Father: Lewis Russell
Mother: Mary Ann Perkins

Spouse: Timothy H. Coakley - b: 1858 - IA
 d: 1937 - bur: Hobart Rose Cemetery, Kiowa Co., OK
 m: 20/Dec/1903 - Stanberry, Gentry Co., MO

Biographical Details:

The third daughter of Lewis and Mary Ann Perkins Russell was Levina (or Lavina).  She was born on New Years Day of 1857 almost certainly in Gentry County, Missouri, and was known familiarly as "Viney".  It is believed that the Russell family had first settled in Gentry County about 1849; however, they moved to Henry County, Iowa, in 1855 and there is good evidence in a letter written by Rebecca Russell Hamm to her sister, Charlotte Russell Stephens, that Lewis and Mary Ann Russell and their children were still living in Iowa as late as October of 1856.  Nevertheless, all subsequent census and civil records indicate that Levina was born in Missouri.  Therefore, her birth evidently can only have occurred very shortly after the return of the family to Gentry County.  Subsequently, Lewis Russell and his family moved to the Kansas Territory, then returned to Missouri and Iowa during the 1860's and, finally, back to Gentry County to stay by 1870.  Of course, as a small child Levina must have accompanied her family on these travels.  Levina Russell was a charter member of the Island City Christian Church.  Mary Ann Perkins Russell died in 1871 and left several young children including a daughter, Mollie, who was less than two years old.  As an older daughter, it is likely that along with her two older sisters, Sarah Elizabeth and Delilah, Levina would have shared responsibility for her father's household and care of the younger children after her mother's death.  This may be at least a part of the reason that she remained unmarried until she was nearly forty-seven years old.  Moreover, it is clear from the provisions of Lewis Russell's will made in 1891, that she and her unmarried sister, Mollie, continued living in their father's house after his death.  Although Mollie married in 1893, Levina was apparently still living there in 1900.  Accordingly, plat maps of Gentry County published in 1896 and 1914 indicate that Levina Russell owned forty acres about two miles southeast of the village of Island City that had originally belonged to her father.¹  It is not clear that she ever actually lived at this location, but presumably, this parcel was part of her father's estate.

Levina Russell and Timothy H. Coakley were married in Gentry County on December 20, 1903, by Rev. J. E. Davis (although the license was actually issued and recorded in neighboring Andrew County).  Timothy was the son of Irish immigrants and although according to census records he had been born in Iowa, it is evident from population schedules of 1870 and 1880 that he had come as a child with his family when they settled in Empire Township in Andrew County, Missouri.  Subsequently, he married about 1880 and had two daughters, Alma and Alice.  Sadly, Timothy Coakley's first wife, Alice E., died in April of 1884 evidently at the birth of their second child and was buried in the Whitesville Cemetery.  He evidently remained a widower in Andrew County until after 1900.  Even so, Timothy Coakley, perhaps with his older brother, Jeremiah, apparently migrated to Kiowa County in the Oklahoma Territory when it was first opened for settlement in 1901.  This is affirmed by a land patent for one hundred and sixty acres issued on September 9, 1904, and was a cash purchase rather than a homestead preemption; hence, five years of residence was not required.  The parcel is located about five and one half miles northeast of the town of Hobart.  Indeed, although he had presumably returned at least temporarily to Missouri to marry, according to family tradition Timothy and Levina Coakley moved to his home in Kiowa County shortly after their marriage.  It is not known how or when Levina Russell and Timothy Coakley became acquainted, but she was already a spinster and nearly forty-seven years of age at the time of her marriage.  Concomitantly, because Levina married so late in life, she had no children of her own.  It is evident from subsequent population schedules for 1910, 1920, and 1930 US Censuses that Timothy and Levina Russell Coakley remained resident in Kiowa County until after 1930.  However, after the death of her husband, Levina Russell Coakley evidently returned to Gentry County, about 1938 or 1939 according to her death certificate, where she lived with her unmarried niece, Leah Johnson, until her death, which occurred in 1945.

