Anna (Buckner) Russell (abt. 1717 - abt. 1783)

Born about 1717 in Virginia

Descendants

Died about 15 Apr 1783 at about age 66 in Halifax, Virginia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Susannah Rolfes [send private message] and Ken Vyhmeister [send private message]

Biography

Very little is known for sure about Ann (or Anna) Russell. There are three different theories about her maiden name (Buckner, Lundy, or Stith), but none of them have a particularly convincing argument (see below). We do know that she was married to William Russell by around 1755, living in Halifax County, Virginia, and was apparently still married to him when he wrote his will in 1776. Their son Buckner Russell's birth year can be determined to have been around 1750, so it's fair to say they were probably having children at least by the late 1740s and perhaps earlier. Most likely, this puts her birth year in the 1710-25 range. Numerous secondary sources assert exact years of birth, marriage, and death with great confidence, though there seems to be little basis to consider most them to be anything better than informed surmises and occasionally wild guesses.

Name and Birth Year

Anna may have been born in 1717 or 1718 in Virginia, possibly in Gloucester County or Lunenburg County. She was almost certainly born before 1726.

Anna's maiden name is not certain. Because one of her sons is named Buckner, it is likely that this was her maiden name (though he may have been named after a neighbor, Buckner Stith); however, a source on Genforum in 1999 said that for some reason she thought Anna's maiden name might have been Lundy (she did not provide a source, however this is discussed below). Circumstantial evidence makes it seem likely that her maiden name may have have been Stith.

One family tree on Ancestry.com has her name as Sarah Anna Buckner (1718 - 1783), however no source was provided.

Parents and Birthplace

She may have been the daughter of John Buckner (b. Abt 1684, Gloucester Co., Virginia; d. Bef 1727, Gloucester Co., Virginia) and Ann Ballard (b. Abt 1686, Gloucester Co., Virginia; d. Aft 1727, Caroline Co., Virginia) (source: http://www.generationsgoneby.com/tng/getperson.php?personID=I48176&tree=1 ; no primary source is given). If she is the daughter of John Buckner and Ann Ballard from Virginia, no primary source for her birth and death dates and places as of this writing; they are taken from Generations Gone By. Wikitree user Ben Buckner notes that she could not be the daughter of John Buckner Jr. of Gloucester, because his daughter Ann was probably Ann Cary.

Alternatively, she may have been born in Oxfordshire, England, and christened on 6 December 1717 in Cumnor, Berkshire, England. If so, her parents were John and Ann Buckner. (source: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7DT-TB3 and https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N2ZT-RBC ) They may or may not have been the same as the John Buckner and Ann mentioned in the source above. This is unlikely, since there are records for the burials of people with this Anna's parents' names and approximate ages near her birthplace. There is no record of her death or marriage in England, however, her family was not typical of emigrants, and she could have died in infancy or childhood and the records were simply lost or never recorded. As yet, there is no evidence that anyone in this family ever emigrated.

Alternate birth date of 1724 in Marcocky and death date of 1773 in Virginia were provided by Victoria Toussaint. No place called Marcocky has been located. (No primary source is given.) Also, because she was mentioned in her husband's will written in 1775, she most definitely died after 1777, when his will was proved, especially because the land provided by her husband's will for the duration of her widowhood was sold by her sons, Absalom and George, on 24 Nov 1800, indicating that she probably died or remarried by that time (30 acres of woodland on the waters of Lower Double Creek, left to Anna in the will of her husband, to Ezekiel Walters. (Halifax County, Virginia Deed Book 19, p.145)

There are two Buckner families in Halifax in the late 18th century that she could be related to. She could be the daughter, Ann, mentioned in the will of Philip Buckner, or a member of his extended family, or she could be a member of the Anthony Thomas Buckner family. Alternatively, she could be related to the James River Buckners, who lived in neighboring Lunenburg County, a daughter or granddaughter of Lawrence Buckner.

She also could be related to Haley, or William, and Presley Buckner I.

It is also possible that she was the daughter of Drury Stith, a neighbor of William and Anna Russell, who had a son named Buckner Stith, after whom Anna and William's son may have been named.

