Thomas Mullins I
[ Home ] [ Up ]

 

Thomas Mullins I - North Carolina

Over in Granville County (formed in 1746 from Edgecombe County) Thomas MULLINS may have settled about a year later in 1747.  Where he came from is believed to have been Surry County, Colony of Virginia.  There has been a lot of speculation that this Thomas was an indentured servant, born in Gravesend, Kent, England about 1714.1  What has led other researchers to this believe is that Thomas MULLINS I in Granville County, North Carolina, was a blacksmith.  The indentured servant Thomas was a blacksmith, and many of Thomas MULLINS I’s children were blacksmiths.  Unfortunately, many people back then were blacksmiths, and a number of settlers coming down from the Pennsylvania and Virginia areas were tradesmen, including blacksmiths.  Therefore, in this document it is assumed that this Thomas was the indentured servant from England. 

Thomas I was recorded as being in the local militia in 1754, under the command of Capt Osborne Jeffreys.2  In 1757, Lord Granville gave Thomas MULLINS I - 642 acres.3  This land was described as “in Granville County in the Parish of St. John on both sides of the Wolf pit Branch, joining Jeffereys line”.  This land, now know to be on Wolfpen Branch of the Tar River, is in the southern portion of Franklin County, North Carolina. 

The county nomenclature went from originally Granville County (1746) > Bute County (1764) > Franklin County (1779). 

            It is believed that Thomas I had at least 7 boys, 5 of whom ended up in Georgia at the same time with Bud.  These children were:

  1. Thomas MULLINS II                   b: July 19, 1741 in Albermarle Parish, Surry County, Colony of Virginia

  2. John MULLINS I                         b: August 11, 1743 in Albemarle Parish, Surry County, Colony of Virginia

  3. Jeremiah MULLINS I                   b: 1748 in Granville County (later Franklin County), North Carolina

  4. Clement MULLINS                     b: Abt. 1750 in Granville County (later Franklin County), North Carolina

  5. Nathaniel MULLINS I                  b: December 25, 1753 in Granville County (later Franklin County), North Carolina

  6. Malone "Lone" MULLINS            b: Bet. 1754 - 1756 in Bute County (now Franklin County), North Carolina
  7. Bud MULLINS                            b:  Bet. 1758-1759 in Bute County (now Franklin County, North Carolina

Notice that Thomas and John are listed as being born in Albermarle Parish, Surry County, Virginia.  There is no proof that these children of Thomas I are the ones recorded in the Parish Record.  Indeed other researchers, mainly The Huguenot Society4 believe that this Thomas went from Virginia to Kentucky where he died in 1832.  This researcher does not agree.  In the above-mentioned Huguenot publication, Thomas’ name is spelled MULLEN but in the parish register, his name, as well as his wife’s name, is clearly spelled MULLINS.5  Also stated in the publication was that Thomas was born in Perquimans County, North Carolina, and he died there.  However, his son is born in Surry County, Virginia.  An early emigrant trail went from Surry County, Virginia, to Perquimans County, North Carolina, so easy travel was possible between the two locations.  Further research is needed in this area. 

From extensive research, the children of Thomas I (d: abt 1770) mentioned above, have been tied together from movements in later years:

John stays at the family farm in Franklin County, where he dies about 1785. 

Clement and Malone move to Georgia about 1784.

Jeremiah and Nathaniel move to Guilford County, NC about 1785 and then to Georgia later.

Thomas II's movements are uncertain due to the commonality of his name.  He would have moved to Chatham/Guilford County, NC, area as there was a Thomas MULLINS recorded in Chatham County in 1784-1785, or moved straight to Wilkes County, Georgia, about 1785-1787.  In addition, a Thomas MULLINS signed a petition in 1785 in Guilford County, NC.  Also signing that petition were Nathaniel Mullin and Jeremiah Mullin, giving us the possibility of them being brothers and together there.  It is believed that Bud traveled with him to Chatham/Guilford area.  In any case, he is definitely with Bud MULLINS in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1787.6

            From the evidence it is assumed that Bud descended from Thomas I, as he is certainly closely related due to the similarity of their children’s names.

  1. James A. Burgess, Burgess, Mullins, Browning, Brown and Allied Families, McClain Printing Company, 1978

  2. List of Earliest Inhabitants of Granville County, North Carolina, Authentic copy of the muster roll of militia under the command of Colonel William Eaton, as taken at the general muster of said regiment on October 8, 1754, as shown on pages 370 to 380 inclusive, of Volume 22 of the North Carolina State Records.

  3. Patent Book 11, item #1947, pg. 447, 14 March 1760.

  4. The Huguenot, The Huguenot Society Founders of Manakin in the Colony of Virginia, Inc., Publication #27, 1975-1977.

  5. Register of Albermarle Parish, Surry &Sussex Counties, 1739-1778, Sutro Library, San Francisco, microfilm.

  6. Tax List, Wilkes County, Georgia, 1787

Patrick Mullins I  

John Mullins II 

Bud Mullins

Mullins Index