Nicholas Pulliam

Nicholas Pulliam and his wife, Maria, came by wagon train to Tarrant County, Texas in the early 1880’s and settled in the Mt. Gilead community.  It is not known how many of the Pulliam children came at that time, but by 1888, all six were living in Tarrant County.

Maria Pulliam preceded her husband in death, but the exact date and place of burial are not known.  Nicholas died in the early 1900’s.  Both are believed buried in Bourland Cemetery.

Statistics and information on the descendents of Nicholas Pulliam and his wife:

1)      Mary Pulliam Sowels came to Texas as a widow.  She owned a modest home in Keller, on the lot later occupied by the Joseph Knox family on Price Street.  This location was next door to the home of Dr. and Mrs. E.T. Read and their children.  Daughters of the Read family describe “Aunty Mary” Sowels as a beloved neighbor and a well respected citizen who earned her living by doing laundry work for neighboring families.  The wash tub and rub board had not been replaced by modern equipment.

She was a favorite among the children of the neighborhood as she related her experiences of the Civil War period.  One well remembered story concerned her favorite pony that she kept hidden in a densely timbered area when Union soldiers were near.

Mary Sowels provided a home for her elderly father, Nicholas Pulliam.  He earned a meager income by hauling water from the town well to neighboring homes for ten cents per barrel.

At gift giving seasons, Perry Davis and his wife, Ida Flemister Davis, often sponsored a surprise pounding for Aunt Mary, which was the popular way for friends to give approximately one pound portions of such foods as eggs, butter, lard and home canned products.  In later years, when Aunt Mary was less able to enjoy the social side of such an event, she might wake on Christmas morning to find that a stock of groceries had been placed in her kitchen during the night.  This happened in the years when no one in Keller locked a door.

Dr. E.T. Read attended Aunt Mary Sowels during her terminal illness, but made no charge for his services.  In return for this kindness, she gave him one of her beautiful feather beds.  She gave her house and lot to a favorite nephew, Almer Pulliam and his wife Vivian (Higgins).  Mary Pulliam Sowels died on November 18, 1922 at the age of eighty three years and two months.  She was buried in Bourland Cemetery.

2)      William Pulliam, birth and death dates unknown, was married to Annie Arnold.  After coming from Cannon County, Tennessee to Texas in the 1880’s, he lived on a farm in the Mt. Gilead community.  His next move was to Iuanah, Texas, where he lived the remainder of his life.

3)      Bias Henry Pulliam, born in 1859, the son of Nicholas Pulliam, resided in Middle Tennessee until he was 29 years old.  He was married first to Mary Jane Bell, daughter of Jim and Roxie Bell.  He and his wife were the parents of four children; Maria, Roxanah, Nicholas James and Minnie, all born in Tennessee.  Soon after the birth of her last child, the mother died and was buried in Tennessee.  The father’s second wife was May Comfort.  She lived only a year or two and was buried in Tennessee. 

In 1888, Bias Henry Pulliam brought his four children by train to Tarrant County, Texas.  Their point of arrival was eleven miles east of Keller, at Grapevine.  Bud Bourland met them there and brought them by horse drawn wagon to the home of relatives north east of Keller. 

Bias Pulliam settled permanently as a farmer in the Keller area.  His third marriage was to Mary Parker.  No death dates are available, but both are believed buried in Bourland Cemetery.

The four children grew up and married in the Keller community.  Maria, born in 1879, was married to Bert Flanagan, a farmer west of Keller.

4)  Auther Pulliam, a son of Nicholas Pulliam, came to Texas as a single man.  The exact date of his migration is not known.  His name appears in the Cannon County, Tennessee census, recorded in June of 1880, as a young man of nineteen years of age, living in the home of his sister Mary Sowels.  In the spring of 1881, he was in Tarrant County, Texas, helping to build the railroad through the (Athol) Keller area.  His first home was with the Henry Keller family on a farm known now as the Thornton place.  He helped lay the first steel for the Texas and Pacific railway between Fort Worth and Denton.  At that time the settlement which included the section houses was on the Denton – Tarrant County line.  This was the nucleus from which Keller and Roanoke grew.

He was married in 1886 to sixteen year old Emma Dye.  They spent their lives as farmers in the Smithfield and Keller Communities.  They were the parents of five children; Henry Alfred, Alice, Almer (Boog), Leona and Mable.

Gravestones in Bourland Cemetery bear the following inscriptions:

Auther F. Pulliam, Woodman of the World, born November 20, 1860, died September 20, 1919.

Emma L. Pulliam born June 10, 1880, died May 19, 1923.

Further information of Auther and Emma Pulliam is written in a subsequent narrative.

4)      Ida, the fifth child of Nicholas Pulliam, was born in 1872.  Her first marriage was to Mr. Campbell, her second was to Foster Warren.

5)      Ada, the sixth child of William Pulliam, was born in 1876.  She was married to Jack Lavy.  They were the parents of two daughters.  The oldest daughter died young.  The second, Gweneth, was married to Howard Babcock.

Sources of information on the Pulliam Families:

Mr. and Mrs. N. J. Pulliam

Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Pulliam

Boyd and Kathryn Pulliam

Bible records

Bourland Cemetery records

Mt. Olivet Cemetery records

Census Records 1880, Cannon County Tennessee

Valeria Pulliam Bently