Russell Family of Middle Tennessee

Last Update:  11/19/2008

Disclaimer:  All information below is a best-effort on my part.   As always, do your own research before believing what you read on the Internet. 

My great grandfather Tazwell Gilbert married Eudora Rebecca Russell on November 29, 1883 in Giles County, TN.  Eudora was known to her friends and family as Dora and to her grandchildren affectionately as "Big Mama."  Aunt Mildred remembers that Dora was a very kind woman and had been a very hard worker.

Eudora Russell Gilbert, age 51, 1916

Dora was born May 5, 1865 in Giles County and died on October 6, 1941 in Prospect, with her official cause of death being given on her death certificate as "chronic vascular heart disease."   Aunt Mildred relates that she also suffered from kidney problems.   Dora is buried next to Tazwell in Prospect Cemetery  in a plot just in front of her daughter Mary and son-in-law James Brazier. 

Tazwell and Eudora's tombstone, Prospect Cemetery

Dora was born to James W. Russell and Elizabeth Hall who were married in Williamson County, TN on January 28, 1847.  Williamson County is located north of Giles County and south of Nashville.   According to James' application to the Tennessee Confederate Soldiers' Home, he was born in Williamson County in 1827.   Military records for James indicate he enlisted and took an oath to the Confederacy on Dec. 6, 1861 when he joined the 53rd Tennessee Infantry.   On February 16, 1862 he was captured at the surrender of Ft. Donelson in Tennessee as was the entire 53rd Tennessee and a total of 11,000 Confederate soldiers.   James shows up on a Roll of Prisoners at Camp Morton, Indiana in June of 1862 and was again on the roll on Aug. 21, 1862 when he took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States Government.  He and the entire 53rd Tennessee were taken down the Mississippi River to Vicksburg, MS where they were released on Sept. 20, 1862.   The regiment re-organized, and James appears on the Muster Roll for the 53rd on Sept. 24, 1862.  He last appeared on a muster roll in October of 1863.  It was at about that time that the 53rd Tennessee  retreated to Dalton, Georgia with the Army of Tennessee, and when they reported to Mobile, AL in January of of 1864, 118 soldiers were absent.   James may have separated from his unit at this point.  According to his pension application, he had been out foraging for food, and when he returned to where unit had been, they were gone.  I suspect at that point, he high-tailed it home to Giles County.

James W. Russell 1827 - abt. 1914

I can only get one generation further back from James in the Russell line.   Thanks to stumbling upon his mother's War of 1812 Widow's Pension Application in Giles County, I learned that James' parents were Henry Russell and Sarah (Sallie) Griffin.  Henry and Sallie were married in Carthage, TN  in Smith County  on March 25, 1816.   Henry was born about 1775 somewhere in VA, and Sallie was born in about 1796 in NC.    That is obviously a considerable age difference, and would mean Henry didn't married until he was over 40.  She specifically states on the pension application, however, that neither she nor Henry had been married previously, so barring any additional information cropping up, Henry just married late in life.

Henry's War of 1812 service records indicate that he served in the 2nd Regiment of the West Tennessee Militia.  He enlisted on September 20, 1814 and mustered out on April 20, 1815.  Based on a brief history of the regiment found here, it appears that this was the entire lifespan of the regiment.  For Henry's 7 months of service, he earned $56.  

According to the War of 1812 Widow's Pension Claim Application, Henry and Sallie had ten children.  They were listed in in the order you see below twice on the pension application.  If I take a leap of faith and assume they were written in birth order, then in conjunction with the age ranges of their children in various censuses, I've given them the approximate birth year ranges. 

1 Henry Russell b: Abt. 1775 in VA d: September 12, 1854 in Williamson Co., TN
. +Sarah Griffin b: Abt. 1796 in NC d: Aft. 1880
..... 2 George W. Russell b: Bet. 1816 - 1820
..... 2 Jonathan Russell b: Bet. 1816 - 1820
..... 2 Benjamin Russell b: Bet. 1820 - 1825 d: Bef. 1830
..... 2 Polly Russell b: Bet. 1820 - 1825
..... 2 Henry Russell b: Bet. 1825 - 1830
..... 2 James W. Russell b: 1827 in Williamson Co., TN d: Bef. July 01, 1914 in Giles Co, TN
......... +Elizabeth W. Hall b: January 24, 1825 in VA d: September 08, 1899 in Prospect, Giles County, TN
..... 2 Eddy W. Russell b: Aft. 1830
..... 2 Elijah Russell b: Aft. 1830
..... 2 Unknown Russell b: Aft. 1830 (Can't make out the name on the pension application)
..... 2 Eliza A. Russell b: Abt. 1837

As I said earlier, Henry and Sallie were married in Smith Co, TN in 1816.   In the 1820 census, they are still living in Smith County and have two young sons.   By 1830, they had moved westward to Williamson Co., TN and had 5 children  living with them.   They were still in Williamson Co. in 1840 and likewise had 5 children with them although younger children were present, and some of the older ones were now out of the house.   By 1850, the Williamson Co. census shows Henry and Sallie with only their youngest daughter Eliza in the house.    Also in 1850, James and wife Eudora who were married in 1847 are nowhere to be found.  I've searched throughout Tennessee and cannot locate them in any county although according to James' Confederate Home application, he had live din Tennessee his entire life.

