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| Rev. Alexander M. & Martha Ritter Sullens |
Alexander, born in Mill
Springs, Wayne county, Kentucky on Oct 15, the third of thirteen, to John
(1804-1883) and Malinda Thompson Sullens (1805-1867), emigrated from Kentucky to Miller county,
Missouri where his brother was born the following year. Alexander's
grandparents were Peter & Mary Carson Sullens, Sr. Alexander's first
cousin, Judge John H. Sullens of Adrian, Bates County, MO., born in
Kentucky the year before he was, was elected to both circuit court and as a
Missouri state legislator. As a victim of the Burnt District, John,
along with other representatives, asked the editor of the St. Louis Republican
paper to publish George Caleb Bingham's letter concerning General Thomas
Ewing's Order No. 11.
Alexander married Martha
(1831-1914), daughter of Abraham and Nancy Ritter on May 19, 1849 in Cole
County, MO and to this union six children were born -- William Jasper (1850-1829); John Thomas (1852-1935);
Mary E. (b.1857); George Washington (1859-1896); Ezra L. (1861-1930); and Lewis
Pinkney "Pink" Sullens (1867-1945). Their son, William, played a
fiddle and it is said that he could play all night and not play the same song
twice. William's son, Loyd Carl would accompany his father on his banjo.
Alexander pastored the Spring Garden Christian Church, the
mother church of all the Disciples of Christ churches in Miller County. The
church was organized in 1840 and two church houses were built in the northwest
corner of the present day cemetery in 1845 and 1870. When his granddaughter,
Cora Lee (1875-1955), daughter of William Jasper and Nannie C. Scrivner
(1857-1901) Sullens, married William Thornton Rush (1874-1954), son of James M. (1826-1892) & Theresa Jane Loveall Rush (1835-1909), on March 30,
1902, he officiated at their wedding
ceremony.
1.) Bingham: Fighting Artist. By Lew Larkin. School of the
Ozarks Press, Point Lookout, MO. 1971. P. 293.
2.) The History of Cass and
Bates Counties, Missouri. St. Joseph, Mo. National Historical Company, 1883. p.
1299-1300. Repository: Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence, MO,
www.mymcpl.org
3.) Miller County, MO.
Marriages, Bk. E. P. 137 By A. M. Sullins.
4.) The Rush Report.
Compiled by Gaynelle Jenkins Moore with research assistance by David W. Rush.
Historical Data Services, Glens Falls, NY; 2003.
5.) Peter Sullens and Mary Carson and Two Hundred Years of
Descendants. By Maude Sullens Hoffman. Printed by J.W. Brown. 1971.
6.) A Photo of William Jasper & Loyd Sullens playing their instruments.
7.) Miller County, Missouri Communities: Spring Garden
8.) See the "Leaf" labeled biographies for more information.
9.) Findagrave Memorial # 61286760 and Find A Grave Memorial # 60413035
Places to Visit:
1.) Spring Garden Cemetery, AA Hwy & Binkley Road (north of
54 Hwy), Spring Garden, Miller County, MO.
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| Alexander Sullen's Civil War Tombstone Spring Garden, MO. cemetery |
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| Certificate that came with Civil War tombstone signed by US President |
