On July 18, 1863, the townsfolk of Clayton, Alabama, buried William T. Mullen between two bottles of whiskey. The specially shaped tombstones are a fitting tribute to a man who loved his drink. Mullen lived hard and died young. He was born in Talbotton, Georgia, on June 18, 1834. By 1860 he had moved to Clayton and met the county jailor’s daughter, a young woman named Mary Williams. The two married at the jail on September 11 of that year. Just four months later, Alabama formally withdrew from the Union. Though…