(Drury Stith, son of Drury Stith and Susanna Bathurst, was born in 1695 in Charles City Va, and died June 1740 in Brunswick, Virginia. He married Elizabeth Buckner in 1717 in Prince George's County, Virginia, (daughter of William Buckner and Katherine Ballard). Elizabeth was born Abt. 1700 in Gloucester County, Virginia, and died in 1777. They had a son named Buckner, who was probably the Buckner Stith who was a neighbor of William and Anna Russell. Source: http://www.jscott.tierranet.com/ancestry/stith/polly.htm )

Marriage and Children

She may have married William Russell about 1739. Ken Vyhmeister's Ancestry tree has her marriage year as 1737. No marriages are recorded in Halifax County, Virginia prior to 1753, however, Halifax was originally part of Lunenburg County, so a marriage record may survive there. (Pittsyvania formed from Halifax; Halifax formed from Lunenburg in 1752; Lunenburg formed from Brunswick in 1746; Brunswich was formed in 1720 from parts of Prince George, Surry, and Isle of Wight counties.)

A Pittsylvania land grant survey transcribed by Mrs. N.E. Clement and dated 26 Mar 1739 reads:

John Russell entered with [the surveyor] Major [Drury] Stith 100 acres on both sides Hunting Creek above Nash's Line. Transferred by note from John Russell to William Russell, from William Russell to William Haymer and by verbal agreement in presence of James Anderson to Pater Fontaine [In eastern Halifax County].

This may indicate that they married in 1739, and John Russell (possibly William's father) obtained this land grant for his son and his son's new wife to start their life together. Additional evidence for this as their marriage year is the birth of their first son, William, abt. 1740.

Anna's husband, William Russell, appears in Halifax County order books from 1755, not long after it was formed from Lunenburg County in 1752. Order book entries show that he ran an ordinary (a licensed tavern) in the 1750s, though later records sometimes identify him as a "planter." One entry, a lawsuit dated 16 Oct 1755, shows that his wife's name was Anna, so most likely she was the same wife as the Anna Russell mentioned in his 1776 will (unless he married two or more women with the first name Ann/Anne/Anna).

Another record shows her as Ann Russell:

Court of Common Pleas. Book 4, Page 220.

1763. Deed from William Russell. and Ann his wife, to William Seymore. Acknowledged and recorded/ ---1763.

She was the mother or step-mother of the nine children mentioned in her husband's will: William, Ann, Sarah, Lucrecia, Buckner, Elizabeth, Judith, George, and Absolom Prestiss. Additional children may not have survived, or may not have been named in the will.

Based on the the ages of her children, Anna could not have been born before about 1726, even if she married at age 14. If she was born in 1717, then she was probably about 22 when she married. In which case, she was about 40 when her last child was born, which is the average age when women of that era had their last child. (This is assuming that she was the mother of all of William's children.)

Christening records in Maryland for a different William and Anna Russell show that they were the parents of William (29 Apr 1747) and Charles (12 Oct 1759), both christened in Leonardtown, Saint Mary's, Maryland. This is not the same William and Anna Russell, because Maryland was a Catholic colony and their son, Absalom, married the daughters of a Protestant minister. Also, their son, William, was supposedly born about 1740 in Virginia, not 1747 in Maryland. Additionally, the family would have had to move to Virginia at some point between 1755 and 1777, when William Russell made out a will in Virginia. It is not impossible, but seems unlikely.

Not only that; the land grant in 1739 conflicts, as do the record books from 1755, and an unverified list of additional siblings in Maryland, named James (b. 1755), Ignatius (b. 1748/1749), MaryAnn (b. 1757), and Charles (b. 1759). These conflict with Lucretia (b. Abt 1748) and Judith Russell, (b. Abt 1755), both born in Halifax Co., Virginia.

This is just one example of the many instances in which sources for multiple men named William Russells were conflated in error.

