Earl's father's name was George MacClellan Mullins. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. He was of Scottish and Iroquois Indian ancestry. George’s father's name was Harm Mullins, but that is all that is known about that generation. Earl’s mother's name was Emmy Alice Dallas Coleman. She was ¾ Choctaw and ¼ Cherokee Indian (on the Durant Roll).

George and Emmy met in Kentucky when she was 13 and living on a reservation. George worked in the coal mines in Kentucky. George and Emmy had four children there, then moved to Virginia and had 10 more children. They purchased land and lived in a modest cabin, raised tobacco and horses, and sold timber and coal from the property. They built a 36 room mansion which came to be know as “The Stone House”. An Italian Architect by the name of Guy Pizzutto designed and built the mansion out of imported individual stone.

Earl was born in Harland County Kentucky. His family later moved to Virginia. He left Virginia at the age of 14 to attend college in Berea, Kentucky. He attended college for eight years two of which were attending seminary. He then rode the rails for two years, went to California and worked as a migrant fruit picker, sharpened knives, and repaired shoes.

Later, he became a card dealer in Las Vegas for several years. After his father passed away, Earl returned to Virginia for a few years and then went to Pontiac, Michigan in 1940.

When World War II began, he tried to enlist in the Airforce, but was turned down because of a heart condition. He then tried to enlist in the Canadian Airforce but was also turned down there.

In 1941, Earl met Charlene McCowan in Pontiac. He had an apartment above a funeral home, and they met at the bus stop in front of his apartment. They married in October of 1941 when Earl was 36 and Charlene was 23. They had three children: Wilma Jean (Eaton), Wanda Lee (Backes) and Patricia Ann (Lowder). Wilma was born 9 months and three weeks after they were married on August 19, 1942. Wanda was born 11 months later on July 28, 1943. Patti didn't come along until 13 years later.

Wilma (left) and Wanda (right) as children shown at right and in high school below ...

 

Earl (second from the left above) belonged to a cave man club. Everything about their costumes seems quite authentic ... except the shoes and socks.

When they moved back to Virginia, Earl started a well drilling business. Then they moved to Pound Virginia and later to Sullivan Gardens, Tennessee. Wilma started school there and Earl started a coal mining business. In 1955, they moved back to Michigan and Patti was born there on August 30, 1956.

Andrew Jackson Mullins an older brother who worked for C&O Railroad.
William (Bill) was an attorney in Louisville, Kentucky (p)
Ernest owned coal mines in Virginia and West Virginia (p)
Clyde met his future wife Alvenie on a hunting trip (p)
Marvin was married Myrtle and they had 16 children
Charles (the youngest) lived in Saudi Arabia and Florida. He was an engineer in the oil fields. (p)
Clarence (Kayo) married Ella, lived in Oregon, and died in 1991. He was a government conservationist. (p)
Melster Earl's sister, lived in Virginia and owned two restaurants. Wilma & Wanda lived there for about a year. Patti visited there 3-4 times.
Elizabeth owned part of C&O Railroad. (p)
Edna was a school teacher. (p)
Myrtle and her husband owned a restaurant and general store in Virginia.

Charlene is pictured at right.

Charlene's father William Jerry McCowan her mother Rebecca Mae Garrett who died in 1974 are pictured below.

Charlene's parents lived in Sunbright, Tennessee and six McCowan children were born there:
#1 Iva Aileene married three times: first to David Neil for 25 years and he died; then to Van Vandercamp for 2 years; and then Pete McCauley for 15 years.
#2 Mildred Charlene
#3 Frances Christine died from typhoid at age 15
#4 Pearl Georgine was married Tex Mohle for 16 years and divorced, and then married Andy Spehar for 3 years until he died.
#5 William Jerry (Uncle Bill) was married to Maxine for 20 years and they had five children.
#6 Archie Howard was married to Joanne who had two girls that he adopted and they had five children together. He died at age 49.

(Additional notes from Wilma)
When Earl heard that his father had died, he went to the bank, drew out $8,000 he had saved, wrapped it in a rag and tied it around his body and rode the rails back to Virginia. On the return trek, he once slept on the ground under the open skies and when he awoke in the morning, there was a rattlesnake curled up and laying on him. So, he just waited until the snake crawled away so he could get up safely.

After Earl and Charlene were married, Earl bought an Airstream travel trailer and the family, with their two tiny girls, traveled all over the Western United States for about four years until Wilma was 6. Then they moved back to Virginia where Wilma started school and Earl started a well water drilling business. Once he invented a new drill so he could take a job on the edge of a cliff in North Carolina that nobody else would try to do. Later, he opened his own coal mine there, found a big vein of Pocohontus (anthracite) coal, and built loading docks and tunnels to mine the coal. The family eventually moved back to Michigan where Earl got a job with General Motors as a master sewing machine technician. Although he had no prior experience doing that, he went to the library, read up on the subject, told them that his masters license was burned in a fire, but passed the test, and they hired him. He worked there until he died.

During the war, Earl worked converting domestic factories to military hardware factories for three years and they lived in 27 different states during those three years. After the war, they went back to Detroit and later to Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Michigan.

Earl had also been a professional card dealer at one time. But when he and Charlene married, because of her Southern Baptist background, she forbade any card games or board games or games of chance of any kind in her home because she considered them to be works of the devil. But Earl said, "When I play these games, it isn't a game of chance, because of my expertise, it's a sure thing." Even so, she made him promise to not gamble, and he agreed ... except for one time when Charlene's brother Archie lost his home in a card game and Charlene said, "Earl, you go back there and get my brother's house back." He did. So, it seems that works of the devil or not, there was this one exception.

Earl got his pilot's license without ever taking a lesson. He just read a book, took the test, and qualified. He also got his journeyman's license as a sewing machine specialist by without spending the 12 years that was normally required. He just went to the library, read up on the subject, took the test, and passed.

He used to say, "You can travel the whole world without leaving your living room and be anything you want to be. Just get yourself a book."