[Granville-Hough] 5 Sep 2009 - Polygamy

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Date: Sat, 05 Sep 2009 06:30:17 -0700
From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net>
Subject: Polygamy-5 Sep 2009


Problems of Polygamy in the Tom Sullivan Household.

Tom Sullivan (1775 GA - 1855 MS) did not seem to be bothered by his 
varied household of 22 children from three separate mothers. Tom had 
likely observed multiple wives in Creek or Choctaw households and 
followed their general practices. People also knew generally that the 
Mormons were practicing polygamy in Utah. Some wealthy white 
slave-holders had black concubines. If other people were bothered by one 
settler with a multiple family in a remote corner of the county, they 
did not dare make a fuss about it. How did Maude, the first known 
mother, and Polly, the third and last mother, feel about it? Actually, 
there is no record that they did not get along. It may well be that they 
were so afraid of Pappy Tom that they did not speak up. There are a few 
indications of the stress which existed. It is recalled that Maude did 
not create problems when Polly had ten or more children while she was 
still alive. She is said to have accepted that Polly had no more choice 
than she did about having children. So there was some sort of mutual 
acceptance. Another indication is that the Sullivan home was in two 
parts, as if there had once been separate dwellings which had been moved 
together, perhaps at the time of MaudeÆs death in 1846. Another 
indication was that there were separate keys to the smokehouse where the 
meat was kept. Perhaps, there had been problems of one mother having to 
go to the other to gain access to the smokehouse. So Pappy Tom just 
issued each her own key. Finally, as soon as Maude was buried, Polly 
insisted on Pappy Tom taking her to the local Justice of the Peace to 
get married. Indeed, Alexander, their last child, was the only one born 
in wedlock. In her old age, Polly visited with her children, 
step-children, and their children, whoever needed help and solace. The 
one picture I have seen of Polly shows her as a small and neat looking 
woman with the Henry and Caroline Byrd family; and perhaps the Byrd 
children considered her as ôGrandma Polly,ö though I do not believe they 
were at all related by blood. I think Caroline was born to Maude after 
Polly was also having children. Caroline probably just considered Polly 
an alternate mother. mtDNA would probably resolve the mother, if you 
could find a Bird descendant who had no other influx of Sullivan blood. 
Maybe there is someone in the Paul Bird, Sr, and "Shuck" (Ware) line who 
meets that requirement for Caroline. Then finding a descendant of Polly 
with unmingled blood might be more difficult, but some of Loughton 
Sullivan's descendants might qualify.
How did the children get along? Some have suggested that Loderick, the 
son of PollyÆs mother, and the second mother, and half-brother to Polly, 
the third mother, was sometimes disdained as "the Bastard" so that he 
moved away, back to Simpson County, when he could. I personally doubt 
that, as all of Polly's children except Alexander, the youngest, were 
legally bastards.. When violence erupted among PollyÆs grandchildren, 
descendants of Maude began to call themselves ôSillivans,ö as opposed to 
the lawless ôSullivansö who descended from Polly. However, when it came 
to marriage, the preferred partner was a cousin, whoever was available 
and willing, without regard to whatever grandmother they had.
It would seem that there would have been much discussion among the early 
Sillivan/Sullivan sons about their father and his background, about 
where they had lived and what they had done; but it seems that nothing 
much was passed on. Joseph Sullivan, Jr, recorded what he knew while his 
own father and mother were still alive, but apparently Joseph Sullivan, 
Sr, and wife Harriet (Wilson) did not know much, or they would not 
disclose what they knew to Joseph, Jr. Joseph, Sr in 1841 had actually 
gone back to Lauderdale County, MS, among Pappy Tom's kin to find his 
wife Harriet Wilson. They married there in the home of Owen Sullivan, 
probably an uncle. He obviously knew where the family came from and 
where descendants lived. Polygamy

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Comments on the roles of firemen in today's health care system:
 from Barbara Roesch, retired health care administrator:
Granville,
Glad to hear you are getting out, even if it's to look at a hot smoky sky!
Thanks so much for the update, your cousin is absolutely right! This is the
kind of issue that most people don't realize is one of the very biggest
problems today - not in providing care where it is needed but providing
unnecessary/inappropriate levels of care.
I once went on a 911 ride (as part of my CEU requirements) to attend to a
stubbed toe of a child. Better phone assessment at the time would have
prevented this. Today, the little work I do, is part of an effort to help
folks get the correct level of care without calling 911 or using ERs
unnecessarily. Wish more medical groups provided this service and American
citizens would quit panicking over changes in our current system.
Anyway, I am enjoying hearing from you!
Much love,
Barb

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Harold Hopkins comments are more pertinent to today's message on Tom 
Sullivan. The majority of the classmates he mentions are Sullivan 
descendants, including the hero, Rudolph Darden:

Thanks, Granville, for the clip sent by your cousin. I subscribe to the 
NY Times five days a week (Mon-Fri) and I saw the DC fire department 
story in that paper this morning.

Mike Causey of Brandon, MS., or near Brandon, just sent me a scan of 
part of the /Smith County Reformer /containing a story -- by Eugene 
Tullos, a Raleigh lawyer who has written a lot concerning Smith County 
historical incidents -- about the Mize High School Senior Class of 1940 
that includes some of the heroics of Rudolph Darden, a member of my 
class. Rudolph joined the Air Corps as I did, right out of school, and 
became and enlisted bombardier on a B-17. He was credited with sinking 
many, many tons of Japanese shipping. Later, he was commissioned and 
took pilot training and during the war his plane and its crew fell into 
the Gulf of Mexico -- off Tampa -- and he was drowned. My sister was 
married to Rudolph and they had one son (Danny Darden), who died 
recently of a rare brain disorder or cancer.
My sister (Mary) and Rudolph were divorced and Rudolph had remarried at 
the time he was killed.

If you don't get this paper and have no access, I can send you a scan 
when I receive a copy of the SCR that sister Mary will be sending me. It 
includes a photo of several members of my 1940 class, including Rudolph. 
Others are me, my cousin Lloyd Butler, Erschel McAlpin, Maxie Sullivan, 
Tommie Lee Sullivan, Mittie West, Willie George Bradshaw, and Robert 
Pittman.