Wilkinson County GAGenWeb

Sarah Hall Thomas Rye Bullock


Copyright R. Elizabeth Brewer.
(Click for larger view)

 In 1974, a 1867 original receipt for tuition was  given to me because of my  interest and research of Wilkinson County, Georgia  and the Stuckey surname.  The  handwriting is very legible.  Original receipt:  "Mrs. Sarah Bullock-To John M.
 Smith-Tuition for daughter one term $12.  Received  payment in full for above  account December 9, 1867.  /S/ John M. Smith.

In the Taylor Bible Record (1839) it shows that  Daniel and Sarah (Taylor?) Hall  had a daughter named "Sarah Hall."  She was bn.  February 15, 1819.  Sarah  married Daniel Thomas on March 15, 1835.  She was  sixteen years of age.  From
 this marriage, three known children were:  (1) Mary  Thomas bn. September 6, 1836  md. (a)Alison Stuckey (b) James A. Bullock. (2)  Nancy Thomas bn. June 4, 1839  md. (a)William A.Stuckey. (b)William B. Sheffield.
 (3) George W. Thomas bn. May  5, 1842 died in the War Between the States.  On  March 11, 1844, Daniel Thomas,
 husband and father, died.

 The next year, January 6, 1845, Sarah Hall (Thomas)  md. John W. Rye, Jr. His  date of birth was October 28, 1823.
 The 1850 census for Wilkinson County shows that John  Rye was age 25 and Sarah  was 33.  The difference in ages, according to their  actual Bible dates of birth,  could be the result of poor age calculation.  In
 their household were the  "Thomas" children, as well as children from their  marriage.  Known Rye children
 were: (1) John Franklin Rye bn. October 18, 1845 dd.  April 18, 1881. (2) Sarah  Ann Rye bn. July 22, 1847 md. James Allen Stuckey.  (3) Hester Sabrina Rye bn.  May 6 1850 md. Charles Franklin Porter (4) Laura Ann  Rye bn. January 22, 1854  md. David Andrew A. Holliman on December 10, 1873.
 The receipt was for the  tuition of Laura Ann Rye.
 Also, the Bible record reveals that Sarah (Hall,  Thomas) Rye again became a  widow on March 28, 1855,  John Rye Jr.'s date of  death. He was approximately  thirty-one years of age when he died.  In 1855,  Nelson Stuckey, family friend,
 neighbor and kinsman by marriage, became the  administrator of the estate of John  Rye.  During this time, Willis Bullock was a  prominent farmer in the High Hill  community.  (It was his son, James A. Bullock who  married Sarah's daughter, Mary
 (Thomas,Stuckey). Willis' real estate worth was  $4820 and his personal property  was $5191.  In 1860, his wife, Nancy, was living but  must have passed away  between 1860 to 1863.  In the same 1860 census, Sarah (Hall, Thomas) Rye
 was the head of her household.   Her real estate was worth $1000 and personal  property $565.  She was a young
 widow with five children.  She remained a widow for  about eight years and on  November 22, 1863, she married the widower, Willis  Bullock.  She was about  forty-five years of age and he was between 55-60.   Sarah and Willis had almost  five years of marriage before he passed away on  August 6, 1868. In 1870, Sarah Bullock was living in the household
 of her son-in-law James Allen  Stuckey and her daughter, Sarah Ann (Rye) Stuckey.  With her was her youngest
 daughter, Laura (Rye), age fourteen. In the 1880  census, she continued to live  with James Allen and Sarah Stuckey.  James referred  to her as "Sarah Rye,  mother-in-law."  In the 1900 census, she was living  with her grandson, John B.
 Stuckey and his wife Mary (Cauley) Stuckey.  She was  listed as "Sarah Bullock,  age eighty-two, grandmother."  She was still living  with them in the 1910  census.  Her age was ninety-one.  The fateful day occurred on June 12, 1913, when
 Sarah (Hall, Thomas, Rye)  Bullock passed away.  She would have been about  ninety-four and one-half years
 of age.  It seems that she outlived Willis Bullock  over forty-four years. She  was buried as "Sarah Bullock" - near her second
 husband, John Rye, in the  Pleasant Plains Cemetery.  We do not know the burial  sites for either Daniel
 Thomas or Willis Bullock.  What a wonderful life she must have experienced.  Sarah lived through the pioneer
 stages of Wilkinson County, the War Between the  States, diseases for which we  now have a cure and other trials about which we are  unaware.  It is difficult to  imagine the many cultural changes she experienced as  she matured and lived such
 a long, healthy life.  During her lifetime, our  research shows that Sarah's  family took loving care of her.  It was a personal
 pleasure for me to know more  about her history and to solve the "mystery of the  lady of the receipt."
 

 Additional Comments:
 Sources: Taylor Bible Record (belonged to Sarah  Bullock); Receipt dated December  9, 1867; Deed Book A, pages 287, 288, Wilkinson  County Courthouse; Irwinton;  Pleasant Plains Cemetery burial plots and the U.S.  Census' for 1840-1920,
 Wilkinson County, Georgia, (Ancestry.com)

Submitted and Copyright 2005 R. Elizabeth Brewer
 

 

|Wilkinson Co Page | GAGenWeb State Page|USGenWeb Page