The Gullicks

   To keep all the names in the family tree straight can be overwhelming. For an outsider to follow this blog and make the family connections, is virtually impossible.  To simplify the matter or to make the water muddier,  today's post is about my grandmother's father's mother's side of the family. Got it? How about my grandmother's grandmother, Minerva Gullick Evins.
   In previous blogs, I have mentioned Minerva.  She was the daughter of  Jonathan A. and Frances Gullick. Jonathan's father, William Gullick, was one of the first settlers on the Buffalo River in Wayne County. In my notes she had two brothers, Jonathan W. and James A.Gullick.  Jonathan was born on June 15, 1840 and died on November 15 of that same year.  James was born in 1842, and no death date was listed.  I assumed he died young as well because he did not appear on the 1850 census. Minerva and a sister, Matilda, were the only children listed  with their parents on that census. I have found notations that Matilda died in 1860. Of the Gullick children, Minerva lived the longest, but she died at the age of thirty from complications related to childbirth in 1877. Sadly, the parents outlived all their children.

   Two years ago we traveled to Wayne County in search of the Dabbs Cemetery, the burial place of the Gullicks. When compared to the other headstones in the cemetery, the Gullick headstone was quite unique and impressive. One large headstone faces four stone slabs.  The headstone reads "Evins  Gullick." Each slab represents one of the following family members: Jonathan Gullick, Fannie Gullick, Minerva Gullick Evins, and Thomas Evins.                                                                     

 

   I'm uncertain of the location of the cemetery with the location of their family home, but I plan to do a little investigative work. One would assume they did not live far from the cemetery. Maybe when the weather cools, we will set the GPS for the back roads of Wayne County.

The Old Burns Place

    I have not researched the following information regarding the "Old Burns Place", but the following information was provided by one of the great grandchildren of Thomas S. Evins.

    In 1894, Thomas S. Evins and his father-in-law, Jonathan A. Gullick, purchased a large farm consisting of 1375 acres in the third district in Wayne County, Tennessee from Samuel James and his wife for $16,664.14. The farm was known as the "Old Burns Place" and continued to be called that long after the purchase. Two-third interest in the farm belonged to Thomas while his father-in-law had the remaining one-third interest.
    The farm deed excluded half an acre of land close to the house, which was the Burns family cemetery.  The graveyard was completely surrounded by a two feet limestone wall with no gate. It was told that old Mr. Burns had a number of daughters. One of his daughters dated and later married a fellow that Mr. Burns did not like. In retaliation, Mr. Burns had large limestone blocks cut at the Buffalo River and hauled to the house. He proceeded to completely wall the family cemetery so his son-in-law could not be buried there.  Many years ago the wall was still standing in the good shape.
   After Thomas and Mr. Gullick purchased the farm, they tore down the existing house and built a new house. During the demolition, it was said that a skeleton was found under the front porch and that a lot of money was found in the chimney. These stories are unsubstantiated. However, they are the first of many strange stories surrounding the new house built by Thomas. The new two story  house was built on a bluff overlooking the Buffalo River with a spring and cave below the house. Unfortunately, this structure was destroyed by fire in the 1990s.
   It was widely rumored the Evin/Gullick's house was haunted and has been the source of many ghost stories over the years. Mrs. Anola Mayberry, whose family owned the farm in recent years shared the following stories with Thomas Evins's great grandchild.  Mrs. Mayberry reported on many occasions people have seen or heard ghosts in the house. At one point the house was rented to a family friend who only stayed one night and refused to go back after hearing someone rocking upstairs all night.
    Mrs. Mayberry also stated that Charles Peterson, a lawyer in Waynesboro, claimed he saw a man walking around in the house with long black sideburns and whiskers. She said all her ancestors were clean shaven and didn't know anyone matching that description, but our Thomas Evins wore a heavy dark beard. Hmmm...
    Rumors of treasure being buried behind the house close to the "old cave spring" were told.  Mrs. Mayberry reported there were lots of bones in the cave, and periodically people searched the cave. No one will ever know the truth behind the home and property, but the strange happenings make a great story to add to the continuing family history.

