DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker for Mullins Cemetery in Tom Green County — let me tell you what it says, in my own way. Now, some men leave behind a name on a courthouse wall. Isaac Mullins left behind a brand, a jury, a school, a cemetery, and a county he helped build from scratch — and he did most of it before anybody around here had a decent road.
Mullins was born in Virginia in 1819. He was still a boy when his family packed up and came to the Republic of Texas in 1837 — the Republic, mind you, before statehood, when Texas was its own nation and the future was anybody's guess. The family put down roots, and along the way they registered a cattle brand: "IC." Two letters.
Simple enough. But that brand got registered in Bastrop, Fayette, Lampasas, Brown, Mills, Coleman, Runnels, and Tom Green counties — and the marker calls it one of the most famous brands in all of Texas. When a brand travels that many counties, it isn't following the cattle.
The cattle are following it. Mullins trailed herds to markets as far away as California. Let that settle in for a moment.
California. He wasn't just moving cows across the next county line — he was moving them across a continent. In the 1860s, he served as captain of a Texas Ranger company.
Then he moved to the area near San Angelo, bought land, and became what the marker calls a leading citizen. He helped organize Tom Green County. He served on the first county commission.
He served as a state representative in the 16th Texas Legislature. The man kept adding titles the way some men collect hats. Then there was the jury.
In 1878, Mullins was foreman of what the marker calls the noted "Ike Mullins Grand Jury" — and that jury indicted nine soldiers for rioting at Fort Concho. Nine soldiers. That took a particular kind of nerve in a frontier town where the fort was your neighbor.
He gave land for a school. And when the time came to think about the end of things, he didn't leave that to chance either. He selected this very spot as his own last resting place, and he deeded the cemetery site in 1881 — the same year he died.
His wife, Susan Slack, had passed before him, back in 1854. They had two children: a son named Charles, and a daughter named Julia, who married H. D.
Barron. Some of his family are buried here alongside him, along with Civil War veterans and many pioneers of what was then called the Mullins community — a place the marker notes is now called Veribest. And the cemetery didn't just get left to the wind after that.
The Mullins family named George Jefferson Byrd as trustee. He served until his death in 1951 — and before he went, he bequeathed the trust to a son, Curtis Byrd, and to Frank Johnson. Isaac Mullins picked this ground himself and signed the deed.
That's not a man who left things unfinished. That's a man who knew exactly where he was going — and made sure it would still be standing when the rest of us came along to find it.
What the marker says
Named for Isaac Mullins (1819-81), one of organizers of Tom Green County, member of first county commission, and state representative in 16th Texas Legislature. Born in Virginia, Mullins came to the Republic of Texas with his parents and their family in 1837. The family cattle brand, "IC", one of most famous in Texas, was registered in Bastrop, Fayette, Lampasas, Brown, Mills, Coleman, Runnels, and Tom Green counties. Mullins trailed herds to markets as far away as California. In the 1860's, he served as captain of a Texas Ranger company. Moving to this area, he bought land near San Angelo and became a leading citizen. He was foreman of noted "Ike Mullins Grand Jury" which indicted nine soldiers for rioting at Fort Concho in 1878. He gave land for a school, and selected this spot as his own last resting place, deeding cemetery site in 1881. Mullins and his wife, Susan Slack (d. 1854), had a son, Charles, and a daughter, Julia (who married H. D. Barron). Some members of his family are buried here, along with Civil War veterans, and many pioneers of former Mullins community, now called Veribest. George Jefferson Byrd, named by Mullins family as trustee, served until his death in 1951, bequeathing the trust to a son, Curtis Byrd, and Frank Johnson.