About the Project

The Russell One Name Study (or "ONS") project is a collaborative platform to collect and share information on the RUSSELL surname. We're hoping that researchers like you will join the study, to help build a valuable reference point for other genealogists. As a One Name Study, this project is not limited to direct RUSSELL ancestors. New focus areas can be chosen to branch out from RUSSELL into related sub-topics that support our research.

Browse our current research topics to get a sense of our focus, and to see if they spark your interests. If not, you're welcome to think of new topics to propose.

See also related surnames and variants.

How to Join

Ready to join? You can do it now:

1. Add your name to the Membership List below, along with a brief introduction, and a note about how you may be able to contribute to the project.
2. Add the tags RUSSELL and ONE_NAME_STUDIES to your profile.
3. Reply to G2G threads re: RUSSELL genealogy
4. Start posting Research Notes and comments on these pages

And some additional options:

1. Add our ONS template {{One_Name_Study|name=Russell}} above the Bios for any RUSSELL profile(s) you want to tag to this study.
2. Add a sticker to your profile to let others know you're a member {{Member|ONS|name=Russell}}.

Now, time for an introduction.

I'm Chris Jones, your new RUSSELL One Name Study Coordinator.

I've been interested in geneaology since the Roots Web days ca. 2003-2006, active on Ancestry for 4-5 years, and on WT for just over a year. My entre to genealogy was learning old ROOSA and GALLOWAY lines from a cousin, then helping fill-in 10 generations of my RUSSELL line. JOHNS, LAMB and GALLOWAY are other key lines for me.

My Ancestry "score" is .. 8.3 !? Is that good? lol. My CC7 count is an entry-level 190.

As with any Name Study, we're building a research hub. We create focus on the RUSSELL surname using this site, G2G forums, and talents of WT'ers. We'll learn new research tips, while making new connections and new friends. As our Coordinator, I'll field questions and ideas. Post a comment to this page if you like, or send me a pm (email) to brainstorm.

I look forward to our collaboration, as we grow the RUSSELL genealogy community !!

Chris Jones - North Carolina, US - February 2025.

Research Pages

Here are some of the current research pages proposed for the study. Each topic will start here as a section of bullets. When we find there's critical mass, or if someone volunteers to lead a research topic, we'll create a sub-page with it's own content and space for Q&A comments.

• RUSSELL Geographies - areas of origination, concentration or interest
  • ENGLAND.
    • Sussex. A significant # of Russell profiles are found in Sussex. Its tempting to do some spreadsheet level analysis, maybe a UK histogram?
  • SCOTLAND.
    • Alves.
    • Clackmannan.
  • AUSTRALIA.
  • US Colonies - British Colonial America (1609-1776)
    • Virginia Colony. We just learned via G2G there are decades of research and debates on a swarm of William Russells in colonial Virginia. Anyone care to wade into the deep end?
    • Salem, Massachusetts Colony.
    • Kentucky District, Virginia Colony. My gateway ancestor and GGF4 Robert A Russell was born in Clackmannanshire and migrated to Kentucky (pre-statehood), where his son John Russell was born in 1799. Any ideas how to source Robert's voyage? -Chris
      • Joseph Russell also moved from Virginia to the Kentucky frontier pre-statehood and ended up in Lincoln County, Kentucky. I believe him to be the father of my ancestor Andrew Russell, who lived in Pulaski County, Kentucky after its formation. - E. Gatlin
  • US (post-1776)
    • Pulaski County, Kentucky.

• RUSSELL Sources
  • Bartlett, John Russell, Genealogy of that Branch of the Russell Family which Comprises the Descendants of John Russell, of Woburn, Massachusetts, 1640-1878 (Providence: Privately Printed 1879.) (Free e-book. Available at archive.org)
  • Russell, Hezekiah Stone, Descendants of William Russell, Cambridge, Mass., about 1640 (Printed for Private Circulation) (Pittsfield, Mass. Eagle Publishing Company, 1900) (Free e-book. Available on Play Books)
  • des Cognets, Anna Russell, William Russell and His Descendants (Samuel F. Wilson, Lexington, Kentucky, December, 1884) (Free e-book. Available at archive.org)
  • Bond, Henry, M.D Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Including Waltham and Weston (Boston: Little, Brown & Company 1855) (Free e-book) p. 413
  • Hudson, Charles, History of the Town of Lexington, Vol. II - Genealogies (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1915) (Free e-book) p. 591
  • Hudson, Charles, History of the Town of Marlborough, MIddlesex County, Massachusetts, from its First Settlement in 1657 to 1861;..... (Boston: Press of T.R.Marvin & Son, 42 Congress Street. 1862) (Free e-book) p. 442
  • Wyman, Thomas Bellows, The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, in the County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1629-1818 K - Z (Boston, David Clapp and Son 1879)(Free e-book) p. 829
  • Savage, James, https://archive.org/stream/agenealogicaldi03dextgoog#page/n6/mode/2up A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England Showing Three Generations .... Vol. III. K-R] (Boston: Little, Brown and Company 1860) p. 589