At the time of his death (or at least when he made out his will), Anna's husband was married to a woman named Anna, but it is not known if she was the mother of his children, or if he had been widowed and Anna was the step-mother of some or all of the children. The fact that an Anna was named with him in a 1755 suit in Halifax County, Virginia, suggests that she was likely his first wife and certainly the mother of some of the children at least, including Judith, Absalom, and George. It is possible, however, that he married more than one woman named Anna.

Politics

The American Revolution was fomented in places like the ordinary run by the Russell family, so they may have been involved in the political machinations of the time. Her husband William was believed to have fought in the Revolutionary War, and their son Absolom certainly did. William's death around the end of 1776 or beginning of 1777 suggests that he may have died in the Revolutionary War, although he may have been too old or ill to fight in the first place, and his death may have had nothing to do with the war. It is possible that he made out his will when he did specifically because he might die in battle.

Religion

The Russell family was probably Protestant.

The Halifax order books show that in 1752/1753/1755, 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.^{[1] [2] [3][4]} and other sources.

It is unknown whether or not William and Anna were among the Dissenters.

Dissenters were anyone who did not follow the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church. They could be Quakers, 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. Anna's great-grandson 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.

William and Anna's son, Absolom, married Frances, the daughter of Rev. Thomas Gaines. After her death, he remarried Elizabeth, another daughter of the same Rev. Gaines. 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. More information is needed as to whether Thomas Gaines was the minister at the Dissenters meetinghouse. They probably were not Quakers, considering Absolom's military service, and the fact that William owned at least one slave, however it is not known at this time what denomination they were.

Evidence in the profile of her son Absolom Russell further explains the evidence against the idea that the Dissenters were Quakers and for the idea that they were Baptist, Calvinist, Presbyterian, or Methodist.

Her Husband's Will

WILL OF WILLIAM RUSSELL:

Will Book 1 1773-1783

Halifax Co., VA

Page 36

1. 174

WILLIAM RUSSELL Will knowing the uncertainty of this mortal life and the certainty of death

To my son William Russell, One shilling sterling to him & his heirs &c. To my daughter Ann Light, One shilling sterling to her & her heirs &c. To my daughter Sarah Walters, One shilling sterling to her & her heirs &c. To my daughter, Lucreasy Dodson, One sh. st. do. To my son Buckner Russell, One sh. st. do. To my daughter Elizabeth Russell part of my moveable estate to value of Fifteen pounds to her & her heirs &c. To my daughter Judith Bennett One sh. st. do. To my wife Anna the use & benefit of the plantation I now live on with thirty acres of wood land with the labour of my Negro fellow Dick with a third part of my other moveables during widowhood & then to my two sons George and Absalom Russell all the land I am possessed of to be equally divided between them & their heirs & assigns forever. To my two sons George & Absalom my moveable estate except what I have lent my wife during widowhood or death to be equally divided between them at my death & also the Negro fellow Dick & to their heirs &c forever. Exr: Well beloved wife Anne Russell, son George Russell ??hoping they will see the same duly performed as my trust in the is reposed?? WD 7 March 1775 S/ William (R) Russell Wit: John Pulliam, Mary Watkins, Micajah Watkins Codicil: 15 April 1775. In the case of death of either of my two sons George & Absalom before they come of age or have lawful issue the survivor to have the hole of others share & should both die in the minority without lawful issue my will is that Sarah Walters, Lucretia Dodson & Judith Bennett should have what I willed to them to be equally divided amongst them. Wit: John Pulliam, Mary Watkins, Micajah Watkins S/ Willm. (R) Russell WP 20 March 1777. Will presented & proved by one of wit. 19 June 1777. Will further proved by one of other wit. O.R.

Death

Anna may have died ‎15 April 1783 or 1793 in Halifax, Virginia, though no source has been provided for this information (from Generations Gone By).

She probably died by 1800, because her sons sold the land provided for her usage during her widowhood that year. It is possible that she had actually remarried, rather than died, but she would have been about 74 to 83 years old in 1800, so she had most likely passed away.

She was almost certainly still alive in 1782:

1782 Heads of Families Census, Halifax County, Virginia

Russell, George 3 1

(First number is how many White people.)

