "How desolate our home bereft of thee." Mullins' own marker reads: "Meet me in the better land. 1 have fought a good fight. I have finished.' 'Those inscriptions tell us a lot about my great-great grandparents in just a few words," Walters said. "Inscriptions like that are seldom done anymore but I think its very telling. It gives us insight into our heritage." The third marked grave in the Mullins Family Cemetery is that of a l-year-old boy, Alvarado. The inscription reads simply; "Our first-born." 'That's all we know about the baby but it's thought that he was the son of John Loftin Mullins and the grandson of T.K. and Amelia Mullins," Walters said. "We don't know when the baby died. John Loftin Mullins served in the Civil War. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war. He and his family later moved to Texas." As Walters stood in the cemetery, talking about his ancestors who are now more than a name on a grave maker, he reflected on family and how those gone before are a part of the fabric of present and future generations. This.place.is very important to me," he said of the land that was settled by T.K. and Amelia Mullins. "My son, Tripp, lives here with his family and we have a cabin on the property where we all gather to celebrate holidays or just be together for a while." The cabin is more than a cabin. It was built from the timbers of the old homestead when it was torn down several years ago. "I'm so glad that we salvaged all that we could from the old homeplace," Walters said. "It, too, is part of who we are. It's, very special to be able to come here and share good times with family. Family is one thing that we should all be especially thankful for on Thanksgiving." Additional Comments: Permission given to post by Joe Walters of Troy Al., and Ken of the Messenger. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/pike/photos/tombstones/ph367mullinsc.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/alfiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb