Richard G. Tullis
101 Mt. Lyell Drive
San Rafael, California 94903
email: Richard.Tullis@gte.net
Compiled: February 12, 1997

Virginia Migration

Notes on the Branches of the Virginia Migration

Descendants of Cloud Tullos in the United States now number in the thousands. Three branches have been well-documented. One branch of the Virginia migration became Quakers while in Virginia and moved west to Ohio. The leading figure in the movement to Ohio was Richard Tullis (1794-1856), a great-great grandson of Cloud, who had ten sons and two daughters. About the time of the Civil War, the Ohio branch has adopted the "Tullis" spelling the name. In their book Richard Tullis of Columbia County, Ohio (1989), Carolyn Miller and Patricia Tullys trace this branch from Cloud to generations that are now living.

Two Southern branches of Cloud's descendants have also been documented. One descends from Cloud's great grandsons Temple and Willoughby Tullos who moved as children to North Carolina and, after the Revolutionary War, they settled in Georgia and, later, in Mississippi. Temple and Willoughby married sisters, Thankful and Anna Mills, and together produced 20 children (Temple, 12 and Willoughby, 8). This migration later continued to move west to Louisiana and, later in large numbers, to Texas. "Tullos" is the predominant spelling of the name by descendants of this branch; however, the "Tullis" spelling was popular in Mississippi during the 1800's and some, like my own family, have continued to use this spelling to the present time.

Another descends from Rodham Tullos, another grandson of Cloud. This branch began spelling the name "Tulloss" while in Virginia in the early 1800's; they subsequently migrated to Ohio, Tennessee and other parts of the South.

Notes on Spelling Variations

As in Scotland, the spelling of the name by the Virginia migration has varied widely. This migration occurred at a time when the spelling of the name in Scotland was often spelled "Tullos" and "Tullus". (The New Jersey migration came at the beginning of the 18th Century when the spelling "Tullis" was becoming increasingly popular). In this country and in Scotland, "Tullis" and "Tullos" have become the most common spellings of the name; however, here a distinct branch of the family spells the name "Tulloss" and the name is also spelled "Tullous", "Tullus" and "Tillis" in addition to other similar variations.