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A Family History Newsletter |
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1st Half 2006 |
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The Richard Tullis Family of
Columbiana County, Ohio
Part 11: Richard Daniel Morgan Tullis
by Carolyn Miller (carolyn_miller @ hotmail.com) and Patricia Tullys (ptullys @ neo.rr.com)
Editor’s Note: This is the eleventh installment of extracts from the book “The Richard Tullis Family of Columbiana County, Ohio” by Carolyn Miller and Patricia Tullys (1989). In this installment, we focus on the ninth child of Richard Tullis and Rachel Barrett: Richard Daniel Morgan Tullis, pictured on the cover of this issue.
Richard Daniel Morgan Tullis, b. Aug. 4, 1834 d. Jan. 26, 1897
marr. Dec. 24, 1857
Louisa Maria Taylor b. 1838 d. Mar. 26, 1914
Five children: Wilfred, Seth, James, Sarah, Clarence.
For a long time any information about Richard Tullis was very sketchy. As of this writing (May 1989), we still have no information about his descendants except what was in the reunion history which is very incomplete.
Richard was born August 4 1834, the ninth child and namesake for his father and Daniel Morgan a well known Revolutionary War hero. His name has a nice ring to it and on his Civil War pension papers he uses both of his middle initials. In 1850 the census has him listed as 16 years old and working as a farmer. He was 22 when his parents died and not yet married. On December 24, 1857, he married Louisa M. Taylor. (The Civil War pension papers say she was not quite 17 years old at the time of the marriage.) She does not appear to be a sister of James Taylor who married Richard's sister Mary Elizabeth Tullis but possibly was a cousin.
An example of what conflicting information can be found on the census is the data on Richard. He is on the 1860 census twice, both times in Elkrun Township. However the information is somewhat different. On page 296 he is 26 years old and a farmer; Louisa is 18 and son Wilfred is one. On page 300 Richard is 23 and a laborer; Louisa is 22 and Wilfred stayed the same, one. He had gone to Iowa by 1870 so I didn't find him. The reunion write-up said he died in Elk County, Kansas, so I looked there and found him in 1880 in Paw Paw Township.
The only deeds for Richard D.M. Tullis in Columbiana County are after the Civil War. On June 22, 1865 he and his sister Mary E. Tullis Taylor bought lot 5 in Middleton from Jesse and Elizabeth Baker for $200. He was not discharged from the Army until June 28, 1865, so perhaps his wife and Mary E. had moved back to Columbiana County after the death of his two sons. They died of Scarlet Fever, Seth on May 18 and James on June 14. I can picture the two saddened girls, Mary with two little girls and Louisa with Will age six, moving back to wait for Richard. Or one of the Tullis brothers could have found the property -for them. There were surely letters going between Richard and the girls in May and June.
On March 12, 1867, Richard deeded his half of the Middleton property to Mary for $100. This must have been when he joined the migration westward, first to Iowa and then to Kansas. On a questionnaire that his son Charles sent to Dr. Tulloss (the researcher), Charles says that he was born near Thornburg, Iowa. Richard may have been the connection that led Mary and her second husband, Lehman Woods, to Iowa.
The information on the 1880 census backed up the birth year of Louisa as 1841 or 1842. There are four young people living in the family. Richard should have had only three children since two sons had died of typhoid fever while he was in the Civil War. First was Wilfred age 21, then Sarah age 14, Charles age 7. The fourth was Frank H. Tullis, 25, nephew. After putting the pieces together later, Frank turned out to be the son of Thomas who had "gone west years ago" according to a family member.
Some information about others of the original 12 brothers and sisters has been pieced together from courthouse records. That source turned out to be a dead end in Richard's case because the courthouse in Elk County burned in 1906 thus eliminating marriage records for his two surviving sons or a probate record for Richard Daniel Morgan Tullis.
