These are the sources I mentioned, that, if genuine, could prove that Anna's maiden name really was Buckner. I'd appreciate any input you might have about these sources and how I/we/someone might track them down, if they actually exist.
Franklin County Court Clerk Absolum Russell (1760-1840) son of William Russell and Anna Buckner, husband of Frances Gaines; served during the American Revolution, enlisting in Virginia.
Casey County Residents on the Pension List of 1835
Page 81
RUSSELL, Absalom, Pvt., VA Militia; 6 May 1833; $23.33; age 74.
Note: there is currently no primary source cited for this entry. Absalom's nephew Absalom, son of William, Jr., was probably the Absalom mentioned in this record, combined with his uncle Absalom, who actually lived 1760-1840. According to a source below, the younger Absalom was the clerk of Franklin County, Tennessee.
While the second section is clearly a military pension record from Casey County, Kentucky, the first section may be a DAR proof of service record, in which case, it should not be considered evidence that Anna's maiden name actually was Buckner.
If this is a genuine primary source (as worded above), it probably dates between 1783 and 1793, because Absalom's first child with Frances was born in 1785, and he remarried Elizabeth in 1793. However, Absalom's namesake nephew apparently became the county clerk in 1808 and served until his death in 1813. While this is certainly within his uncle's lifetime, one wonders why his wife is given as Frances, since she was deceased and he had remarried.
If it dates to Absalom's own lifetime, then, most likely his mother's maiden name really was Buckner.
In the form in which it appears here, this was taken fromhttp://www.generationsgoneby.com/tng/getperson.php?personID=I02502&tree=1
According to a post on Genealogy.com, allegedly, there is an article in the State Archives of Tennessee that states Major Wm. Russell's son, Absalom, was county court clerk of Franklin Co., Tennessee in 1808 and served until he died from wounds at the Creek War on 11/8/1813. According to this article, William Russell died 3/16/1825. Based on his age, it appears this may be the William Russell from this profile's son, William. The user also added that he believed Wm. Russell had a brother named Absalom. If so, it appears that William, Jr. may have named his son after his brother. However, since there were four Absalom Russells and over 20 William Russells, it's possible that this is a different family entirely, and until the text of this article is ascertained to be a primary source, is legitimacy must be called into question.http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/russell/922/
An additional user posted a reply to the above, stating that Absalom's brother, William, is given, by George Ely Russell (Researcher) as the father of Philip Russell (b.1765 in Lunenburg, Co. Virginia). This William also married a woman named Ann, but we have no proof of a maiden name proof for the grandmother, Ann (listed as Buckner), nor a maiden name for the mother, Ann, (both married to William, one to the father, the other to the son). This post states that The LDS files lists the grandmother's last name as Buckner, but so far the research cannot confirm it.http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/russell/982/
Finally, another Genealogy.com user posted the following information (with all typographical errors corrected for Wikitree):
From LDS library files: Absalom Russell, son of William Russell, Sr. and Anna Buckner, born in 1760, Halifax Co., VA, married Elizabeth Gaines 23 October 1793 in Halifax Co., VA. Second marriage to Frances Gaines. He died in 1840 in Casey Co., KY and is buried on the Homer Baldock Farm, South Fork Creek, Casey Co., KY. Their children were: Bird, (M) born 14 February 1793 in Halifax Co., VA; George born in 1796; Lucretia (Cresey); Juncy (Nancy); Mary (Polly); and Elizabeth (Rosey).http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/russell/240/
With the typos corrected, the only information that is inconsistent with the facts as we know them is that the order of his marriages is backwards (he married Frances first, she was the mother of the three oldest children, then she died during or following childbirth, and he remarried her sister Elizabeth), and not all the children are listed. The only other questionable piece of information here is the mother's maiden name of Buckner. While we know this is in the LDS library, from the information provided, we do not know whether the information is a primary source, or if it was gathered from someone's research, which may have made a mistake in the tangled Gordian knot of William Russells who lived in Colonial Virginia.