The following article was printed in
“The Smithfield Herald” in late
January 1971.

It was written by reporter Doris Cannon.

They Met In A Cotton Patch

It was a clear, mild day, January 25, 1909, when 19 year-old J.J. Sullivan put on his Sunday suit, borrowed a buggy, and drove off to marry the Rev. L.T. Phillips’ daughter, Bertha. As the two stood before Magistgrate Charlie Kirby in the Phillips home on Route 1, Selma, little did they suspect that a progression of 62 years would find them still together—the parents of 16 children with 39 grandchildren, and 28 great-grandchildren.


On the couple’s 62nd wedding anniversary Monday, Mrs. Sullivan sat up in bed at Johnston Memorial Hospital, enjoyed a piece of cake, and looked forward to going back home on Route 3, Selma, after some routine treatment. Her sparkling eyes gave no hint of her 80 years (Thursday was her birthday) as she reminisced about that by-gone wedding day.
“I wore a white linen dress,” she recalled, “and I think my shoes were black.”
Mr. Sullivan set by her bedside and frankly admitted that he couldn’t remember what he wore, but he was sure it was “something in the latest fashion of the day.”
He says he well remembers that fateful afternoon when he first met his bride to-b “in a cotton patch pickin’ cotton for ‘old man ‘ Bill Eason.”
A phenomenal parenthood record and nearly 82 years have not robbed Mr. Sullivan of his keen wit and charm. He states that he is happy that all his 16 off-springs are “living, married and have ‘fairly’ good sense.”


Mr. Sullivan has been a farmer all his life and has worked steadily until about two years ago. The Sullivans still grow a vegetable garden every year, and he says, “We give away more tan we eat.” Mrs. Sullivan’s specialty is the cultivation of flowers, and her annual garden has been described as “te most beautiful you’ve ever seen in the summer.” “She kills herself in that garden,” Mr. Sullivan fusses good naturedly.


Mrs. Sullivan also enjoys making stuffed toys and is quite adept at quilting. Her favorite hobby is sending birthday and anniversary cards, and she rarely forgets anyone in her circle of acquaintances.
Just the thought of rearing 16 children boggles the mind of the average person. How did they do it? Says Mrs. Sullivan, “we farmed, and they all worked. I worked in the fields during the day and sewed for them at night.”
“And they all went barefoot in the summertime, “added Mr. Sullivan.


All 16 children were born at home, and many of them without the assistance of a physician. On one occasion, Mrs. Sullivan had to be left alone while her husband dashed off to find a doctor. But son, Woodrow, was not inclined toward waiting in the gate.
If he had it all to do over again, Mr. Sullivan says he would'nt change a thing, except maybe he would not change a thing, except maybe he would not “whip the youngens as much as I did.” He remembers one sound licking he administered after three of them turned over the safe, spilled the milk and broke all the dishes. After pondering their often rambunctious behavior, he says, “You can’t name anything they didn”t do, but they all worked hard along with having a good time.”


Mr. Sullivan says he doesn’t have any advice for young men who are about to strike out on the modern seas of matrimony, because “young people don’t take advice this day and time.” Mrs. Sullivan says that she would pass the opinion that cooperation is the key to any successful marriage.
In the hospital Monday, the Sullivans laughingly recalled the time Mrs. Sullivan was hospitalized with a broken shoulder and all 16 children came to visit her. As the troop headed for her room, they were stopped by a hospital employee who said, “I’m sorry, but no one but the children can go in.” “We are the children,” they announced as they left the amazed attendant staring after them.
Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan are members of Pleasant Plain Free Will Baptist Church and are proud of the fact that all their children are active in church affairs, and several are deacons. One is in Vietnam, one in Japan, and two are in Germany.


The Sullivan children are Mrs. Earl F. Lane of Zebulon; E. L. Sullivan of Beltsville, Md; Mrs. Joseph Kohut of Pittsburg, Pa; G.W. Sullivan of Route 1, Selma; J. Irving Sullivan of Route 3, Selma; J. W. Sullivan of Nashville; J.T. and C. D. Sullivan of Kinston; Mrs. J.E. Chaapel of South Williamsport, Pa.; and Mrs. E. R. Johnson and Mrs. Ed Peele of Virginia Beach, Va.
On January 25, 1981, Mrs. Sullivan was given a corsage of pink carnations that perhaps symbolizes all the things that words cannot express in the autumn years of a fruitful life and a long, happy marriage.