John Russell and his descendents

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John² Russell (John¹) was born about 1787 in Washington County, Virginia. He is the son of John Russell and Barsheba (_____) Russell.

Early Years

John Russell was born about 1787 in Washington County, Virginia. Probate records for his father, John, include a list of his father's children in birth order. The estimates of birth years for John and his siblings were based on the order of birth, a few census records, and property and land tax records showing the years in which John's older sons appear on the tax lists.¹ His parents were:

• John Russell, b about 1756; d 1821 in Missouri.
• Barsheba.

John is his father's second son, third child. John's parentage is supported by the list of children in his father's probate record.² In addition, John's father's entries on the Washington County, Virginia, Personal Property tax lists show sons aged 16 or older in the years consistent with the ages of John and his brothers.³

Marriage and Children

No marriage has been definitely identified for John.

In Virginia

John was born and raised in Washington County, Virginia, on the north fork of the Holston River.⁴ He is first seen in the 1803 and 1804 Personal Property Tax Lists for Washington County as a son 16 years or older with his father. This is John, since his older brother James is listed separately on these tax list and his younger brother, Henry, was only 14 in 1803.⁵ His father is also listed on the 1805 tax list with one taxable son. This may be John or Henry, as Henry turned 16 around that time. Then on the 1806 tax list, John is still listed with one son 16 or older, which must be Henry who is definitely 16 at this point.

The last lists show John's father in Washington County until 1814. During this time his sons James and Joseph and Henry are listed separately on the tax list⁷. Only once, 1813, was a second John Russell listed separately on the tax lists. This suggests that John left this location when he left his father's home in 1805. He was about 18 years old.

John Russell did not move to St. Charles County, Missouri in 1821 when his father and several siblings moved there. John is not found on the tax lists and census records where his father and siblings are found. However, where he did move is unknown.

Death

When John Russell Sr died in 1821, John's brother, Patterson, was the executor.⁸ The following abstract of a sworn affadavit by the executor, Patterson Y Russell, shows John in the list of heirs:

Russel, John – No. 7 – Adm. Aug 20, 1821. Paterson Y. Russell Admr. Heirs – James Russell, John Russell, Henry Russell, Joseph Russell, Patterson Y. Russell, Sally Allen wife of Wm Allen, Elizabeth Allen wife of John Allen, Barsheba Foley wife of Abraham Foley, Barsheba Russell wid. of John Russell Sr. dec.

However, in 1826, the list of heirs who received a distribution from the estate did not include John. One explanation for this is that John was alive in 1821 when his father died, but died before the final distribution in 1826. However, another possible explanation is that they did not know whether John was alive in 1821 and discovered he was dead during probate or were unable to locate him during probate.