-Text of the Bullard Marker off Hwy 90 & Ranch Ln Madisonville, TX (3 miles east)

Alabama native Calvin Cullee Bullard (1824-1882) brought his family to this area from Hunt County, Texas, in 1867 and settled on 160 acres of land between Bedias Creek and Caney Creek. In their new home, he and his second wife, Zillah (Woodbury), reared three of Bullard's children from his first marriage and six of their own. Calvin Bullard had a blacksmith shop in the community that bears his name, and several of his descendants followed in his footsteps. The Bullards were also farmers, as were other families in the area, raising cotton as their primary cash crop. Active beyond their community, Calvin E. Bullard served a term as county tax assessor-collector and Rube Bullard was a justice of the peace and five-term Madison County commissioner. A one-room schoolhouse was built in the Bullard community to address the educational needs of the neighboring children. It operated from 1890 until 1923. Worship services were held in the schoolhouse, as well as in an outdoor brush arbor when the weather permitted. Calvin and Zillah Bullard and many of their descendants are buried in the Bethel cemetery in nearby Grimes County. Their contributions to Madison County history as early settlers and the founders of a community reflect the settlement patterns in this part of Texas and remain an important part of the area's history.

-----------------------

Calvin Cullee Bullard was the son of John William Bullard, and Rebecca (Fortenberry) Bullard. (*Place of burial for either is unknown. John and Rebecca married in Rutherford County, Tennessee in 1817. They moved to Tishomingo County, Mississippi until 1825. It is said that John and Rebecca had to leave Mississippi and move to Texas, because John had gotten into a number of altercations, finally putting a knife on a man who sic'd the law on him. John and Rebecca had 10 known children. )

Calvin married Martha O'Neal on May 10, 1849 in Luka, Mississippi. (*Place of burial is unknown.)

Calvin and Martha were the parents of the following known children:

1. John Jefferson Bullard

2. Caroline Bullard (*Place of burial is unknown)

3. William M Bullard

4. Hannah L "Fannie" Bullard

5. Benjamin Wills Bullard

6. George Bullard (*Place of burial is unknown)

Calvin married his second wife, Zillah Ann Woodbury on November 12, 1865 in Hunt Co., Texas.

Calvin and Zillah had the following known children:

1. Zillah Mae Bullard

2. Calvin P. Bullard

3. Lizzie Clementine Bullard

4. James H. Bullard

5. Richard Woodbury Bullard

6. Wilburn Booker Bullard