Richard's Civil War pension papers again were of some help. He joined Co. D of 174th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, signing up at Marietta, Ohio, on September 6, 1864. This was the same unit that his brother-in-law, James Taylor was in. In the pension records of James Taylor lies the explanation that Richard and Louisa were in Athens County, Ohio when Mary E. Taylor had her first baby Eva. These same papers gave the answer to where Richard was in Iowa in 1870. There is an affidavit from Louisa concerning Eva Taylor's birth which came from Mahaska County Iowa. This is the same county where his brother Charles lived for about one and a half years. It is the next county west from where Mary and her second husband Lehman Woods lived in Iowa. Charles came back to Ohio and Richard went on to Kansas.
Other information from the pension papers state that Richard was discharged from the army at Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 28, 1865, so he was in about nine months. His description was as being 5 ft. 10 in., of fair complexion, and dark hair with grey eyes.
The medical records from the army have him left sick at Washington City February 20 until April 22 1865, when he was returned to duty. There is no information in the application papers about his sickness while in the army. (I have been told that not all pension papers may be included in the packet that is sent upon request from the National Archives. That means that there may be some other paper that does mention his illness. When he applied for an invalid pension, in 1891, he was 56 years old. He was suffering .from chronic diarrhea, piles and heart disease, and unable to work at his trade of painter. He was getting $12 per month at the time of his death in 1897.
Two neighbors in Howard City signed an affidavit concerning Richard's death which was part of the application for Louisa's widow's pension. Mr. H.H. Bisbee and Noyes Barber were present the evening Richard was found dead in his barn and helped carry him into the house. This was Howard City, Kansas, on January 26, 1897. Also in her pension .file is another affidavit concerning her financial status. "The only property she has is one small house and lot valued at about $200. She has no one legally bound to support her." This was filed in April 1897.
Louisa continued to receive $12 a month as a widow's pension until her death on March 4, 1914.
Richard D. M. Tullis probably worked hard all his life, until his illness prevented his working. He left little behind him in the way of personal possessions. Of the five children born to him and Louisa, only two survived to marry. Seth and James died a month apart with scarlet fever while Richard was still in the Army. Sarah died in Kansas when she was about 16 years old. So far, the families of Wilfred and Charles have not been located.
The children of Richard Daniel Morgan Tullis
I.1 Wilfred Aretas Tullis married Eva Daughterty
Children: I.11 Winola.
I.2 Seth Thomas Tullis died of Scarlet Fever
I.3 James Edwin Tullis died of Scarlet Fever
I.4 Sarah Adda Tullis about 16 years old when she died
I.5 Charles Clarence Tullis married Nellie Downey
Children: I.51 Viola.
First child of Richard D. M. Tullis
I1 Wilfred Aretas Tullis b. Dec. 15, 1858 d.
marr. Eva Daughterty b.
One child: Winola.
I11 Winola Cleo Tullis b
Second child of Richard D. M. Tullis
I2 Seth Thomas Tullis b. d. May 18, 1865 (from Scarlet Fever)
Third child of Richard D. M. Tullis
I3 James Edwin Tullis b. d. June 14, 1865 (Scarlet Fever)
Fourth child of Richard D. M. Tullis
I4 Sarah Adda Tullis b. Aug. 6, 1866 d. Sept.13 1882
Fifth child of Richard D. M. Tullis
15 Charles Clarence Tullis b. Apr.30, 1873
marr. June 12, 1906, Nellie Downey b.
One child: Viola.
Dr. Reess E. Tulloss sent questionnaires asking for family information. They are on the microfilm of his genealogy files. Among them is one from Charles C. Tullis, Jackson, Michigan. The birth dates for Richard's children are on it and the information about Charles. There was none of this in the reunion book and we have been unable to locate either of his two sons. Since both sons had daughters, they will be hard to trace. We have no idea where to look for them, anyway.
One very interesting bit of information came from Charles. He says that he has his great, great, great grandfather Richard Tullis's horse pistol that he had earned in the Revolutionary War. That was the Richard in Bedford County, Virginia who was a Quaker. I never thought that he would have fought in the Revolution because of his religious beliefs. This information just surfaced in July 1989 so it will have to be researched later.
I51 Viola Marie Tullis b. Apr. 20, 1905
Charles C. Tullis World War I Draft Registration Card
