Mullins, the French Huguenot Colonial Virginia Family

From 1652-1740, all the Virginia Mullins families lived within a forty-mile radius and all that show up in the land records have been abstracted and published in Cavaliers and Pioneers, in three volumes, by Nell Marion Nugent. I will begin by simply recording here the presence of the 8 or so households of Mullins present in the settled part of Virginia from 1652-1699, a period of time that would have seen our own immigrant ancestor reach the shores of Virginia from England where the family had been given refuge for 20 years or more from the ravages of the Wars of Religion in France. The name Mullins has been acknowledged as a French Huguenot name by the National Huguenot Society.

A) Mullins, John came as a headright of Captain Augustine Warner, 26 October, 1652. John probably was settled on part of the land granted to the Captain for transporting John Mullins and 49 other persons to Virginia. The 2500 acres was situated on the South side of the Peanketank (Pinkoteague?) River, "beginning at a marked tree of the Indians land..." Gloucester County (now Mathews County).

B) Mullen, Thomas, a headright of John Sharpe who was granted 540 acres in Rappahannock Coutny, 28 November, 1664 for transporting Thomas Mullen (Mullins) and 10 other persons. Thomas Mullen was probably settled on this land located near Bagnall's Plantations, now known as Bellevue.

C) Mullins, John, a headright of Cornelius Debany (Dabney), who was granted 640 acres "upon the lower side of Tottopotomoys Creek" for the transport of 13 persons on 7 June, 1666. This is also in what was once old Rappahannock County, on the South side of the James River, above Richmond in that part of the later New Kent County that became Hanover County. This is the first breeding ground of our line of Mullins. It is very possible that this John Mullins is our immigrant ancestor. A further bit of genealogical evidence is the arrival of another of our allied families -- that headed by Richard Terry -- whose transport is recorded on the same day, 7 June, 1666, as a headright of Captain Joseph Bridger, on land in Nansemond County. Not only our allied Terry family was a headright of Bridger, but the Callaway family, the Wards, the Spencers, and the Stephens, all of whom have been mentioned in land and court records in connection with our Mullins line.

D) Mullins, Edward was transported 22 April, 1670 to New Kent County and probably settled somewhere on the 4,150 acres granted to George Chapman for the transporting of Edward and 32 others. It may be significant that this land was situated on Pamunkey Neck, where in 1699, Matthew Mullins is granted land for transporting other persons.

E) Mullins, Zachariah was possibly still a minor in 1677 when he was transferred as part of the "property" of Rice Jones' estate in Old Rappahannock County -- the part that became Middlesex County (Sweeney, Wills of Rappahannock County, p. 67). Zachariah was probably an indentured servant, still working off the cost of his transport to the new world.

By 1684, he was old enough to marry and wedded Mary Mabraine in the ancient Christ Church in Middlesex County. See the interior here, the old communion service here, and the pulpit here. Around 1700? Zachariah acquires some (more?) land in Middlesex County from Samuel Lee.

In 1716, a John Mullins wills this same land to William Gardner, the son of Mary Mullins Gardner, daughter of William Mullins, deceased 1705-1709 (i. Sweeney, Wills, op cit.; ii. King and Queen County Records Concerning 18th Century Persons) John Mullins and Mary Mullins Gardner were probably children of Zachariah Mullins and Mary Mabraine Mullins. "Gardner" becomes a given name in our family line. Our Kentucky patriarch, Henry Mullins, names one of his sons "Gardner" in 1783, in Wilkes County, North Carolina before they all moved on to land in Kentucky. William Mullins was probably the brother (or father?) of Zachariah Mullins (see below at F).

F) Mullins, William appears to be a contemporary of Zachariah Mullins, both of whom lived in Middlesex County. He cannot be Zachariah's son, because William is already a Footman in the Militia of Middlesex County in 1687, only 4 years after Zachariah and Mary Mabraine Mullins are married.

In 1690, William Mullins buys land from John Mingos in Middlesex County. And in 1704, he is counted on the Rent Roll of Middlesex County. But by 1709, William has died and his daughter, Mary Gardner is named in the will of Thomas Lee, deceased 1709, and again is mentioned in the will of John Mullins in 1716.

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Just to cover all the bases with the Colonial Virginia Mullins families, I will mention two other transported persons who settled in the island counties of the colony: Accomacke and Northampton. These men were James Mullins who came in 1663 as a headright of Fenlaw Mackwilliam in Accomacke and Symon Mullins who came in 1671/72 as a headright of Edward Revell to Northampton. I have never run across known descendants of either of these two men. They do not count in our family history.

