Samuel Muholland: The Family Patriarch

Samuel Mulholland was born in Ireland. He married Jane Bullock. They came to the United States and settled in Superior Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan in 1833 where their son Sam jr. had settled several years earlier. At least nine individuals can be identified as their children: Sam jr, William, Phebe, Sarah, Jane, Eliza, and MaryAnn. Two older brothers, John and James Mulholland, are known to be sons of Sam sr. from Probate Records. Given the gaps in ages between the children of Sam sr, there may have been additional children as yet unidentified or perhaps the marriage to Jane was a second or third marriage.

Sam sr. was a farmer and purchased land in the township and beyond. Land records signed by Sam and wife Jane from 1845 indicate both were alive at that date. Sam sr. appears in Probate Records for his son John in 1846. By 1850, Samuel sr. and Jane had died or at least disappeared from any further records. And that is about all that we can be sure of. The records from this early period of rural Michigan are sparse, and from contacts made with Ireland, there seems to be little there either.

Earlier genealogies have linked every Mulholland in Superior Township in the early years directly to the patriarch Samuel, but the evidence that that all these Mulhollands were his offspring is more a convenience than a reality. In fact, some of these links seem odd because such a single family tree ends up with multiple Janes, MaryAnns and Phebes in the same root family, an unlikely naming scheme even for Irish families where names are reused.

The Stories versus the Documents: Ireland to Michigan

One of the problems with tracing the families is the issue of the spelling of names—most of these immigrants were not literate, and there were inconsistent ways of spelling, partly due to the individual not being set on a particular spelling and partly because those doing the recording didn't get it right either. While my family ended up with Mulholland in most later generations, there are a few possible relatives who now have Mulhollen or Mollholand and other variants. 

1833 Tithe Book for Aghabog

The other problem is the lack of early records for the area of Ireland from which they emigrated. Records from Drumhirk, Aghabog, County Monaghan where Sam jr is known to have originated give a Samuel Mulholland in the Tithe Applotment Book of 1833 living on 7 acres in the area but there is not enough to be certain this is the same Samuel in our story. The location matches the naturalization records for his sons James, John, and Samuel who arrived in Michigan earlier. Church records for the area are only available beginning in 1856, long after our Mulhollands had left.

The known story comes from the 1881 History of Washtenaw County, where Samuel and Jane are mentioned in the biographies of both sons, Sam jr and William. Of course, the hints that there might be a problem with these two stories is obvious immediately, since Jane is listed as having the surname Bullock in the former and Burlock in the latter, even though the two bios are on the same page! Bullock appears in more records than Burlock, is known as a family name from the area where the Mulhollands originated in Ireland, with one family living within two miles of Drumhirk, and is therefore used in this narrative as the best guess for Jane's surname.

There is no further mention of Samuel and Jane in Sam jr's biography, but William's indicates he arrived with his family, presumably including his parents, in 1835, after Sam jr who arrived in 1831. However, the date for immigration in the 1881 History is not correct, as the family was already there in 1833 based on other records (possibly a typo as in handwriting, 35 could be misread for 33).

Several records suggest the earlier arrival, including a land purchase by Sam in Section 20 of Superior Township from his sons James and John in October 1833. Phebe married in September 1833. Sam jr and William signed a petition for road improvements in January 1834 sent to the U.S. Congress in February of that year. Further, the extended "Sam'l Mulhollan" family appears in the 1834 Michigan census enumerated in mid-1834, showing it was a large Irish household living in Superior Township. Unfortunately, the census has only gender and age ranges, lacking the individual names or more detailed locations found in later census enumerations. It does show that the males were engaged in agriculture.

The Samuel Mulholland Household in Superior Township

Part of the 1834 Census, Superior Township

A reasonable assumption based on the 1834 Michigan census is that the senior Samuel Mulholland is the male 50-60, his wife Jane Bullock Mulholland is the female 40-50, and two of the older sons are Sam and William. The rest of the household of eight includes another male and three younger females. From other records, Sam and William had three younger sisters who are documented and are the likely females: Jane Mulholland (Stebbins), Eliza Mulholland Larabee, and MaryAnn Mulholland but that leaves one male yet unidentified. Given that many of these early households had servants or farm hands as well as other relatives, the unidentified man may not even be a sibling to the five known children. Son James and a second male of about the same age are listed separately in the 1834 census. Other records suggest John initially lived with James and his wife until John married in 1835.

Like many women of the time, Jane Bullock Mulholland does not appear in any of the usual official documents. Her presence is mostly assumed as the older female in the census records. Her birth, marriage, and death dates are unknown. She does appear in deed records in May 1845 when son William purchased land from his parents in Section 17 of Superior Township where he farmed most of his life. No tombstone has been found for her and it is possible she was buried on their farmland, as the first Dixboro church did not appear until 1857. In fact, William purchased land for a family grave in 1858 on land that had belonged to brother James before a sheriff sale, making it likely that family members were buried there until the opening of Oak Grove Cemetery near Dixboro where later family are buried.

Samuel Mulholland can be found in several official records. Samuel registered an original purchase of land in Ingham County in 1836 with his sons, Sam jr. and William although the land patent was not issued by the U.S. land bureau until 1837. None of the Mulhollands lived there; this land was sold off with proceeds supporting the family and helping to fund farmland in Superior Township.

In the 1840 U.S. census, there is a similar large household as in 1834 with only gender and ages listed under the Samuel Mulholland family. None of the four known children had married by this time and presumably are still living with their parents. Based on this assumption, the older male 50-59 is Samuel, Jane is now listed between 50-59, and the two males between 20-29 are Sam jr. and William. The household has more females than it did in 1834, with 4 listed but only three known offspring: Jane, Eliza and MaryAnn. One of the males, probably the unknown one, from 1834 is gone. Samuel is among the list of males 21 and older in the 1845 Michigan census in which there are two Samuels listed, making one the father and the other the son.

The children of Samuel sr. are all living separately by the 1850 census, with the youngest, MaryAnn living next to William with another a younger Mulholland girl who at 16 and born in Ireland, could not be a sister nor would she have arrived in Michigan in 1833 as did the rest of the family. William, Sam jr, Jane and Eliza are married with their own families.

With no record of Sam sr by 1850, it can be assumed he had died by that date and after the last known record in 1846. Like his wife Jane, Samuel's burial place is unknown. Based on the census records, which may not be right, Samuel would have been born between 1781 and 1784, with Jane about 1785 if John and James are her oldest sons.  It is likely they had a large family like many other Irish couples of the time but only some of the children are certain. One can only hope that new records will emerge to help solve the mysteries of Samuel Mulholland sr. and Jane Bullock.

updated 10 June 2020