Rockingham County, North Carolina 1786-1816
For more than 28 years, Rev. Thomas Mullins was pastor of the Lickfork Primitive Baptist Church in Rockingham County, North Carolina (present day Reidsville). He was one of the founders of the Church, and in fact it was initially called “the Mullins Church”. Church minutes covering the years 1786-1816 survive. To see entries from the church minutes that mention Rev. Mullins or other family members, see the red arrows in a pdf of the original document: Lickfork Primitive Baptist Church Minutes (1786-1816).
The Lickfork Baptist Church is still standing, and hosts a faithful congregation [photos above and right]. A sign in front of the church states that the Church was founded “before 1786”, based on the existence of these minutes.
Reverend Mullins is mentioned numerous times in the Church minutes, performing various tasks of business and pastoral care of the church. His wife, Elizabeth “Betsy” Mullins, is also mentioned a few times, including once in 1798 when she was involved in a baptism. On another occasion, in September 1806, the minutes state that Brother Mullins is to bring Betsy Mullins to church to answer for her lack of church attendance. By this date, Rev. Mullins had started a second family with Rhoda (last name unknown). According to later census records, and to Rev. Mullins’s will of 1816, Rev. Mullins and Rhoda had four children: John born in 1804, Frances born about 1806, Letty born about 1808, and Samuel born about 1812.
In June 1816 the minutes note Reverend Mullins’s resignation from “the Pastoral Care of the Church”, shortly before his death. His interment is noted in the minutes later that year. An obituary in the Raleigh Star on January 19, 1817, noted that Rev. Mullins was 80 at the time of his death, and had been a minister for 60 years. Rhoda’s death is noted in the church minutes on 27 Jan 1822. She is referred to as “Sister Rhoda Mullins, Wife and Consort of Thos Mullins Minister of the Church”. The word “consort” refers to the mother of his four young children.
© 2913 W. Mullins
Lickfork Baptist Church, Reidsville, NC
