Mappy Monday: Bass Islands, Lake Erie

Map of the Bass Islands in Lake Erie. By NormanEinstein CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0). Available from Wikimedia Commons.

This map shows the location of the Bass Islands, which are in the western half of Lake Erie, and are part of Ottawa County, Ohio.

My 5th-great-grandfather Andrew Russell was a private in Tunstall Quarles' Company of Infantry, 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia during the War of 1812. His regiment formed on 1 September 1812. By mid-September, they reached General William Henry Harrison's headquarters in St. Marys, Ohio. They then proceeded north and began the construction of Fort Jennings. After the fort was completed, the regiment remained on garrison duty for a few months. They then headed north to Put-in-Bay, which is located on South Bass Island. The U.S. had suffered defeats in and near the western Lake Erie area at the beginning of the war. Andrew's regiment may have been sent north to help increase the U.S. military presence in the area. They were eventually sent back to Cincinnati because their term of service was coming to an end. I am not sure how much time Andrew spent in Put-in-Bay. South Bass Island has been called the "Key West of Lake Erie," but surely it did not seem that way to Andrew and the other men during the winter of 1813.

Amanuensis Monday: Andrew Russell Enters 100 Acres of Land on Pitmans Creek, Pulaski County, Kentucky

Pulaski County, Kentucky. Court Orders, Vol. 1, 1799-1803. No. 171, Andrew Russell, 24 June 1801. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1969. Microfilm 804646.

N. 171) On the motion of Andrew Russell Satisfactory proof was made to this Court that the said Russell is Intitled to one hundred acres of land by Virtue of his having Improved the same agreeably to an act of the General assembly Kentucky for Settling and Improving the Vacant lands of this Commonwealth and located as followeth (to wit) Andrew Russell, Enters 100 acres of land on the waters of Pitmans Creek adjoining A Mills Esq on the East & North Jeremiah Boon Esq on the South & to extend westwardly for quantity whis is Ordered to be Certified

Sympathy Saturday: Non-Resident Heirs of Hannah (Hardgrave) Russell

Nashville Union and American, 22 December 1853, page 2

My 5th-great-grandmother Hannah (Hardgrave) Russell died in 1853. Skelton Demoss was the administrator of her estate. Some of her heirs were not residents of Tennessee, so they could not be served by the County Court of Davidson County, Tennessee. Her daughter Helen (Russell) Dawson was living in Missouri. Her son Mills Russell (incorrectly listed as Miles in the notice) had died in 1852, but he had three sons in Livingston County, Kentucky: Andrew Russell, John D. Russell, and Wesley Russell.

A notice was published in the Nashville Union and American, beginning on 22 December 1853 (the beginning date given at the bottom of the notice is December 23, but the newspaper issue that the notice appears in is dated December 22). The last notice was published on 9 February 1854. Mills Russell's sons and Helen Dawson were asked to appear at the courthouse in Nashville on the first Monday in February 1854 (6 February 1854).

Military Monday: Kentucky in the War of 1812

During the War of 1812, my 5th-great-grandfather Andrew Russell was a private in Tunstall Quarles' Company of Infantry, 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia. Although he is not mentioned by name in the clippings below, they provide more information about his experiences.

 Kentucky Gazette, 8 September 1812, page 3. Kentucky Digital Library.

Captain Quarles' regiment is specifically mentioned in this report of army movements.

Kentucky Gazette, 15 September 1812, page 13. Kentucky Digital Library. 

Andrew was one of the 600 men in Col. Jennings' regiment.

Hornets' Nest (Murfreesboro, NC), 5 November 1812, page 2

Andrew's regiment built Fort Jennings.

Treasure Chest Thursday: My Father's Baby Book

My grandmother Helen Martha Marie (Anderson) Gatlin recorded information about the first seven years of my father's life in a baby book. The book is full of treasures. I learned who attended my father's birthday parties and what gifts he received. My grandmother recorded my father's first reaction to his new baby sister. She wrote that at age 18 months, my father could carry the tune of a Swedish hymn, Tryggare kan ingen vara. She wrote about the trips that he took.