Henry Russell died in on Sept. 12, 1854 in Williamson County per the pension application.  His burial site is not listed in any existing cemetery books for Williamson County.  As wife Sallie doesn't appear to have been buried in Giles County where she died, I assume she is buried with him in Williamson County somewhere, perhaps in unmarked graves.   In 1860, the first census after Henry died, I cannot locate Sallie.  She indicated on the pension application that had lived in Giles County since Henry died, but I have not found her in the 1860 Giles County census, and she is not listed with James and family. 

By 1860, James and Elizabeth were settled in Giles County.   The census listing is below.  As you can see, eldest daughter Nancy was born about 1848 and then there was a large gap until Sarah was born.  It's quite likely there were other children born that did not survive.

Here is the 1870 census listing for the family.  As you can see, Nancy is now married and out of the house, daughter Saloma who was 2 in 1860 has apparently died, James' mother Sarah is now living with them, and three additional children were born.

Now moving to the 1880 census and still in Giles County:

In this listing, you can see that no additional children were born (at least ones that lived), and there is some additional information in this census that is helpful.   Starting with the 1880 census, they not only told where the individual was born (the first column indicating a state), but they also tell you where the individual's father and then mother were born.    The way that this helps is that when I start chasing down our Hall line (Elizabeth's line), I know that both her parents were born in VA as was she.  Also I can see that Sallie Griffin's father was born in NC, so I'm looking for a Griffin family with roots in NC.      Another little piece of information given here is with the columns with marked with "X."    The first column with "X" means the individual could not read, and the next that they could not write.    It appears that neither James nor Elizabeth had been educated.

 Eudora Russell Gilbert, Nancy Jane Russell Fogg, Elizabeth Hall Russell  (we think)

Elizabeth died in 1899 per her tombstone in Prospect Cemetery, and  by 1910, James was living with daughter Dora and son-in-law Tazwell Gilbert and family.  James' will was filed at the county courthouse on July 1, 1914, but we can't be exactly certain when he died.  There is no death certificate on file for him with the Tennessee Vital Records which started collecting death certificates state-wide in January of 1914.   James is buried next to Elizabeth in Prospect Cemetery, but has only fieldstones to mark his grave.   His daughter and son-in-law Nancy Jane and and Horace Fogg are on the other side of him. 

                                                        

   Elizabeth and James                 Elizabeth            Nancy Jane and Horace Fogg        The Russell/Fogg plot

Of James' and Elizabeth's  children  who survived to adulthood we know that Nancy Jane, Eudora and John lived out their lives in Giles County.  Sarah and her husband Neil Hollis were living in the county in 1880, but because I can't find burial information for them, I presume they left sometime after then.   Son Andrew disappears after the 1870 census, and either died, or moved out on his own outside of Giles County.   I was recently contacted by a descendant of Horace and Nancy Jane Fogg who provided me with the photo of them below.

Horace Upshaw Fogg and Nancy Jane Russell Fogg

My Russell research remains stuck at James' father Henry Russell.   He appears to have been in Smith County very early in the 1800s with several brothers.  I've been in contact with researchers of these other Russells, and everyone seems to feel they're all brothers from Virginia, but no one has found proof yet.    Wife Sarah/Sallie also remains a mystery although I did recently find a reference in Smith County, TN (where Henry and Sallie were married) to an orphan girl Sallie Griffin who had been taken in by a family.   It's quite possible this could be our Sallie, and it is something I will be following up on. 

Based on the various census listings and other information in Giles County records and elsewhere, I've put together the following tree for James and Elizabeth.  Please be sure to do your own research, though, as I can never guarantee complete accuracy.

