On October 17, 1950, Albert Kraul sold the 74 acres to Glenwood Earl Mullican and his wife Grace Evelyn Lapp. Glen grew up in Pecatonica where his father, Fred Mullican, worked various jobs as a day laborer. Grace was raised near Rock City, where her father was a farmer. She grew up about a mile west of our home on a farm her grandfather, Warren Dart, had owned as early as 1871. The Mullican's farm was adjacent to land owned by Grace's parents, Walter and Annie (Dart) Lapp. The Lapp’s land to the north now makes up part of the Espensheid Woods forest preserve, where the Davis Mill was located.
Glen and Grace were married December 22, 1934 and lived in Pecatonica for several years. In the 1940 U.S. Census, Glen's occupation was listed as a livestock buyer. At the time, the Mullican's had three young children: Ramona Ann, age 4 Roberta Lou, age 3 and Richard Lewis, age 1. They lived in a rented house on Main Street in Pecatonica.
Roberta Mullican Schuster shared with us that Glen and Grace bought the farm mainly to be closer to Grace's parents. The Mullican children finished the 1950-51 school year at Pecatonica while the home underwent some remodeling and a wood furnace was installed. The next year, after the Mullicans moved to the farm, Roberta began her sophomore year at Dakota High School.
During his time on the property, Glen farmed his in-laws' land, milked cows, raised pigs and sheep, and bred beef cows. Glen retired in 1968, at the age of 61. That year they briefly listed the farm for sale and began traveling in a car and an Airstream trailer.