• RUSSELL Brick walls
  • Thanks to Adrian for sharing his brick wall Russell, who is John Russell, b. 1815 in Llantwit Major, Glamorgan, Wales, and m. a Susannah. Our first recorded Brick Wall is Welsh ! Please jump in with any thoughts or observations. I'll start looking at his descendants, to see if I can establish some context. -Chris

• Earliest documented RUSSELL Ancestor
  • came across Anne Russell, Countess of Warwick and couldn't turn away. Here is Anne's WT link. Didnt want to lose track of her. - Chris
  • Barbara Palmer shared that her earliest Russell ancestor was William Russel b. abt. 1647 in England. He sailed to the Colonies and settled in Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1670's, married Elizabeth Nurse in 1678, and became a fisherman on the Grand Banks.
  • My earliest ancestor at this point is John Russell (1646-1686) of Clackmannan, Scotland. I have complete lineage through my GGM2 Hannah Ruth (Russell) Sponagle (1840-1912) settling in CA. Both my uncle and grandfather were named Russell. I want more Clackmannanshire sources, but I have 5 Russell generations there, so I think it's a solid line. - Chris
  • My earliest documented Russell ancestor was Andrew Russell, who lived in Pulaski County, Kentucky in the early 1800s. He died before 1820. - E. Gatlin
  • My earliest documented Russell ancestor (and current brick wall) is Uriah Wiley Russell (1801-1895). He lost 4 of 5 sons and 2 sons-in-law during the American Civil War so very few male Russell descendants. I would love to break down this wall. I haven't worked on this family in years and it needs a lot of work. - Marcie Ruiz
  • My earliest Russell ancestor is William Russell, b. about 1605 in England. He settled in Cambridge. Many of his descendants ended up in Lexington. - Bob Keniston

• Interesting RUSSELL stories
  • My records show GGM2 Hannah Ruth (Russell) Sponagle (1840-1912) is a 2nd cousin 1X removed from President Abraham Lincoln. That makes me his 2nd coustin 5X removed !! - Chris
• General RUSSELL Q&A
  • Let's start with G2G posts. We'll be posting more soon. Post your own !
  • Feel free to leave comments on gateway or brickwall RUSSELL profiles, but if you do, be sure to add a template on those profiles, to link the reference back here; you can add our template {{One_Name_Study|name=Russell}} at the top, above the Bio section.
  • Of course, leave general comments/questions below at any time.

Feel free to add/update topics here. This section will evolve with member input.

Membership

Add your profile link here if plan to engage with research notes, posts, comments.

• Patti Harriman
• Debbie Head
• Chris Jones
• E. Gatlin
• Paul Sanchez-Navarro
• Carole Kirch Bannes
• Marcie (Korte) Ruiz
• Bob Keniston

Let's figure out the best way to stay in touch on direction and broad themes, and to get to know each other a bit. Ideas: G2G posts;? Email threads to members? Discord (chat space)?'

What else have you seen that works for WT ONS studies and projects?'

Related Surnames

Would you suggest we add or subtract any names here? If there's interest, we can create a separate sub-page on it for research/convo (the topic would have it's own comments), else, we can simply edit what's here as a reference.

• RUSSEL
• ROSEL or ROZEL (Norman, locations in Normandy)
• ROUSSEL (French)
• ROSSEL (Old Norse, red haired)
• ROSSELUS (Latin, red hair)

Resources (NEW)

Here are some useful research links, courtesy a certain Mr. Grubstake (Greg Slade?) from G2G and our own Carole Kirch Bannes.

• RUSSELL ONS Project (this site; share it !!)
• G2G feed tagged RUSSELL

• RUSSELL Categories
• RUSSELL profiles that are Orphans (to be adopted)
• RUSSELL profiles Unsourced
• RUSSELL profiles Unconnected (floaters)

• RUSSELL genealogists on WT (aka RUSSELL home) - invite your friends and cousins !!)

Can you think of more? Let's add them here !!