1a. W. P. Bullock, Gentry County 1896, Press of L. Hardman, St. Joseph, MO, 1896.
     Lavina Russell:  Twp. 62 N; Rng. 32 W; Sec. 31; SW¼ of NE¼ - 40 acres.

b. Anonymous, Standard Atlas of Gentry County, Missouri, Geo A. Ogle & Co., Chicago, IL, 1914.
     Lavina Russell:  Twp. 62 N; Rng. 32 W; Sec. 31; SW¼ of NE¼ - 40 acres.
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2.The United States of America,   Certificate No. 1293} To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting:
     Whereas, Timothy Coakley of Kiowa County Oklahoma has deposited in the GENERAL LAND OFFICE of the United States a Certificate of the Register of the Land Office at El Reno, Oklahoma, whereby it appears that full payment has been made by the said Timothy Coakley according to the provisions of the Act of Congress of the 24th of April, 1820, entitled "An Act making further provision for the sale of Public Lands," and the acts supplemental thereto, for the South West quarter of Section nine in Township seven North of Range seventeen West of Indian Meridian in Oklahoma, Containing one hundred and sixty acres.  according to the official plat of the survey of the said lands returned to the General Land Office by the Surveyor General, which said tract has been purchased by the said Timothy Coakley
     Now know ye, That the United States of America, in consideration of the premises, and in conformity with the several acts of Congress in such case made and provided, HAVE GIVEN AND GRANTED, and by these presents DO GIVE AND GRANT, unto the said Timothy Coakley and to his heirs the said tract above described: TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the same, together with all the rights, privileges, immunities, and appurtenances, of whatsoever nature, thereunto belonging, unto the said Timothy Coakley and to his heirs and assigns forever.
     In testimony whereof, I, Theodore Roosevelt, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, have caused these letters to be made patent, and the seal of the General Land Office to be hereunto affixed.  Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, the ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and four, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-ninth   By the President: T. Roosevelt   By F. M McKean, Secretary.  C. H. Brush  Recorder of the General Land Office.  (US Land Patent Certificate No. 1293; OK, Vol. 134, pg. 236, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC, issued 9 Sep 1904.  (BLM GLO Records, http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/default.aspx, 2016.))
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Additional Citations:

3. 1900 US Census Population Schedule for Gentry County, Missouri, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 268A, (microfilm: roll T623_855; imgs. 543).

4. 1910 US Census Population Schedule for Kiowa County, Oklahoma, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 223A, (microfilm: roll T624_1257; img. 455).

5. 1920 US Census Population Schedule for Kiowa County, Oklahoma, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 267A, (microfilm: roll T625_1467; img. 539).

6. 1930 US Census Population Schedule for Kiowa County, Oklahoma, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 85A, (microfilm: roll T626_1910; img. 169).

7. 1940 US Census Population Schedule for Gentry County, Missouri, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 141A, (microfilm: roll T627_2106; img. 648).

8. Marriage Records, Andrew County, Savannah, MO:  Bk. 4, pg. 218, (Missouri State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Jefferson City, MO (microfilm: roll 91; img. 133)).

9. Death Certificates, Missouri State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Jefferson City, MO, (Death Certificate No. 6093 - Bureau of Vital Statistics, State of Missouri, Jefferson City, MO).

10. List of Charter Members - Island City Christian Church, Centennial Homecoming Booklet - June 11, 1978, Stanberry, MO, unpublished.

11. Russell-Perkins Family Record, unpublished MSS.

12. Hobart Rose Cemetery, Kiowa County, Oklahoma (www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99399&CScn=Hobart&CScntry=4&CSst=38&, continuously updated).

13. Shirley Campbell Ramos and Patricia Campbell Kratz, Descendants of Phillip and Rebecca Russell, Gregath Publishing Company, P. O. B. 505, Wyandotte, OK, 74370, 1997: pg. 215.

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