The baby book also includes a family tree. There are some mistakes, but the family tree provided an important clue about the identity of my 3rd-great-grandmother's father. Her name was Amanda Russell, but she was listed as Amanda Sawyer. This record helps me to make the case that James Sawyer was her father.

Sunday's Obituary: Sarah California (Russell) Ivy

Nashville Tennesseean, 2 October 1928, page 5

   IVY––At 1 a. m., Oct. 1, 1928, at her home near Linton, Tenn., Mrs. Sarah California Ivy, widow of the late J. F. Ivy, age 84 years. Survived by one daughter, Miss Miriam Ivy, and two brothers, Mills and Skelt Russell, of Linton, Tenn. Funeral from the residence this (Tuesday) morning, Oct. 2, 1928, at 10 o'clock, services conducted by Elder R. B. Cawthorn. Interment Russell family cemetery. The following friends are requested to serve as pallbearers: Dr. J. N. Smith, Bert Travis, Will Ivy, J. A., Will and Hooper Linton. Wiles Bros. and Cotton Funeral Home, 129 Eighth Ave., S, in charge. Phone 6-0019.

Sarah California "Callie" Russell was born in Tennessee on 13 September 1844. She was the daughter of of my 4th-great-grandmother's brother James Russell and Miriam Hill. She married James F. Ivy on 27 January 1876 in Williamson County, Tennessee. Their daughter Miriam was born in May 1887. Her husband died on 19 July 1925. Callie died on 1 October 1928.

Sunday's Obituary: Mills Louis Russell

Nashville Tennessean, 18 January 1930, page 5

   RUSSELL––Mills Louis Russell, son of Andrew Jackson Russell and Miriam Hill Russell, born Aug. 13, 1856, died at his home near Linton, January 17, 1930, at 10'30 o'clock. Survived by his wife, Mrs. Bettie Russell; one daughter, Mrs. Barney Beasley of Hillsboro, one brother, S. H. Russell of Linton, three grandchildren and eleven nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be conducted at the home by Rev. Andy T. Ritchie, Sr., Saturday, January 18, 1930, at 2 p.m. Burial in the family cemetery. Active pallbearers: John Beasley, Seth Knight, Skelt and Mills Russell, Russell Beasley. Honorary pallbearers: J. B. Martin, John M. Hooper, Mac Allison, Judge Joe F. Mayes, J. A. Linton, W. W. Joslin, W. P. Hicks, J. B. Griggsby and Dan H. Hillman.

Mills Louis Russell was the son of my 4th-great-grandmother's brother James Russell and Miriam Hill. The obituary incorrectly states that his father's name was Andrew Jackson Russell. James Russell's father was Andrew Russell; perhaps his middle name was Jackson.

Mills married Ollie Elizabeth "Bettie" Butts on 31 December 1882 in Williamson County, Tennessee. Their daughter Medora "Dora" Russell was born on 3 October 1883. She married William Barnett "Barney" Beasley on 24 February 1909 in Williamson County, Tennessee.

Sunday's Obituary: Frank C. Russell

Nashville Tennessean and Nashville American, 1 February 1917, page 3

                JUDGE F. C. RUSSELL
                                  DIES IN FRANKLIN

FRANKLIN, Tenn., Jan. 31––(Special.)––Judge Frank C. Russell, a prominent figure in the politics of Williamson county for many years, died here tonight at 6:3- o'clock in the sixty-ninth year of his age. Funeral services will be held Friday morning from the residence, conducted by Rev. W. S. Taylor and Rev. W. A. Cleveland.
   For  six years Judge Russell served as sheriff of this county. He also served fourteen years as county judge and was a number of times a member of the county court. He was United States commissioner under President Cleveland and represented Williamson county in the fifty-eighth general assembly.

Francis C. "Frank" Russell was born on 15 February 1848 in Davidson County, Tennessee. He was the son of my 4th-great-grandmother's brother James Russell and Miriam Hill. He married Sarah Ann Givens on 8 January 1885 in Williamson County, Tennessee. Their son Skelton Givens Russell was born on 3 November 1885. Their second son, Frank Russell, was born about 1887, but died on 4 September 1899. Frank died on 31 January 1917 in Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee.

