Father: William (Bill) Russell - b: ~1754
Mother:  Rebeckah *****

Spouse: Philip Russell, Jr.
  m: 30/Mar/1797 -  Grayson Co., VA

Child-1: William
          2: Samuel Fleming
          3: Anna
          4: Tabitha L.
          5: Phillip C.
          6: Phebe
          7: John F.
          8: Lewis
          9: Alexander Aaron
        10: Elizabeth (Betsy)
        11: James Basil
        12: Sarah Lee

Biographical Details:

Little definitive is known of the origin of Rebeckah Russell.¹  Subsequent census records indicate that she was born about 1781 in Tennessee according to the population schedule of the 1850 census and in Virginia according to the 1860 and 1870 censuses.  (Concomitantly, some researchers affirm that Rebeckah Russell was born in Johnson County, Tennessee, however this cannot be correct since this county was not even organized until 1836.)  Rebeckah was said to be the daughter of William "Bill"  and Rebeckah Russell.  Her father is thought to have been one of the original immigrant Russell brothers.  However, family tradition indicates that she was raised by Bill Stone who lived on the Jim Shuler farm.  It was further said that Mr. Stone took her in at the age of twelve from the Flem Hackeler farm.  Alternatively, a recent annotation of the 1870 US Census for Grayson County, Virginia, indicates that she was the step-daughter of William Holland and that he gave her in marriage.  This suggests that, presumably, her mother, Rebeckah (or Rebecca), married William Holland some years after the death of Bill Russell, which, thus, likely occurred in the 1780's.  In any case, these observations suggest that the younger Rebeckah experienced an uncertain childhood.  Rebeckah Russell married Philip Russell, Jr., on March 30, 1797, in Grayson County.  Clearly, if Bill Russell was the brother Philip Russell, Sr., as is commonly thought, then Philip and Rebeckah were first cousins.  They raised twelve children to adulthood and were apparently living together in Grayson County when Philip died in 1839.  Moreover, the household of "Rebecah Russel" appeared in the 1840 US Census for Grayson County and included in addition to an adult female between the ages of fifty and sixty, i.e., Rebeckah herself, four other individuals, viz., an adolescent female and an adolescent male both between the ages of fifteen and twenty, an adolescent female between ten and fifteen, and a male child under five years of age.  Clearly, the three adolescents can plausibly be identified as, Betsey, James, and Sarah, the three youngest children of Philip, Jr., and Rebeckah Russell, but the identity of the male child remains undetermined.  By 1850, census records indicate that Rebeckah was living in the household of her son and daughter-in-law, James and Matilda Phipps Russell.  Likewise, in 1860 she was included in the household of her son-in-law and daughter, Alfred G. and Sarah Russell Testerman.  Concomitantly, Rebeckah Russell was assessed tax in 1863 on fifty acres located on or near Fox Creek.  This was almost certainly land acquired by her husband, Philip, prior to his death.  Similarly, the population schedule of the 1870 US Census for Grayson County indicates that Rebeckah Russell, age ninety, was living in the household of Hiram Perkins together with several other individuals having the surnames, Perkins, Russell, and Brewer.  Indeed, these three families are known to have been closely associated, therefore, it is very likely that all the members of the household were relatives.  Indeed, Hiram Perkins can be identified as the second husband of Matilda Phipps Russell whose first husband had been James Basil Russell, youngest son of Philip, Jr., and Rebeckah Russell.  By all accounts, Rebeckah Russell died in 1875 and was buried with her husband in the Little Wilson Methodist Church Cemetery near the village of Volney; however, there is evidently no marker for either of their graves.

1. In a brief account of the Russell family written by Leah Johnson, great-great-granddaughter of Philip, Jr., and Rebeckah Russell (date unknown, but probably sometime in the 1950's), she states:  Mama told me her grandma Russell was from Wales.  If she meant by this statement, Anna Bonham Russell, wife of Philip and Rebeckah's oldest son, William, this statement is erroneous as it stands since it has already been reliably documented that the Bonham family descends from some of the earliest Puritan settlers of New England.  Alternatively, perhaps, it was Rebeckah Russell that she meant, i.e., great grandma instead of grandma Russell.  In this case, the statement may give some indication that the original immigrant Russell brothers might have come from Wales, instead of England.  (Indeed, it is likely that the difference between England and Wales would have become increasingly unclear to later descendents.)  However, such an inference is entirely speculative and requires the discovery of definitive evidence before it can be taken seriously.  (Leah Johnson, unpublished MSS.)
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Additional Citations:

2. 1840 US Census Population Schedule for Grayson County, Virginia, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 323, (microfilm roll - M704_556; img. 318).

3. 1850 US Census Population Schedule for Grayson County, Virginia, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 202A, (microfilm roll - M432_947; img. 86).

4. 1860 US Census Population Schedule for Grayson County, Virginia, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 53, (microfilm roll - M653_1348; img. 54).

5. 1870 US Census Population Schedule for Grayson County, Virginia, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 224A, (microfilm roll - M593_1649; img. 449).

6. Jeffrey C. Weaver and James J. Stamper, "Annotated 1870 US Census Population Schedule for Grayson County - Wilson District", Grayson County Hist. Soc., P. O. Box 529, Independence, VA, 24348, 2003.  (Jeffrey Weaver (tr), New River Notes, www.newrivernotes.com/index.htm, 2015.)

7. Grayson County Land Tax List of 1863,  Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA, (microfilm: roll - Land Tax Records #456). ("Grayson County - Western District", Jeffrey Weaver (tr), New River Notes, www.newrivernotes.com/index.htm, 2015.)

8. Marriage Register, Bk. 1, Grayson Co., VA, pg. 16, Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA, (microfilm: roll - City and County Records #18).  ("Grayson County Marriages 1793-1836", Jeffrey Weaver (tr), New River Notes, www.newrivernotes.com/index.htm, 2015.)

9. John Perry Alderman, Carroll/Grayson County Marriages, Alderman Books, P.O. B. 1255, Hillsville, VA, 24343, 1987: pg. 5.

10. 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. 6.

11. Henry Hardy Catron, The Kettenring Family in America, 1619 N. 19th St., Springfield, IL, 1956.  (Reprinted by Unigraphic, Inc., Evansville, IN)

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