Bluff Springs   The name of this community came from the nearby bluff on Bear Creek from which the clear water of the springs flowed into a gravel bottomed pool. The community once had a church and arbor with a campground, a cemetery and a gin along with a number of widely scattered settlers' houses.  J. M. Batcher owned  the gin,  Although there is no stone now visible, accordingf to deed records, one of the first burials in the cemetery was Granville Gatton, who died about 1868, on whose land the first little block of the cemetery was located.  After some thirty-odd years, the cemetery became much larger and a Cemetery Association was formed in 1897.  Trustees included  Mr. Batcher, W. A. Long and C. E. Pratt.  Other early families  in the area were Gatley, Farrar, Orr, Carson, Crum and House. Bluff Springs was a good example of a close knit church and family community, as many were in those early days. References: Ellis County Deed Records Personal research and interviews with persons familiar with the area's history. Additional information from D. J. Melton: John Mullican, his wife, Nancy Winniford Mullican ,and her brothers, William Johnson Winniford, David Winniford and Norvell Robertson Winniford settled here.  W. J. Winniford's "In Search of Gold" describes returning to John Mullican's house in 1852 to find his sister dying.  She was buried at Bluff Springs.  Of course, all the graves were washed away in a flood - according to the Mullican and winniford families.   Copyright © 2005-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:16:51 MDT