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A second slate of Mullins and Allies in this same area of Virginia:

Matthew Mullins (possibly an immigrant himself, arriving with the Huguenots who sailed into Virginia at this time, but it is more probable that he is a son of John the immigrant of 1666, Edward of 1670, Zachariah of pre-1677 or of William of Middlesex), in 1699 is assigned 150 acres of land in Pamunkey Neck in New Kent County in Virginia for the transport of a few persons. The lessee of the land at the time was Thomas Ward; the land was actually "Indian land," but had reverted to the crown to be leased out to the colonists, because it was lying unproductive.

In 1701, Matthew Mullins pays taxes on land in King and Queen County (carved from New Kent County -- see John Mullins of 1666 above) along with people who bear names that are allied with the Mullins through marriage or in neighborhoods or parishes: James and Stephen Terry, James, George and Sarah Dabney. In 1708 Matthew Mullins is assigned a total of 268 acres in this county.

In 1702, Matthew Mullins and wife Elizabeth deed land to John Slaughter in King William County (once a part of King and Queen County).

Matthew Mullins is singled out for a lot of attention here, because he is the most likely one of those mentioned herein to be the progenitor of one of the two Huguenot lines of Mullins families who first lived in Virginia.

I am supported in this opinion by at least one other Mullins genealogist: Cornelius Carroll whose web site is listed on our sources page. I was very glad to discover Mr. Carroll; I had held this opinion on Matthew Mullins of Pamunkey Neck for the last 25 years. But I readily admit that I have no family documents that would prove a link from him to our next generation.

At this point, I must mention a Huguenot Mullins family who is documented to have arrived in 1699/1700 on the Mary and Ann out of Gravesend, England: Abraham de (des, du) Moulin(s) who settled in Henrico (Goochland) County under the leadership of Claude Philippe de Richebourg. But they did not stay in Virginia, so they do not figure in our family line at all. They left with their Huguenot minister, de Richebourg, in 1708, on to Perquimons County, North Carolina, where they stayed only a short time before finally settling in South Carolina, many of them using the spelling "Mullen" for the family name.

Many researchers have mistakenly connected Abraham with Matthew Mullins of Albemarle County, but this is definitely in error. Matthew Mullins of Albemarle was almost surely a son of Matthew Mullins of Pamunkey Neck, because of the allied families of each man; in any case he is not a son of Abraham of the de Richebourg party. Perhaps some researchers have been led to believe that Abraham was the first Mullins line in Virginia, or that he is the only one who could have been of French Protestant extraction. However, the French Protestants began to arrive in Virginia as early as the 1650s, because of religious fighting particularly in the Cevennes-to-Lyonnais region of France, where I believe our lines probably originated. You will read more about that in the European chapter of this family history.

One naming tradition in the Virginia Mullins line makes searching ever so much easier for genealogists. In France, the Huguenot Mullins had named their children after Christian saints and often used Old Testament names. While in England, the names of English kings had been used: Richard, Henry, John, William -- all Plantagenet (Norman French) kings of England. But once the family was settled in Virginia, they became very conscious of their pioneering of the New World. Sons bore as their given name the surname of allied families. For example, Henry Mullins married Mary Terry, the daughter of Champness Terry. First of all, Champness is the surname of a descendant of Nathaniel Champness, an ally of the Terry family. Then the surname of Champness Terry is given to Henry Mullins' son, Terry (sometimes Terrey). Henry does not stop with this one surname as a given name for his sons; there are also Gardner and Spencer, other allied families in the same area of Virginia.

Our family continues to use the traditional family names with some of my children's contemporaries becoming namesakes of people who lived more than 150 years ago.

Let me also put the researcher on notice that I follow my own simple method of numbering throughout the family data sheets. As each new direct ancestor in our line is set up with his own "heading," the numbering starts afresh. It makes ancestors much simpler to trace on the computer screen.

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Family Data Sheets

First Generation

Matthew Mullins1, born ca. 1680; died ?

Matthew Mullins of Pamunkey Neck in New Kent County (later his settlement became part of King and Queen County, then King William County and finally his holdings were in Hanover County, which split out of these earlier counties). A number of immigrants to Virginia with the surname Mullins -- sometimes spelled variously, but in general the name is recorded the same as in modern usage -- settled in the area between the Rapahannock and James Rivers. The family from which we descended settled in the Yourk River's upper reaches where the Pamuney River flows into the York. Matthew is located here in 1699, according to Virginia Land Patents, Cavaliers and Pioneers, 1695-1732; Patent Book 9, p.45. Matthew was born ca. 1680, is listed in English Duplicaes of Lost Virginia Records by Louis des Cognets, Jr. [Cornelius Carroll website: members.tripod.com/cornelius_carroll/Mullins] Much of the "second generation" material on Richard Mullins, below, is from Cornelius Carroll. Matthew Mullins possibly had the following children:

