Sarah Hall Thomas Rye Bullock

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)