Father: Phillip Russell, Jr.
Mother: Rebeckah Russell

Spouse: Alfred Gaither Testerman - b: 7/Jan/1823 - Ashe Co., NC
  d: 17/Apr/1910 - Morgan Co., KY - bur: Testerman Cem.
  m: 23/Dec/1847 - Grayson Co., VA

Child-1: Silas Monroe - b: 16/Jan/1849 - Grayson Co., VA
                                     d: 19/May/1876 - Frozen Cr., Breathitt Co., KY - bur: Testerman Cem., Morgan Co.
                                    m: Mary Frances Nickell - 4/Feb/1876 - Morgan Co., KY
          2: Victoria Angeline - b: 27/Feb/1850 - Grayson Co., VA
                                           d: 31/Mar/1907 - Grayson Co., VA - bur: Troy Ross Cem.
                                          m: James Troy Ross - 31/Aug/1866 - Grayson Co., VA
          3: Jeston Virginia - b: 23/Dec/1851 - Grayson Co., VA
                                      d: 20/Mar/1959 - Morgan Co., KY - bur: Gevedon Cem.
                                     m: Raney Chastain Gevedon - 19/Aug/1869 - Morgan Co., KY
          4: Sarah Elizabeth - b: 18/Sep/1853 - Grayson Co., VA
                                        d: 29/Jul/1934 - Cedarville, Greene Co., OH
                                       m: John Amos Wells - 5/Feb/1874 - Morgan Co., KY
          5: Rosamond Ann - b: 3/Mar/1855 - Grayson Co., VA
                                        d: 2/Sep/1917 - Morgan Co., KY
                                       m: Charles Nelson Chaney - 8/Apr/1875 - Morgan Co., KY
          6: James Albert - b: 22/Feb/1856 - d: 25/Mar/1856 - Grayson Co., VA
          7: Martha Evaline - b: 27/Jan/1857 - Grayson Co., VA
                                        d: 1/Dec/1926 - Morgan Co., KY - bur: Testerman Cem.
                                       m: William Ceborn Nickell - 10/Feb/1876 - Morgan Co., KY
          8: Thomas Hamilton - b: 22/Jun/1858 - Grayson Co., VA
                                           d: 13/Sep/1936 - Milford, Clermont Co., OH - bur: Grassy Lick Cem., Morgan Co., KY
                                          m: Martha Catherine Pieratt - 27/Mar/1878 - Morgan Co., KY
          9: Lucy Jane - b: 13/Sep/1860 - Grayson Co., VA
                                d: 5/Sep/1938 - Morgan Co., KY
                               m: Shadrack H. Perkins - 15/May/1876 - Morgan Co., KY
                               m: Robert Perry - Feb/1921
        10: Allen Francis - b: 13/Dec/1865 - d: 28/Feb/1866 - Grayson Co., VA
        11: Charles Fleming - b: 22/Jul/1867 - Morgan Co., KY
                                         d: 20/Aug/1971 - Maineville, Warren Co., OH - bur: Hopkinsville Cem.
                                        m: Anna L. Haney - 6/Jan/1887 - Morgan Co., KY

Biographical Details:

According to established family tradition, Sarah Russell was the youngest child of Philip, Jr., and Rebeckah Russell.  However, this assertion presents substantial difficulty and is debatable.  First of all, subsequent census records indicate that Rebeckah Russell could have been no younger than forty-seven or forty-eight years of age at Sarah's birth on February 3, 1830.  Although not impossible by any means, modern fertility statistics indicate that the probability of a birth to a woman of this age is currently on the order of one tenth of one per cent, i.e., about one out of a thousand.  Of course, it is difficult to estimate what the probability would have been in 1830, but it almost certainly would have been low.  Second, and, perhaps, more significantly, although in the 1880 census population schedule the birthplaces of Sarah's parents were both indicated as Virginia, which is obviously consistent with those of  Philip and Rebeckah Russell, in 1900 presumably Sarah herself affirmed her father's birthplace as Massachusetts and her mother's birthplace as Tennessee.  Clearly, the indicated locations do not correspond to the birthplaces of Philip, Jr., and Rebeckah Russell.  It is possible that these responses were given in error, but all other information included in the population schedule appears to be correct, e.g., she indicated that she was the mother of eleven children, eight still living, and, thus, her responses would seem to have been intentional.¹  At this late date it is impossible to know for sure, but it was not uncommon for families to take in orphaned or illegitimate children and raise them as their own.  Furthermore, within the context of the social mores prevailing in the nineteenth century it would have been likely that exact details would have been kept secret, especially if they were asscoiated with some scandal within the extended family or local community.  Even so, it is also reasonable (although not certain) that Sarah would have been informed of the details of her own parentage when she became an adult and, therefore, by 1900, long after anyone who could have been embarrassed by such a disclosure would have died, she might very well have felt free to be truthful in her responses to census questions.  In any case, although by no means certain, it is quite possible that Sarah Russell was not the biological child of Philip, Jr., and Rebeckah Russell; however, it is also clear that she considered herself as such and was considered by others as a member of this family.