1 James W. Russell b: 1827 in Williamson Co., TN d: Bef. 01 Jul 1914 in Giles Co, TN

.. +Elizabeth W. Hall b: 24 Jan 1825 in VA d: 08 Sep 1899 in Prospect, Giles County, TN

... 2 Nancy J. Russell b: 08 Jan 1848 d: 05 Jul 1926

....... +Horace Upshaw Fogg b: 17 May 1844 d: 30 Dec 1917

........ 3 Mary L. Fogg b: Abt. 1866

........ 3 Eugenie Fogg b: Abt. 1868

........ 3 Horace Fogg b: Abt. 1869

........ 3 Lee Roy Fogg b: 14 Aug 1870 in Giles Co, TN d: 01 Sep 1939 in Giles Co, TN

............ +Georgie Cassandra Reeves b: 02 Jun 1878 d: 30 May 1960 in Giles Co, TN

........ 3 Arthur Fogg b: Abt. 1871

........ 3 Josephine Fogg b: Abt. 1872

........ 3 Elizabeth J. Fogg b: Abt. 1873

........ 3 James Fogg b: Abt. 1874

........ 3 Earl Fogg b: Abt. 1879

........ 3 Unknown Fogg b: Dec 1882

........ 3 Unknown Fogg b: Mar 1884

........ 3 Myrtle Fogg b: Aug 1886

........ 3 Audrey Fogg b: Aug 1887

........ 3 Susie Fogg b: May 1889

... 2 Sarah Elis Russell b: Abt. 1857 in TN d: 31 Jul 1939 in McLennan Co., TX

....... +Neil M. Hollis b: Abt. 1850 in TN d: Bet. 1910 - 1920 in Waco, McLennan Co., TX

........ 3 Thomas Milton Hollis b: Abt. 1873 in Tennessee

........ 3 Mary Delia Hollis b: Nov 1875 in Tennessee

............ +Ira A. Dryden b: Abt. 1870 in Maryland

........ 3 Bob B. Hollis b: 23 Feb 1883 in Tennessee

........ 3 Mattie Hollis b: Oct 1886 in Tennessee

... 2 Soloma D. Russell b: Abt. 1858 d: Bef. 1870

... 2 Andrew Russell b: Abt. 1861

... 2 Eudora Rebecca Russell b: 05 May 1865 d: 06 Oct 1941 in Prospect, Giles Co., TN

....... +Tazwell G. Gilbert b: 20 Jan 1860 in Giles Co., TN d: 27 Jan 1940 in Prospect, Giles Co., TN

........ 3 Rosa Lee Gilbert b: 08 Sep 1884 in Giles Co, TN d: 30 Oct 1957 in Prospect, Giles Co, TN

............ +Ernest Lonzo Case b: 24 Jun 1875 in Giles Co, TN d: 09 Feb 1942 in Giles Co, TN

........ 3 Sarah Elizabeth Gilbert b: 24 Apr 1887 in Giles Co, TN d: Abt. Jun 1985 in Alabama

............ +Smith Campbell b: 05 Nov 1882 in Tennessee

........ 3 Rebecca Gilbert b: 16 Apr 1888 in Giles Co, TN d: 31 Oct 1899 in Giles Co, TN

........ 3 Milton Barbee Gilbert b: 23 Sep 1889 in Prospect, Giles Co., TN d: 08 Jun 1946 in Athens, AL

............ +Ruth Barnett b: 27 Nov 1892 in Prospect, Giles Co., TN d: 20 Dec 1952

........ 3 Mary Tennessee Gilbert b: 24 May 1892 in Prospect, Giles County, TN d: 06 Jan 1973 in Prospect, Giles County, TN

............ +James Henry Brazier b: 27 Sep 1888 d: 14 Jun 1947 in Prospect, Giles County, TN

........ 3 Ivan I. Gilbert b: Abt. 16 Jun 1893 in Giles Co, TN d: 12 Aug 1895 in Giles Co, TN

........ 3 Russell Caldwell Gilbert b: 20 Aug 1894 in Prospect, Giles Co., TN d: 11 Apr 1974 in St. Thomas Hospital, Akron, OH

............ +Mattie Pearl Cole b: 06 Sep 1892 in Puncheon, Giles Co., TN d: Feb 1982 in Akron, OH

........ 3 Katherine Gilbert b: 20 Feb 1903 in Prospect Cem., Giles Co., TN d: 16 May 1947 in Decatur, AL

............ +Floyd Bert Chambers b: 1903 in Giles Co, TN d: 1975 in Chattanooga, TN

........ 3 Lyle Eslick Gilbert b: 13 Jun 1906 in Prospect, Giles County, TN d: 28 Jun 1965 in Akron, OH

............ +Josephine Annette Curtis b: 17 Oct 1917

... 2 John A. J. Russell b: Abt. 1868 in Giles Co, TN d: Aug 1902 in Cole, Giles Co., TN

....... +Laura Dobbins b: Abt. 1872 in Lawrence Co., TN

........ 3 Otis Butler Russell b: May 1893 in Giles Co, TN d: Mar 1959 in Palm Beach Co., FL

............ +Nina V. STB Jones b: Abt. 1895 in Possibly Elkmont, Limestone, AL

........ *2nd Wife of Otis Butler Russell:

............ +Unknown

........ 3 Lillian Russell b: Dec 1896 in Giles Co, TN

........ 3 William Hagan Dobbins Russell b: 27 Nov 1899 in Giles Co, TN

............ +Lillie Mae Neal Hood