James D. Mullikin was born December 25, 1931, in a house on the west side
     of North Main Street in Medicine Lodge. My father was Robert J. Mullikin,
     and my mother's maiden name was Ethel Louise Woodward. Three of the five
     of us children were born in Medicine Lodge: Roberta, Russell and I. Brothers
     John (Robert John, Jr.) and Joe (Joseph Vernon) were born later on in
     Emporia.
       My early memories of Medicine Lodge are a bit hazy as I was very young.
     Prior to starting to school we had moved to Salina, Kansas, where I attended
     kindergarten, first and part of my second grade. I finished second and started
     third grade in Marshall, Missouri. At that time we returned to Medicine Lodge
     for a short while and I was enrolled in the third grade. I believe my teacher
     was a second cousin, and I know the custodian was on of my great-uncles, Ned
     Axtell. The desk I had was very difficult to write on because my Uncle
     Bill Woodward had carved his name so deep in the desk top when he had been
     in that room. We moved from Medicine Lodge to Emporia, so that is where I
     finished third grade and went through high school.
       Though not living in Medicine Lodge for any period of time after that, I
     don't think we ever missed being there at least once or twice each year. My
     Woodward grandparents and many aunts and uncles, and cousins had a great
     influence on my during those growing-up years. It was due to the influence
     of my Uncle Vernon Woodward that I learned to cuss and cry and still dig
     potatoes at the same time. My Uncle Dan Woodward and his friends, the
     Packard brothers, saved me the price of a haircut one summer when I was
     about eleven. Needless to say, the results were not too spectacular and my
     mother still ended taking me to the barber shop to have the rest of my head
     shaved! I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in August 1949 and served three years,
     nine months, twelve days, three hours, and twenty-four minutes. While I
     was in the Navy, my parents moved to Dodge City, so it was to there that
     I finally returned after being discharged and trying the logging business
     in Washington State.
       It was in an English class at Dodge City Junior College that I met my
     wife, Patricia Ann Hill. We were married on June 19, 1955, in Dodge City;
     then finished our B.A. degrees at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
       We began teaching in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the fall of 1957.
     Pat is a first grade teacher whose only time off from school since starting
     kindergarten was the semester our daughter, Lisa Lynne, was born, October
     29, 1966.
       At present I am the Principal at North Junior High School in Colorado,
     Springs.
       Whenever time permits, we head for the hills, as the three of us do love
     the mountains. Being an avid Ham Radio Operator I still spend many evenings
     in the basement talking to friends around the world. Should anyone reading
     this book be on the air and hear the call AE0H, please answer, as I would
     be tickled to talk about Barber County.
     
                
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas, pg. 340 
     Submitted by: James D. Mullikin