(Second number is how many Black people.)

The household probably consisted of Anna and her sons, George and Absolom, and probably Dick, the slave left to Anna in her husband's will.

1785 Heads of Families, Halifax County, Virginia

Russell, Absolom 2 1

Russell, George 1 1

(The first number is the number of White people living in the dwelling)

(The second number is the quantity of buildings on the property.)

Three years later, her sons Absolom and George were no longer living together. Absolom's first son with Frances Gaines was born in 1785, so he probably married in either 1784 or 1785 (no marriage record has been found), and if so, Anna had probably already died by this time.

Alternatively, Absolom, his mother Anna, and Dick are living in one household (assuming Dick is still living, as only White persons were counted on this census), and this record was from immediately prior to Absolom's marriage.

It is also possible that she was the daughter of Drury Stith, a neighbor of William and Anna Russell, who had a son named Buckner Stith, after whom Anna and William's son may have been named.

(Drury Stith, son of Drury Stith and Susanna Bathurst, was born in 1695 in Charles City Va, and died June 1740 in Brunswick, Virginia. He married Elizabeth Buckner in 1717 in Prince George's County, Virginia, (daughter of William Buckner and Katherine Ballard). Elizabeth was born Abt. 1700 in Gloucester County, Virginia, and died in 1777. They had a son named Buckner, who was probably the Buckner Stith who was a neighbor of William and Anna Russell. Source: http://www.jscott.tierranet.com/ancestry/stith/polly.htm )

It is also possible that she was the daughter of Drury Stith, a neighbor of William and Anna Russell, who had a son named Buckner Stith, after whom Anna and William's son may have been named.

(Drury Stith, son of Drury Stith and Susanna Bathurst, was born in 1695 in Charles City Va, and died June 1740 in Brunswick, Virginia. He married Elizabeth Buckner in 1717 in Prince George's County, Virginia, (daughter of William Buckner and Katherine Ballard). Elizabeth was born Abt. 1700 in Gloucester County, Virginia, and died in 1777. They had a son named Buckner, who was probably the Buckner Stith who was a neighbor of William and Anna Russell. Source: http://www.jscott.tierranet.com/ancestry/stith/polly.htm )

Possible Evidence of Buckner as Anna's Maiden Name

One possible alternative explanation for the name of her son, Buckner, is that Major Drury Stith's son, Buckner Stith, seems to have owned land adjacent to William Russell; he may have been named after this neighbor, who may have been a relative of Anna's, possibly her brother (after all, people in this era usually married a neighbor).

Anna is also mentioned in her son's Absalom's military record:

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 from http://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 who was Anna and William's son. 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, its 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 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 list the grandmother's last name as Buckner, but so far the research cannot confirm it. http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/russell/982/

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.

Ancestry also has a file that indicates that Anna's maiden name was Buckner, in a family data collection file about her son, Absalom: https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=genepoolb&h=3892011&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=7836

Absalom Russell
in the Family Data Collection - Births
Name: Absalom Russell
Father: William Russell
Mother: Anna Buckner
Birth Date: 1760
County: Halifax
State: VA
Country: USA
Source Information
Edmund West, comp.. Family Data Collection - Births [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001.

Anna Ballard was previously connected as the mother of the Anna Buckner of this profile, however there is no evidence that she was Anna's mother.

Possible Evidence of Stith as Anna's Maiden Name

To summarize what has been said elsewhere in this profile, William and Anna Russell's son, Buckner, may have been named after a neighbor, Buckner Stith, son of Major Drury Stith, the surveyor. Circumstantial evidence makes it seem likely that her maiden name may have have been Stith, and she may have also been the daughter of Drury Stith and the brother of Buckner Stith.

This would also explain the source of the story that their son Buckner's name is after a maiden name, because Drury Stith's wife was Elizabeth Buckner; he could have been named after his maternal grandmother's maiden name, rather than his mother's.

