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Historian unravels
Liberty Mule Mystery
By Thomas G. Webb
DeKalb County Historian
One of the best-known spots in DeKalb County is the
Allen Bluff on Smith Fork, just west of Liberty. It
is also a spot that has aroused the curiosity of
many people, who want to know why a black mule is
painted there, who painted it, and how long ago.
Just a few days ago I found what seems to be the
authentic answer to all those questions. While
looking for an obituary in the 1957 issue of the
Smithville Review, I saw in the March 7 issue an
article written by Dr. Wayne T. Robinson, who wrote
several historical articles for the Review in the
1940s and 1950s. Dr. Robinson grew up in the house
at the foot of Snow's Hill where Bobby Colvert now
lives. He later lived in Dallas, Texas, but often
visited his mother, who lived to be 100.
While in DeKalb County in 1956, he had returned to a
cave, which he had been in 50 years earlier, and the
article he wrote was mainly about the cave and how
little it had changed in 50 years. At the end of the
article he wrote, "In early October 1906, I climbed
up the face of the Allen Bluff to a ledge and with
some coal tar made a flat picture of a character
from a famous comic strip of that day. Everybody
remembers Maude, the mule. That was 51 years ago,
and even though it has been exposed to the elements
and to nearby earth-shaking explosions, erosion has
dimmed it very little. On the same bluff is the name
of Will T. Hale, which was inscribed about 85 years
ago."
Dr. Robinson was born on April 10, 1885, so he was 21
years old when he did the painting, and was in
college at the time. Apparently, he did not tell
people that he did the painting. After finishing
medical school, he lived in Shelbyville, Tennessee,
until he moved to Dallas in 1923. Thus the name of
the painter became a mystery to the residents of
Liberty, as well as the people passing through.
In 1979 Elmer Hinton brought up the question of who
painted the mule in his column in the Nashville
Tennessean, and on January 21, 1979, he had an
answer. Lawrence D. Williams of Shelbyville, a
cousin of Wayne Robinson, said that Dr. Robinson did
the painting, he thought, about 1900. He also
thought he did it to advertise the business of
Wayne's father, Beverly Robinson, who was a mule
trader.
A second correction was in the Tennessean on February
25, 1979, and it came from Lucille Addington, Dr.
Robinson's daughter. She said the mule was not
painted as an advertisement.
"The whole episode of the mule painting was a
prank," she said. "It was prompted by a comic strip
of that time which featured a mule named Maud. My
father always spoke of the painting as Maud the
Mule. He often recounted how he copied the drawing
of the mule from the comic strip, enlarging the
image by casting a shadow of it with an oil lamp
onto paper fastened to a wall, then tracing around
the shadow."
However, most of the people around Liberty were not
aware of the Robinson story, and were still trying
to figure out who could have painted the mule on the
bluff. In the Nashville Tennessean of May 11, 1979,
and in the Tennessee Farm Bureau News of May
1986, the view is presented that many of the
residents of Liberty believe the mule was painted by
Lavader Woodard.
Mr. Woodard was a photographer and a house painter.
Born in 1862, he lived in Liberty from before 1900
until after 1930. He never married, but made his
home with an aunt, and he rode around Liberty on a
bicycle which had an enormous wheel in front and a
very small one behind. He was an odd character, and
the most likely person in Liberty to have painted
the mule.
Indeed, the name of L. Woodard is painted on the bluff
near the mule. But so is the name of Will T. Hale,
who wrote DeKalb County's first history in 1915.
Evidently, those who climbed the bluff felt the need
to write their names there.
It is very likely Mr. Woodard repainted the mule while
he was there. In fact, the mule has been repainted
more than once, and has been black, red, and also an
aluminum color. She is now back to the basic black
for her 100th anniversary. The mule has seen many
changes.
In 1906 there was probably not one automobile in DeKalb
County; in 2006 a five-lane highway passes in front
of her. The highway was placed so that the mule
would not be disturbed, so she will very likely be
there for another hundred years. |
