Person:James Russell (110)

"The Russell family, once so prominently known in the northwest section, have disappeared. We have mentioned James A. Russell and family elsewhere. His cousin William Russell lived in that section. They married sisters, the Misses Baker, of Hardy County. William was the father of Mrs. James Cover, Mrs. Zepp and one son John. Mr. James A. Russell lived to be an old man. His father was one of the Minute Men, as shown elsewhere. Mr. Russell's gallant son, Stanley, was killed during the early part of the Civil War,-a brave Confederate, well-known to the writer. His sister Mrs. Annie Hack and her brothers, have been previously mentioned." [Source: p. 500, Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and their Descendants, by Thomas Kemp Cartmell, 1909.]

Birth and death dates are from records of the Mount Hebron Cemetery, Winchester for Lot 616. There is a photo of the grave marker at Mount Hebron for "James Alexander Russell" with his date of birth and date of death (source: findagrave.com).

Frederick County, Virginia census information (1840 - 1860):

• 1840 - James A. Russell - 1 male 15-20, 1 male 20-30, 1 female 15-20, 1 female 20-30 and 1 female 60-70. Next to Elizabeth Russell, widow of John Russell. James A. and John are believed to have been first cousins.

• 1850 - James A. Russell, 30, farmer, $8,000; wife Mary, 29; Anna, 7; Stanley, 5; Edwin, 4; William, 2; and Moses Russell, 25. All Born Virginia. Is Moses a brother of James? [Note: Households listed on pages 136 & 137 of this census - several Coopers, James Russell (b 1811), John Disponet; Keckley; Richards; Brill; Richard; James A. Russell; and William Russell (includes widow Elizabeth, 64).]

• 1860 (P.O. Mountain Falls) - James A. Russell, 42, farmer, $4,000 and $7,500; wife Mary W. 41; Anna E., 17; Stanley, 15; Edwin, 13; William, 11; Moses, 36, domestic; and Cecilia Meiers, 26, domestic. The neighbors following this entry are: Rachel Bond; Richard Hotsenfiller; Moses R. Richards.

1870 census for Capon Township, Hardy County, West Virginia (PO Moorefield) - J. A. Russell, 52, farmer, $6000 & $2000; wife Mary, 51; Anna, 26; Edward, 24; William 22; and servants.

1880 census for Romney, Hampshire County, West Virginia (June 1) - Jas. A. Russell, 62, father, clerk in store, and Mary W., 62, mother residening in the household of Ed Russell, 34, retail dry goods merchant; wife Minerva, 29; twins Mary W. and Alice, 5, born WVA; Willie P?, 3, born WVA; Edwin A., 2; born WVA; and brother William, 31, retail dry goods merchant.

1885 atlas for Back Creek Magisterial District: two points in the mountains in the southwestern part of the district show "J. A. Russell".

There is a memorial stone in the cemetery of the St. John's Lutheran Church in Hayfield. It reads "In Memory of the Russell Family who settled in this vicinity About 1745. Bodies reinterred here March 1885. by Jas. A. Russell.". The church is just south of Back Mountain Road and a bit east of Furnace Run.

Buried in Indian Mound Cemetery in Romney, Hampshire County, West Virginia: William M. Russell - "Birth: 1848 Death: 1934 Husband of Susan Howard Russell. Ocpp: Retired Banker. Son of James Alexander Russell, Mountain Falls, Virginia, and Mary Warden Baker, Wardensville Virginia. Aged 85 years, 10 months and 16 days." [Source: findagrave.com.]

". . . Capon Springs, a mountain resort attracting hundreds of far-away city people - who would take stage lines at Winchester over the new road, making the first halt at the popular hotel under the brow of the Big North, where their genial host Mr. James A. Russell, gave his guests such hearty welcome . . ." [Source: p. 57, Cartmell's "Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their Descendants".

1.   There is a survey by M. S. Lovett dated Nov. 13, 1844 for James A. Russell pursuant to several treasury warrants for 249 acres (about 200 in Frederick County and the rest in Hampshire County) on the top of North Mountain adjoining James' survey in the Little Cove; the metes and bounds description refers to William Deakin's survey and the north side of the Capon Springs road. The chain men for the surveyor were Nathan Cooper and Moses Russell. [Note: Moses is James' brother.]
2.   In 1861 James A. Russell petitioned the General Assembly of Virginia for relief from what he described as an erroneous tax assessment made on a tract of mountain land in 1856. [Source: online image at Library of Virginia website.]