1. Richard Mullins, born before 1715 in Virginia; married Mary Stephens? This family history follows this line-- see below.
2. Matthew Mullins, born before 1715 in Virginia; married Mary Maupin, grand-daughter of Cornelius Dabney, who transported John Mullins to Virginia in 1666 and settled him on Tottopotomoi Creek in Old Rappahannock County, not far from Pamunkey Neck.
3. John Mullins, born before 1715 in Virginia; married Elizabeth Connelly [see members.tripod.com/cornelius_carroll/Mullins for much more information on this John Mullins line.]

[Note: Cornelius Carroll attributes one other son to Matthew Mullins: Patrick Mullins, who I believe to be the son of Thomas Mullen, above.]

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Second Generation

Richard Mullins2 (Matthew1)

[I am indebted to Cornelius Carroll at members.tripod.com/cornelius_carroll/Mullins for much of the immediately following information on Richard Mullins.]

Richard Mullins2, born before 1715 in Virginia; married Mary (Stephens?) Richard Mullins of Goochland County, Virginia, purchased 95 acres on Byrd Creek in Goochland County on the north side of James River from William Matlock , for 30 pounds, on 10 June 1738. The deed was recorded 18 July 1738. Richard and his wife Mary sold Bryan Connerly land on 24 February 1742 and 20 July 1742. Richard had previously appeared in Hanover County, Virginia, on deeds between Daniel Williams and William Gooch, dated 2 Sept. 1735 and 3 Sept. 1735. The deeds mention "Richard Mullin's line." Richard and Mary Mullins deeded land in Albemarle County, Virginia to Cornelius Maupin. In Albemarle County, Virginia Court Order Books, the following records appear on Richard Mullins: 23 January 1745/46. In case of John Robertson against Richard Mullins, defendant appears by attorney William Battersby and also came a Jury to wit: Lazarus Damron, John Anthony, Noble Ladd, John Cannon (foreman), William Harris, John Ladd, John Hunter, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Thomas Ogelsby, William Creasy, Matthew Tucker and Obadiah Woodson. Determined that plaintiff sustained damages of 4 pounds, 10 shilling and is to recover plus 15 shillings and 496 pounds of tobacco. 11 December 1747. In debt case of William Hopkins against Richard Mullins, defendants fail to appear, judgment entered for the plaintiff for 12 pounds, 6 pence, and costs. In Halifax County, Virginia Plea Book I, 1752-1755, the following records appear on Richard Mullins: 20 Dec. 1752. On petition of Joseph Mays by Clement Read his attorney vs. Richard Mullins, defendant not found, plaintiff granted a new process. Feb. 1753. The petition of Joseph Mays vs. Richard Mullins, defendant, given unto this court, now called and not appearing, plaintiff by Clement Read his attorney granted a new process. June 1753. On petition of Jospeh Mays vs. Richard Mullins, the sheriff returned, said defendant is in Lunenburg County, plaintiff by his attorney granted a new process. 17 July 1753. Joseph Mays vs. Richard Mullins dismist. Richard Mullins and Henry Mullins appear in the 1762 and 1763 Bedford County, Virginia list of Insolvents. Richard and Mary possibly had the following children:

1. Matthew Mullins (Richard2, Matthew1) See Cornelius Carroll's web site at members.tripod.com/cornelius_carroll/Mullins for much more on this branch of the family. I will quote from his site this paragraph:

For the rest of the information on this branch of the descendants of Matthew of Pamunkey Neck, I refer you to members.tripod.com/cornelius_carroll/Mullins

2. Henry Mullins (Richard2, Matthew1), born ca. 1740 in Virginia; married Oct.6, 1760, Halifax County, Mary "Polly" Terry, daughter of Champness Terry, very possibly a descendant of one Jonas Terrey, who was transported as a headright of John Woodson, Jr. in Henrico County, Varina Parish, North side of James River, 23 October, 1690. The Terrys were as prolific as the Mullins in Colonial Virginia and were located in the same areas. This family history follows this line -- see below.
3. Timothy Mullins?
4. Richard Mullins?

[Note: I have no information at all on Numbers 3. and 4. in the list immediately above.]

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Third Generation

Henry Mullins (Richard2, Matthew1)

Henry Mullins3 was born ca. 1740 in Virginia; married Oct.6, 1760, Halifax County, Mary "Polly" Terry, daughter of Champness Terry, very possibly a descendant of one Jonas Terrey, who was transported as a headright of John Woodson, Jr. in Henrico County, Varina Parish, North side of James River, 23 October, 1690. The Terrys were as prolific as the Mullins in Colonial Virginia and were located in the same areas in Colonial times.

