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The purpose of this document is to set forth my hypothesis regarding one William Russell. Much of the following statements are purely speculations on my part, but are based on what evidence I have been able to find.
First, and foremost, it should be mentioned that the only place I have ever seen it mentioned that Hezekiah Russell's father was William Russell was in a book. Now, we all know that books are by no means a primary source. However, I must say that everything I have set out to find, based on what the excerpt says, has proven to be true. James Russell's service in the Mexican War? True. In fact, James Russell and his family moved around so, much, I had great difficulty determining what state they would be in during any given census year. He didn't just move from Illinois to Missouri to Texas, he moved back and forth between these states so many times as to make me dizzy. With the 1880 census soundex not listing families unless they had small children, and with a common name like James, I had little hope of ever finding him on that census. Fortunately, based on the story about James Russell, I looked in Barry Co., Missouri. Lo' and behold, there he was! Living next to a Long family (the wife was a Russell), noless. The story does not make any exaggerated claims about anyone serving in the Revolutionary War, or talk about how good-looking the women in this family were, or anything that might make you give less credence to the accuracy of the story. The story was written in 1892, and supposedly all biographies in this book were based on interviews and information submitted by the individuals the bios were about. It is with this in mind that I have decided to take the mention of Hezekiah's father being William as a working truth.
Secondly, the men I have listed as Hezekiah's brothers and, hence, William's sons are also purely speculation. I have found no will for this William Russell, so I have been working with what little else is around. All of the "brothers" are of the right age range to have been brothers. Two of the men, Samuel Tally and Henry, were living right next to Hezekiah in the 1835 Morgan Co., IL state census. The James Russell (different one than mentioned in the paragraph above) was not living near Hezekiah on any census that I am aware of, but he was living in Wilkes Co., NC, was the right age to be a brother, and he married a Gouger sister. Hezekiah married a Gouger sister. Two Russells marrying two Gouger sisters? As I mentioned, this is purely a hypothesis, but I am currently guessing James and Hezekiah were brothers.
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