Sanders was born about 1788 in Virginia (probably Halifax County). He is the son of Absolom Russell and Frances Gaines.
Profile creator Victoria Toussaint originally stated that Sanders was born about 1788, and passed away about 1883. [1] She almost certainly meant to type that he passed away in 1838, not 1883.
When he was about six years old, his mother, Frances, either died in childbirth when his younger brother, Birdie, was born, or within the next days, weeks, or months, because his father married his maternal aunt, Elizabeth, when Birdie was just over eight months old.
Perhaps this was because their loving aunt wanted to raise Edmund, Sanders, and Birdie, and it was what was best for the children, or perhaps it was because Absolom wanted to marry within his faith.
Frances and Elizabeth were the daughters of Reverend Thomas Gaines. Birdie's paternal grandfather, William Russell, owned a 300-acre land grant in Halifax County, Virginia.
The Halifax order books show that in 1755, a group of Dissenters were granted leave to build a meeting house on the land of William Russell "on the Drafts of Difficult Creek", on the border between Halifax and Lunenburg.[2]
Dissenters were anyone who did not follow the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church. They could be Quakers, Methodists Lutherans, Baptists, or any of a number of denominations. Since William permitted the meetinghouse to be built on his land, it is likely that he shared their faith and that he and his family were members of the congregation.
The most common Dissenters in the area were Baptists, Methodists, and Scottish Presbyterians. Sanders' son was named John Calvin Russell, which is a clue that they may have been Calvinists or Scottish Presbyterians, a theory also supported a probable by the published source, The History of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, by Maud Carter Clement, published by Genealogical Publishing Co. in 1929.
However, it is unknown whether Rev. Gaines was a minister at that meetinghouse, or what denomination Rev. Gaines belonged to. They were probably not Quakers, because Absolom fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, and William owned at least one slave.
When Sanders was about 11 years old, he was named in a lawsuit, along with his father, step-mother, and older brother Edmund. The lawsuit specified that he was the son of the deceased Frances Gaines/Francis [sic] Russell. The lawsuit was a land dispute over 125 acres, between his grandmother, Dorothy Gaines, and some other relatives on one side, and his father and many of his other relatives on the other. An image of the original newspaper article about the lawsuit is attached to this profile, and the full text is transcribed in his mother's profile.
He probably moved to present-day Casey County, Kentucky, with his father, Absolom, his two full brothers, Birdie and Sanders, and several other Russell family members. This was at a time when most of Kentucky was part of Lincoln County.
He married Mary Elizabeth "Polly" Combs on 10 April 1809 in Lincoln County, Kentucky.
He appeared on the US census in Lincoln County, Kentucky in 1810, 1820, and 1830.
According to a post by username jckays posted on 26 Aug 2004 at 11:36 PM, edited: 25 Jan 2005 at 11:19 PM, Sanders moved to Boyle County, Kentucky in the 1830s, and his will was executed in 1838. Boyle is the county to the north of Casey County.
He was definitely the father of Sarah ("Sally"), Emily, and John Calvin.
The profile manager has not yet seen his will, so there is currently no source for the other children on this list:
His will was proved in Boyle County (then Mercer County), Kentucky in 1838, so he must have died in 1837 or 1838. An Ancestry tree gives the date 05 Nov 1838, and gave "One World Tree" as a source, but no source is provided. Another gives May 31, 1838, also with no sources.
This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Can you contribute information or sources?
List of children comes from: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LCJL-R2V
This list should be checked against Sanders' will.
Sanders was born about 1788. Sanders Russell ... He passed away in 1838.[3]
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Sanders is 23 degrees from Herbert Adair, 20 degrees from Richard Adams, 17 degrees from Mel Blanc, 23 degrees from Dick Bruna, 17 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 28 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 16 degrees from Sam Edwards, 16 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 19 degrees from Marty Krofft, 15 degrees from Junius Matthews, 13 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 17 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.