Sarah Russell and Alfred Gaither Testerman were married in Grayson County on December 23, 1847.  The household of Alfred G. Testament (Testerman) was included in the population schedule of the 1850 US Census for Grayson County, Virginia.  Moreover, since they appeared on succeeding lines of the population schedule, it is evident that they were living in close proximity to the family of James and Matilda Phipps Russell, which included Rebeckah Russell.  Furthermore, in the population schedule of the 1860 US Census for Grayson County, Rebeckah Russell was living in the household of Alfred G. and Sarah Russell Testerman.  These observations are consistent with the statement of Charles Fleming Testerman, youngest son of Gaither and Sarah Testerman, that "Gaither and Sarah lived on the Russell farm in Virginia until October 1866 when they moved to Morgan County, Kentucky".  Indeed, population schedules of 1870, 1880, and 1900 US Censuses for Morgan County all include the household of Alfred and Sarah Testerman.  Moreover, it seems that all of their children with the exception of their daughter, Victoria, who had married James Troy Ross in August of 1866, migrated to Morgan County.  The reason for their move is not known; however, in the unsettled conditions following the Civil War such moves were not uncommon.  Sarah Russell Testerman died in Morgan County on February 17, 1907.  Gaither Testerman also died in Morgan County three years later on April 17, 1910.  Both of their deaths reeportedly occurred at Hazel Green and they are both buried in Testerman Cemetery.

1. According to Linda Gifford, great-great-great grandaughter of Gaither and Sarah Russell Testerman, two sons, James Albert and Allen Francis died as infants.  In addition, she states that Silas Monroe Testerman died at the age of twenty-six (actually, twnety-seven) and provides the following details: "Tombstone reads something to the effect of 'Lost his life while saving the life of another'.  He drowned while trying to save a friend that was drowning.  Silas was a school teacher - as was their father Gaither.  m. 2/4/1876 to Mary Frances Nickell d. cir 1895.  His wife was pregnant with their first (and only) child when he died."  Concomitantly, tradition places the location of his drowning at Frozen Creek in Breathitt County, Kentucly; however, a death record for Silas M. Testerman was recorded in Morgan County.  It is possible that tradition does not conflict with vital records since Silas Testerman may have been only temporarily resident (perhaps, teaching school) in Breathitt County where he drowned, but a permanent resident of Morgan County where the death was recorded in the county register.  (Linda Gifford to Michael Barnett, electronic communication.)
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Additional Citations:

2. 1850 US Census Population Schedule for Grayson County, Virginia, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 202A, (microfilm roll - M432_947; img. 87).

3. 1860 US Census Population Schedule for Grayson County, Virginia, National Archives, Washington DC:  pgs. 52-3, (microfilm roll - M653_1348; imgs. 53-4).

4. 1870 US Census Population Schedule for Morgan County, Kentucky, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 357B, (microfilm roll - M593_490; img. 79).

5. 1880 US Census Population Schedule for Morgan County, Kentucky, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 516A, (microfilm roll - T9_435; img. 113).

6. 1900 US Census Population Schedule for Morgan County, Kentucky, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 195A, (microfilm roll - T623_545; img. 392).

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7. Mariage Register, Morgan County, West Liberty, KY: Bk 2, pgs. 32, 82, 94, 100, 102, 106, & 254.

8. Death Records, Morgan County, West Liberty, KY, 1876, pg. unk., (Kentucky Birth, Marriage and Death Records, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, KY, (microfilm: roll 994050; img. 234)).

9. Death Certificates, Cabinet for Health and Human Services, Commonwealth of Kentucky, Frankfort, KY, (Death Certificate No. 26090, Office of Vital Statistics, Commonwealth of Kentucky, Frankfort, KY, (microfilm: roll 7016198; img. 2995), Death Certificate No. 32180, Office of Vital Statistics, Commonwealth of Kentucky, Frankfort, KY, (microfilm: roll 7017516; img. 2485), & Death Certificate No. 23024, Office of Vital Statistics, Commonwealth of Kentucky, Frankfort, KY, (microfilm: roll 7020445; img. 3229)).

10. Gevedon Cemetery, Morgan County, Kentucky (www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2275292&CScn=Gevedon&, continuously updated).

11. Grassy Lick Cemetery, Morgan County, Kentucky (www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=1188649&CScn=Grassy&CScntry=4&CSst=19&CScnty=1076&, continuously updated).

12. Hopkinsville Cemetery, Warren County, Ohio (www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2166815&CScn=Hopkinsville&, 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: pgs. 155-61.

14. 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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