Source: http://www.jscott.tierranet.com/ancestry/stith/polly.htm

Drury Stith and Elizabeth Buckner were married in 1717, at the right time to have a child Anna's age. Although they have several documented children, they did not have any known children born at a time to preclude Anna being their daughter.

The main argument against this possibility is the absence of evidence.

The main arguments for it are the fact that most people married a neighbor during this era, and that Buckner as a first name is unusual, but became very common in the Stith family.

Possible Evidence of Lundy as Anna's Maiden Name

The idea that Anna's maiden name was Lundy is probably based on the 1764 will of Richard Lunday of Lunenburg Co. which leaves legacies to Ann Russell's children of Lunenburg Co.^{[5] [6]} It is possible this is the present Anna Russell, but there were also other Russells in Lunenburg at the time.

Page 223

Lunday, Richard - -1764; - -1764; W.B. 2/223

Mentions: Relationship of following not stated: Joseph Smiths' children of Sussex Co., Ann Russell's children of Lunenburg Co.

Executor: Merritt Bland

Witnesses: Sarah (her X mark) Bland, Ann (her X mark) Russell.

In 1999 or 2000, one post on Genforum suggested that Anna's maiden name was Lundy, but the general consensus was that it was probably Buckner, due to one of their sons being named Buckner. It is possible that William was married to Anna Buckner, was widowed, and then married Anna Lundy, or vice versa. There was such a person as Anna Buckner, whereas there may or may not have been such a person as Anna Lundy (at least there was no such person with that spelling).

A final note about the Lunday surname: the Familysearch tree shows that her son, William Russel, Jr., was married to Anne Lunday (no source was provided). This could have been what the Genforum user vaguely remembered.

Ultimately, Anna's maiden name is unknown as of this time, as is whether she was William's first and only wife.

Sources

1. ↑ Maud Carter Clement, The History of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1929, p. 123, Google Books
2. ↑ A History Of Halifax County Virginia by Wirt Johnson Carrington 1924, Appeals Press, Inc.Richmond, Va.
3. ↑ http://genealogytrails.com/vir/halifax/historyhalifaxbook.html
4. ↑ HISTORIC ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES SURVEY OF HALIFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA: https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/SpecialCollections/HA-064_HalifaxCountySurvey_2008_HSPC_report.pdf
5. ↑ Lunenburg Co. VA Will Book 2 p. 223, see http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/lunenburg/wills/1746-1825-b.txt
6. ↑ http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/lunenburg/wills/willbk02.txt

• First-hand information as remembered by Victoria Toussaint, Friday, October 10, 2014.

• WILL OF WILLIAM RUSSELL: Will Book 1 1773-1783 Halifax Co., VA Page 36 # 174

• Possible christening in Oxfordshire, England (Cumnor, Berkshire, England): https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7DT-TB3 and https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N2ZT-RBC

• Christening of Charles Russell on 12 Oct 1759 in Leonardtown, Saint Mary's, Maryland: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4ZV-5JT and https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4ZT-CRV

• Christening of William Russell, born 29 Apr 1747, in Leonardtown, Saint Mary's, Maryland: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4ZV-5PN from=lynx1&treeref=LRVD-MX3 and https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4ZT-H5G

• Lundy connection: Lunenburg Co. VA Will Book 2 p. 223, see http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/lunenburg/wills/1746-1825-b.txt

• Order books, showing William's wife was named Anna: http://www.rgcrabtree.com/Russell_Notes.htm, citing Halifax County Court Orders (1755-1758), T.L.C. Genealogy, 1992, p. 68

• Land grant: http://www.roanetnhistory.org/doc.html?docn=Russell-Deeds&imgt=jpg&pages=11&numinrow=4&coll=Kendrick&loc=M10

• Dissenters' meetinghouse on William Russell's land: Maud Carter Clement, The History of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1929, p. 41, Google Books

• Halifax County, Virginia Deed Book 19, p.145.

• Heads of Families, Halifax County, Virginia, 1785: http://genealogytrails.com/vir/halifax/1785census.html

• Heads of Families Census, Halifax County, Virginia, 1782: http://genealogytrails.com/vir/halifax/1782census.html