Is there a doctor in the family?

    My great, great grandfather, Thomas Smith Evins, may have been the only doctor on both sides of my family ever. He was born in 1846 to the parents of William A.and Eliza Evins and  was one of five children. He began reading medicine under Dr. H P Ferguson in Bedford County. In 1870-71 he obtained two courses of  lectures from the  Louisville Medical College in Louisville, Kentucky. Afterwards, he practiced medicine at the Wayne Furnace in Wayne County, Tennessee until 1874. At that time he entered Vanderbilt University and attended courses from 1874 to 1875.  Thomas was in the first graduating class from Vanderbilt's medical college in 1875.

   On June 8, 1875 Thomas married Minerva Jane Gullick in Wayne County. She was the daughter of Jonathan A. Gullick and Francis C. Baker. Unfortunately, she died shortly after giving to birth to their second son, my great, great grandfather.

Thomas and Minvera Evins. She was pregnant with her second child in this photo.

   After Minerva's death, Thomas and his son lived with his in-laws.  In 1894 he and Mr. Gullick purchased a large farm consisting of 1375 acres known as the "Old Burns Place."  Many stories and rumors surround the house and property.-a story for another day. Thomas died on June 8, 1915.
  

Thomas holding my grandmother, Jane.

Big Daddy

    Big Daddy as he was known to his children and grandchildren was born in 1877 in Wayne County to the parents of Dr. Thomas S.and Minerva Jane Gullick Evins. His real name was Thomas Jane Evins. About two weeks after Thomas's birth, his mother died.  He was basically an only child.  His older brother by 18 months died on his second birthday about six months after their mother's death.  With the help of a wet nurse and his Gullick grandparents, Thomas was raised by his father
    In 1912 when he was 34 years old, he married Alma Dox Sharp who later became known as Big Mama. They had five children of which one was my grandmother.The picture below was taken on their wedding day.  Such solemn expressions for what sure had been a happy day.

    Oh, how I wish I could remember all the stories Grandma told about her family. I do recall she said her father would buy a large hanging cluster of bananas and store them in a closet underneath the stairs.  The children had a treat often. Also, she told about how fearful her mother was of storms.  Whenever a storm approached, she and the children would get under the bed.

Full of good intentions

    With a neat little to-do-list, I am still having problems getting motivated to start climbing that family tree again.  The quest to find Jim's mother's family has hit another roadblock.  We had a good lead with a lady from Clarksville who we believe is Jim's first cousin.  She was eager to help Jim and said she would go through her family things to see what she could find.  Unfortunately, she had shoulder  surgery and couldn't continue her search.  Jim decided to give her a fair amount of recovery time before calling her again, but she hasn't answered any of his calls.  Maybe she will return his messages soon, and if not, we will move forward with Plan B (not sure what it is yet).
    I recently asked for a copy of my grandmother's death certificate from my mother and in the process got a huge stack of photocopied records related to her side of the family.  Now I have to copy or scan them.  Some days I would rather eat dirt than scan photos or documents with my scanner-a time consuming process.  So until we hear from Jim's new cousin, I guess I will begin scanning the records and connecting the family dots.  At this point I know most of Jim's ancestors by name and how they are related and sadly I am not that familiar with Mama's side of the family.

From Shiloh to Cross Bridges

   Over Memorial Day weekend Jim and I made our first ever trip to Shiloh. Exhibits representing every American war were on display.  Firing demonstrations from every war were quite interesting.  At the end of the demonstration there was a firing contest to see who was the fastest shooter.  You knew who was going to lose, but the Revolutionary War representative and the War of 1812 person took their loss in stride.

    On the return trip, we stopped by the cemetery at Cross Bridges to finally see George's headstone. JJ and   Windie did an excellent job place the stone back into the ground.