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LESLIE VAL MULLEN & JOSEPH S. MULLEN
Vol. 3, p. 1200-1201

The well know firm of Mullen & Mullen, Ardmore, Oklahoma, is
composed of the brothers Leslie Val and Joseph S. Mullen. Leslie Val,
junior member of the firm and mayor of Ardmore, came to this
community in 1897, and his brother followed in the next year. In
those days the firm was know as Mullen, Mullen & Mullen, but since
the death of the father in 1913, the name of the then senior member
has been dropped and the firm name of Mullen & Mullen survives. In
writing of these men, space will not permit fullest attention to
detail, but the more salient points in careers will be touched upon

Leslie Val Mullen was born in Choctaw County, Mississippi, on
January 22, 1880, and he is the son of Joseph P. Mullen, also a
native of Choctaw County, born there in 1843. He died at Ardmore,
Oklahoma, on November 16, 1913. The father was of Scotch-Irish
ancestry, his father having been a pioneer into Mississippi in the
early days of the nineteenth century. Joseph P. Mullen was reared in
Choctaw County, Mississippi, and there he married. He was a school
teacher in his young days , and later practiced law, though he always
devoted some time to teaching, even in the years when he was a
practicing attorney. In 1885 he move from Mississippi to Arkansas,
settling in Fort Smith, and from there he came in 1897, to Ardmore,
where he was occupied in legal practice to the time of his passing.

Mr. Mullen was a staunch democrat all his life. He was a member of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, active in the work of the body, and
long serving on its official board. He was identified with the
Masonic fraternity and with the Woodmen of the World. He was a
Confederate veteran, his service having been in the Twenty first
Mississippi Regiment of Volunteer Infantry.

He married Miss Elizabeth C. NORRIS, born in Mississippi in 1847,
and she survives him, living in Ardmore at this time. To them were
born four children. Kating died at the age of seven years. J. S. is
the partner of Leslie C. and extended mention of him will be made in
later paragraphs. Leslie Val is the third child, and Floy Williams
the youngest, is the wife of a merchant in Ardmore, and who also has
extensive oil interests in the state.

Leslie Val Mullen had a public school education and he graduated
from the Fort Smith High School in 1897. In the summers of 1896-07 he
attended the business college at Fort Smith, and in 1897, when he had
finished his high school course, he came to Ardmore, where his father
had already located, and entered his office as a clerk. In 1898
Joseph S. came home from Vanderbilt University, joined his father and
brother, and the name Mullen, Mullen & Mullen was soon after seen
upon their office door. They continued to be thus associated until
the death of the senior member in 1913, when the firm changed to
Mullen & Mullen, its present form.

This firm, originally devoted to the practice of law, has in time
come to be one of the leading land investment firms in the state. It
controls a vast acreage of lands already under cultivation, located
in nine counties of Southern Oklahoma, and not only does it deal in
farm lands, but in improved oil lands as well. It is well
established, ably conducted and does business in accordance with,
honest methods and honorable principles. It is of the soundest
investment companies in the state, and the present firm deviates not
a hair's breadth from the sturdy principles that were woven into the
warp of the enterprise in the days when their esteemed father was the
head and front of the concern.

Leslie Val Mullen is a democrat, like his father, and is now mayor
of Ardmore, entering on his duties on April 16, 1915, for a term of
two years. He is a member of the B. P. O. E., Ardmore Lodge No. 648,
of which he is past exalted ruler. He has served his lodge as a
delegate to the grand lodge, and he is the first vice president of
the state association. Other fraternal orders with which he is
affiliated are the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of
America. He is a leading member of the Ardmore Chamber of Commerce
and some of his social connections are with the Chickasaw Country
Club and the Ardmore Gun Club. He is president of Geneva Pearl Oil
and Gas Company, is president of the Muldoon Oil Company and a
director in the Bull Head Oil Company.

Mr. Mullen married in Gainesville, Texas, in 1903, to Miss Geneva
DURRETT, daughter of George Durrett, a well known cattleman of
Weatherford, Texas. They have no children.

Joseph Sylvester Mullen, brother of Leslie Val and his associate in
business, was born in Choctaw County, Mississippi, on August 25,
1878. He attended the high school at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and was
graduated from that school in 1896, one year earlier than his
brother, Leslie. He then took a two-year course in Vanderbilt
University, Nashville, Tennessee, devoting himself to the study of
law, in preparation for entrance into his father's business. In 1898
he came to Ardmore, here joining his father and brother. In 1902 Mr.
Mullen was admitted to the bar, and while the main business of the
firm is land investments, his knowledge of the law is a valuable
adjunct to his training, and strengthens the firm in many ways.
Something of the scope of the business has already been mentioned, so
that further remarks on that score need not be introduce here.

Mr. Mullen, like his brother, is one of the leading citizens of the
community. He is a democrat, true to the family tradition, and has
served the Town of Ardmore as a member of its board of aldermen, in
which office he did credit to himself and to the city. He also served
as mayor pro tem of Ardmore, and has in many ways manifested the high
quality of his citizenship. He is president of the Ardmore Chamber of
Commerce and his actives have done much to promote the growth of the
community, as president of that highly creditable organization.

Mr. Mullen is a life member of the Elks and is also a member of the
Dornick Hills Country Club.

He was married in Oklahoma in 1899 to Miss Ada MAURER, daughter of
Joseph and Mary Maurer. In her paternal ancestry were prominent
officers in the army of Napoleon, and her mother is a descendant of a
famous Choctaw chief, known in his tribe as PUCK-SHANUB-BEE. To Mr.
And Mrs. Mullen have been born three children--J. S., Jr., Harold M.
and Don Lacy, all of then under the instruction of a private tutor in
their home.

All member of the Mullen family are prominent in Ardmore, and they
add much to the social activities of the community.

Typed for OKGenWeb by: Earline Sparks Barger, October 10, 1998.