Lucy (White) Mullinix

WHITE, MULLINIX, CASHATT, HUFFMAN, BALLENGER, CARPENTER, ROBBINS

Posted By: Marsha (Mullinix)Ingebretson (email)
Date: 2/19/2003 at 02:15:07

My grandma was Lucy White, born in Chariton Co., Mo. on July 31, 1882. She was the daughter of Joseph B. White and Eliza Issadora Cashatt. I don't know much about her early years as I never thought to ask her. We called her "Annie" although most folks called her Lucy.

Joseph and Eliza had 6 children which included two sets of twins. One of the twins died 2 weeks after birth. This was Annie's only sister, Elva.

Her dad died in 1891 from appendicitis; her mom remarried in 1892 to George Wesley Huffman. At some point the family moved to Macon Co., Mo. and this is where they lived with George. Her mom and George also had more children.

Grandma probably went to school at the Hammack School which was very near her home in Chariton Co., then to the Forest School 5 miles north of Callao, Mo. after moving to Macon Co. She also taught at the Forest School.

On October 16, 1907 grandma married Edgar Edward Mullinix (Edd) in Macon Co., Mo. They had probably known each other all their life as they lived close in Chariton Co. as children in an area known as Puzzle Ridge.

In March 1908 her oldest brother, Willard died. He had married Catherine Ballenger the year before.

Annie and Edd had their first child in Missouri in August 1908. Their next child was born in Beloit, Lyon Co., Ia. in 1910. The next 2 children were born in Williamsburg, Ia. in 1912 and 1913. Then my dad was born in Callao, Mo. in 1915. In July 1916 they moved back to Beloit; in March 1917 they moved to Mott, Hettinger Co., N. D. where the next child was born. October 1918 found them in South Shore, Codington Co., S. D. where child number 7 and 8 were born. In 1922, back to Beloit where they stayed. The last two kids were born in Beloit. Doesn't it make you wonder how my grandparents could move around like that during such hard times and all their children lived? These 10 children were the only births recorded in Annie's Bible pages, so must have been all they had. Each time they lived in Beloit and also in Mott, N. D. and South Shore, S. D. they were living on farms owned by J. A. Carpenter who owned a considerable amount of land in Lyon Co., Ia. This is documented in the book "The History of Lincoln Co., South Dakota."

Annie's brother Andrew died from pneumonia in Missouri in 1910 leaving just the 3 children, grandma and her twin brother, Tom, and brother Elbert to carry on the family. I cannot imagine loosing 3 children and a husband. How much sorrow her mother must have dealt with on a daily basis! She must have had incredible faith.

From 1922 till 1935 grandma and grandpa and their children lived on the farm south of Beloit. I remember the farm being pretty big, so there must have been plenty of work to keep all those kids busy! The house was a big two-story. The kitchen was my favorite. There was a huge bag of flour sitting just inside the back door and a wood cook stove. Outside the back door stood a broom, handle down. I only remember being in the barn one time when my cousin Billy was feeding the cows.

In 1935 grandpa passed away from cancer. They had taken him to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Mn. but nothing could be done. He died at home with all 10 of his children, grandma, and 2 grandchildren present. Now grandma had to bury her husband and rely on her children to work the farm, which they did till several years later when she moved to a house in the town of Beloit. The youngest, Aunt Mary, would have been 10 years old when grandpa died. During that time Annie managed to keep the children in school as much as she could. She attended Sunday school on a regular basis and had many friends in Beloit as well as Canton, S. D., just across the river. Some of the folks who lived in and near Beloit were migrants from Chariton and Macon Counties in Missouri. What a comfort it must have been to have "home folks" near you.

The World War II years surely tested her faith as her daughter, Aunt Mildred, had moved to California with her husband, Martin Luther Robbins, and their two daughters. Five of her children were in military service during the war. Uncle Beeman was in the Army; my dad, Howard, and Uncle Dick were in the Navy and served on the same ship most of the time; Uncle Dutch was a Marine; Aunt Mary was in the Navy.

Most of the memories I have of my grandma are from when she lived in the house in Beloit. She still had the old wook cookstove and an outhouse. There was a pile of wood out back and a small garden beyond that. My brother, Mike, and I would walk down the tracks from Canton to visit her. I was probably 9 or 10 at that time and she seemed like such a wonderful lady. She was pretty quiet when speaking, but matter of fact in her manner. If she said you should have a piece of bread and butter, you did! She always had an old house dress on which she was probably most comfortable in. Never saw her in slacks. Still used oil lamps. The house seemed so comfortable to me as I remember. We would sit and talk and eat some bread or something from the garden, then walk back to Canton. Sometimes we would go to Sunday school with her.

Annie died in 1964. Her funeral was at the M. E. Church in Inwood. I remember that there seemed to be a million people there. She is buried at the Beloit Cemetery in Lyon Co., Ia.

Annie was a wonderful woman and I miss her......