But now we must come back to Henry Mullins, our first ancestor on whom we have a lot of documentation in our research files. We know that Henry probably grew up in the area between the Pamunkey River and the James River in an area of Virginia that was New Kent, then became Hanover County, then Halifax (1767) and then by 1773 it was Pittsylvania. It was in Pittsylvania in 1777 that Henry made his oath of allegiance to the independent nation, the United States of America. Henry's oath was issued by one of Pittsylvania County's justices, Thomas Dillard. The Terry males, the Ballinger family men, John Mullins, William Mullins, Michael Mullings, Benjamin Mullings, Charles Calloway, and a group of Owens family males all took the same pledge at the same time -- all families that are allied with the Mullins family for decades if not centuries following this period.

By the following year, 1778, Henry and his growing family were residents of Wilkes County, North Carolina. They had joined a large group of people migrating from their area of Virginia to the "boonies." On Wilkes County 1787 Tax List, we also find allied families of Mullins such as Harris, Calloway, Owen, Tirey (Terry), Wade, Judd, Triplett, Abner, Isbell.

From Wilkes County onward, we have fairly good documentation on our family lists, because we have the first census of the United States. We also have the Wilkes County Land Records. Henry Mullins and Barnet Owen, his neighbor, entered land in 1778-79, along New river in the wilderness of Lower Appalachia (Wilkes County Land Entries, Nos. 910, 1297, 614, 1296, 1677, 1678).

No. 614: Barnet Owen entered 200 acres Reddies River 26 Dec., 1778
No. 685--87: 1 Jan 1779 Littleberry Toney, Thomas Calloway and William Owen entered claims to land in the New river settlement. Littleberry Toney was married to Thomas Calloway's daughter.
No. 910: Henry Mullins entered 100 acres Waters of Reddies River, had of Tumbling Shoal, both sides of Chestnut Mountain, 3 March 1779.
No. 1296: 13 November 1779 Barnet Owen entered 100 acres on Obid's Creek
No. 1297: Henry Mullins entered 100 acres at Rowland's big Branch November 13, 1779
No. 1678: 8 March 1780 Barnet Owen entered 100 acres Waters Reddies River near had tunbling Shoal Branch.
No. 1721, 22: David Owen entered two 50 -acre parcels in Wilkes County, North Carolina, near William Owen's property, 21 March, 1780, the same year David Owen married Winifred Mullins (Wilkes County Marriages, loc.cit.)

In 1788, Henry Mullins sold the first parcel of land he had bought and many years later, after Henry had moved to Kentucky, Rowland Judd, Jr. witnessed to the fact that it had been sold at that time (Wilkes County Deed Book F-1, No. 154). In 1798, Terrey Mullins, Henry's son, bought 50 acres on New River. His witneses are John Calloway, Brazzel Estes and William Hall (Wilkes County Deed Book D, p. 357). These are all Goochland-Bedford County, Virginia surnames. In 1799, David Owen, husband of Winifred Mullins Owen sold 200 acres to Reuben Stringer and Terrey Mullins witnessed the deed.

Calloway, Owen, Hall, Mullins, Toney and Morgan are all associated families of the settlements in the western reaches of old Goochland County and later of other parts of Southwest Virginia. The descendants of Thomas Callaway, Henry Mullins, Matthew Mullins, Littleberry Toney, Champness Terry and Barnet Owen continued to form an almost constant community throughout the period 1760-1860, ranging geographically from Goochland County, Virginia to Rock Castle County, Kentucky.

In 1800, Ashe County, North Carolina was separaed from Wilkes County and the land belonging to Terrey Mullins, son of Henry, is in the new county, so his name does not show on the 1800 Wilkes County census (nor on the Ashe County census for some reason; perhaps the family departed for Kentucky before the census-taker in Ashe County got to his residence). We begin to discover the size of Henry's family on the 1800 census Wilkes County, North Carolina Census. By this time, Henry has been married 40 years, so all his children are grown and some have gone to other places, or have been left behind as the family moved westward. Henry Mullins is listed as "more than 45 years," a catch-all category on the census sheet; he has a wife near the same age; he has one son 26-45 years old, and two sons 16-26; he has one daughter age 10-16 and one under 10. Champness Mullins, another of Henry's sons, has his own family. Champness "Champ" is about 33 years old and has a wife near the same age, a son and two daughters under 10 years of age.

