User:BlainGrubbs

Ira Mullins son of John and Martha "Patsy" (Potter) Mullins of Pike County, KY was the main targeted victim of the "Pound Gap Massacre".

Ira Mullins was born February 8, 1857 in Kentucky, the son of John and Martha Mullins of Pike County. Ira was a small time merchant, but moonshiner by trade. He married Louranza "Lou Ann" (Estep), May 10, 1879 in Letcher County. Sometime previous Ira Mullins' trade of moonshining had led him into a skirmish with revenue agents. During this battle he was severely shot, an injury which resulted in his being paralyzed, unable to walk or to even feed himself. One of the revenue agents causing Mullins to experience extreme discomfort was none other than Dr. Marshall Benton Taylor.

It was on May 14, 1892, that the horrible "Pound Gap Massacre" occurred. It was between nine and 10 o'clock in the morning when Ira began a trip to his home at Pound, Virginia. Heading a group of eight people, he left the home of his brother-in-law, Wilson Mullins, who lived at the mouth of Cane Creek Branch, in Kentucky. Wilson's eleven year old daughter Mindy started out on the trip but was dropped off at the house of her grandmother Patsy (Potter) Mullins.

Now seven in number, they were making their way to Pound, Virginia and would cross the mountain by way of Pound Gap. The gap, originally called "Sounding Gap," is a high pass at the head of Elkhorn Creek, near where the present day town of Jenkins, Kentucky is located. Travel over these steep rough roads was slow and laborious, but they had made good time. Though they had stopped two or three times during their trip, it was just after noon when the party neared the crest of the mountain.

Wilson, who was a son of Marshall "Big Foot" Mullins and had married Ira's sister, led the procession riding on horseback. John Chappel, a handyman for Ira, was driving the wagon, and Ira's wife, Louranza (Estep) Mullins, sat beside Chappel on the wagon seat. Ira Mullins was partly sitting up on a pallet in the back of the wagon on top of a load of hay. Two young boys, Ira's fourteen-year-old son, John Harrison Mullins, and Greenberry Harris, the son of Jemima Harris were walking just behind the wagon. Wilson's wife, Jane Mullins, rode on horseback, beside or just behind the boys. Hidden and unseen underneath the hay was a wagon-load of wildcat liquor.

It was about one o'clock in the afternoon the Mullins family neared the site that is today known as "Killing Rock," about one fourth to one half mile from the top of the mountain. Near the right side of the road there were two rocks about four or five feet in height. Between these rocks was a separation of several feet, which formed a natural opening. A wall had been built up between the two large rocks to about the height of a man's waist. Branches from pine, maple and chestnut trees, had been cut and placed to cover the opening. The weather was warm and the leaves had begun to wilt, giving the appearance they had been there for several days. Concealed behind the rocks and branches were the assassins who opened fire on the Mullins family as they came into range. When the shooting commenced, from the right side and above the road, Wilson was riding beside the wagon. A thunderous roar of gunfire exploded from behind the rocks. In a matter of seconds, bullets penetrated the horses, the wagon and its passengers. The air was filled with black powder smoke from the guns; the ground became covered with blood. Even the team of horses pulling the wagon were struck by the gunfire and fell to the ground dead.

The only survivors of the "Pound Gap Massacre" were Ira's son John Harrison Mullins and Jane Mullins. Both managed to escape and run in separate directions for help. The assassins were Dr. Marshall Benton Taylor, Henan Fleming and Calvin Fleming.

Dr. Marshall B. Taylor was hanged at Wise Courthouse, Virginia, at 2:20, October 27, 1893, for the murder of the Mullins Family. He preached his own funeral and had his wife make him a white hanging suite.

Calvin Fleming was killed in a shoot out with police in January 1894 at a general store which housed a local post office in the town of Boggs, Webster County, West Virginia. Hanan was captured during the shoot out and taken back to Wise where he stood trial. Unfortunately, the main witness to the killings at "Killing rock", Wilson's wife Jane was dead. Insufficient evidence resulted in a not guilty verdict and Henan Fleming went free.



Pound Gap