Immediately after 1800, possibly that same year, Henry Mullins moved with his tribe of relations to Madison County, Kentucky, from which Rock Castle County was later created. Many other Mullins families from the Goochland-Albemarle region of Virginia had moved there in the 1790s, descendants of Matthew of Albemarle: Gabriel Mullins, William Mullins, Matthew Mullins and Jane Mullins Clark (Anderson Chenault Quisenberry, Mullins, and Allied Families, Washington, D. C., 1897, pp. 123-125).

Henry and his children settled in the area along Rock Castle River, shown on the indexed at Photos, Wills, Deeds, etc. In 1810, the federal census of Rock Castle County shows Gardner, one of Henry's sons, age 26-45 (actually about 27), Champ, 26-45 (about 43), and Terry, born 1767. Terry lives next door to Henry, whose wife is not listed; instead, a 10-16 year old girl is the only other member of his household. Spencer, another son of Henry, entered a claim to 50 acres on the Roundstone Fork of Rock Castle River in 1822 (Kentucky Land Office Warrant No. 5859). Morgan Mullins, who also appears on the 1820 census of Rock Castle County, along with Champ, Gardner and Terry, is 16-26 years old. He is the son of Champ Mullins, one of Henry's sons. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Henry Mullins died very shortly after 1810 in Rock Castle County, KY.

Based on census data, land records and court records, we can say that Henry Mullins and Mary "Polly" Terry Mullins had the following children:

1. Winifred Mullins4, was born 30 March 1766, Halifax Co., VA, died 26 February 1842, Rockcastle Co., KY. She married David Owen on 20 December 1780, Wilkes Co., NC. David was born 21 September 1759, Halifax Co., died 1822 in Rockcastle Co.. David was S/O William Owen and Elizabeth Meacham. David and Winifred had 13 children - 12 boys and one girl. David's RW pension files provided his and Winifred's birth and death dates, also the birth dates of all of their children. Proof of David's parentage comes from William Owen's will, dated 28 September 1785, probated 28 January 1788, Wilkes Co., NC wherein he left the bulk of his estate to David after providing one shilling to his siblings. William also made provision for his "beloved grandson, Elisha, 1st born child of David and Winefred," to receive £50 upon coming of age. Elisha was born 9 January 1781. ( the foregoing information on Winifred is generously contributed by Charles Owens, Farragut, TN)

2. Champness Mullins4, born 1767-68 Virginia; married ca.1790, Wilkes County, North Carolina. He had six children:

3. Terry Mullins4 (Henry3, Richard2, Matthew1), born 1767-68, Virginia; married Lucy Ballinger; had possibly 13 children. This family history follows this line. See a fuller account of Terry and Lucy Mullins beginning on the next page of this site
4. Spencer Mullins4, born 18 January, 1775 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia; died 1 May, 1853, Rock Castle County, Kentucky; married ca. 1820 Mary Abney, born 1795, Ashe County, North Carolina, daughter of Janus Abney; established a farm on Roundstone Fork of Rock Castle river in 1822. It remained in the family at least until 1921. At some point before or later, Spencer married Mary King, born ca. 1785 , dtr. of Edward King and Felicia Lewis. Spencer had 8 children with Mary King and Mary Abney; some sources say only Alfred is the child of Mary King:

[Note: Information on Cam Mullins, siblings and offspring taken from Charles Kerr, ed., History of Kentucky, Chicago, 1922, pp. 57-58.]

5. Gardner Mullins4, born ca. 1783, Wilkes County, North Carolina, married (1)______? Dennis and (2) 1809, Madison County, Ky., Hannah Bennett.

6. Sally Mullins
7. Becky Mullins

There are four major sources for the family information recorded here:
1. The Mullins Family File on deposit at the Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, Kentucky.
2. Mullins family records collected by B. C. Mullins, son of C. A. Mullins "raised at Salt Peter Cave on Crooked Creek, Rock Castle County, Kentucky."
3. Census Records of Rock Castle County, 1810-1850
4. Kentucky land records; copies on deposit with the Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, Ky.

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For more on our Mullins family click here:

Mullins Family Part 2, Mullins Family, Part 3, Mullins Family in Europe

Family Index

The Mullins research goes beyond their arrival in America, so the building of this page will be a long process. By the end of November 2002, I hope to have posted the "high points." Then I will add to the family history weekly, hoping also to hear from other Mullins kindred. Contact me with your own history or Mullins memorabilia at the email address below, except of course, you will substitute the @ symbol for the word "at." There is a reason for this work-around. People with web sites will understand why this is necessary.

ann_garner at yahoo.com

See above for the correct way to address your email message.

I regret that I do not research for other people. But anyone is free to use such information as I post on this site.