Tombstone Tuesday: John Harvey Sawyer

Photo by Linda Moore Mora - Find A Grave Contributor

John Harvey Sawyer was born on 10 January 1866 in Williamson County, Tennessee. He was the son of Lemuel Sawyer and Charlotte Carrington. He married Alice Taylor on 6 March 1889. They had six children: William Leslie Sawyer (born 14 February 1890), John Allen Sawyer (born 20 January 1892), Jane Sawyer (born March 1894), James Henry Sawyer (born 15 February 1896), Etta Sawyer (born about 1904), and Alice Sawyer (born about 1908).

John worked as a farmer. He was the sheriff of Williamson County in 1920, and possibly longer (either before or after 1920).

John's wife Alice died on 27 October 1923. On 1 June 1942, John married Emma Beech. John died on 6 July 1943 in Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Franklin.

John was my second cousin 4 times removed. Charlotte Carrington's mother was Malvira Russell, the sister of my 4th-great-grandmother Sobrina Russell. Charlotte's sister Sophronia Carrington married Lemuel Sawyer's brother William D. Sawyer on 1 January 1852. Lemuel and Charlotte married on 26 December 1854. Malvira (Russell) Carrington, the widow of William or Wiley Carrington, married Lemuel and William D.'s father, William Sawyer, on 30 November 1859. I suspect that William was the brother of James Sawyer, who I believe was the father of my 3rd-great-grandmother Amanda Russell. So John may be my double second cousin 4 times removed.

Locating Hannah (Hardgrave) Russell's Property

The 1820 United States census shows that my 5th-great-grandmother Hannah (Hardgrave) Russell was living near her father, Francis Hardgrave.

1820 United States census, Davidson County, Tennessee, population schedule, page 60, NARA Roll M33_122, image74. Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Francis' will reveals that the property Hannah was living on belonged to him. He left the land to her, and specified that after her death, it was to go to her son James Russell.

Will of Francis Hardgrave, Davidson County, Tennessee, Will Book No. 9. Available from FamilySearch.

Other documents provide more information about Hannah's residence.

Nashville Whig, 22 May1822, page 3

In May 1822, Hannah found a three-year-old bay mare and placed an advertisement in the Nashville Whig to try to find the horse's owner.

Bay-colored 3/4 Arabian mare. 23 June 2006. Photo by Montanabw (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

At this time, she was living on Flat Creek in Davidson County, Tennessee, ten miles from Nashville.

View of the Harpeth River and Flat Creek. Google Earth. 

When William Tillett gave a statement in support of my 3rd-great-grandmother (and Hannah's granddaughter) Amanda (Russell) Tarkington's Confederate Widows Pension, he mentioned that Amanda and Joseph Tarkington married "at the old Russell place on the Harding pike in Davidson County Tenn."

Statement of William Tillett. Tennessee Confederate pension application 2079, Widow's Indigent Pension. Amanda Tarkington, widow of Joseph Tarkington. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives.

By finding Flat Creek and the Richland and Harding Turnpike on an 1871 map of Davidson County, Tennessee and seeing where they come together, it is possible to pinpoint the location of Hannah's property.

Excerpt from Foster, Wilbur F. Map of Davidson County Tennessee, from actual surveys made by order of the county court of Davidson County, 1871. New York : G.W. & C.B. Colton & Col., 1871. Available from Library of Congress.

Wednesday's Child: Travis Russell

Commonwealth of Kentucky, Bureau of Vital Statistics. Certificate of death, Travis Russell. Ancestry.com. Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.Original data: Kentucky. Vital Statistics Original Death Certificates – Microfilm (1911-1955). Microfilm rolls #7016130-7041803. Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, Kentucky.

Travis Russell was born in November 1911 in Livingston County, Kentucky. He was the son of  John Gordon Russell and Alice Isabel Schroder. He died on 10 January 1912 in Livingston County, Kentucky.

Travis was my second cousin four times removed. His father John Gordon Russell was the son of John D. Russell and Elizabeth Wilson. John was the son of Archibald Mills Russell and Margaret Harding. Mills was the son of my 5th-great-grandparents Andrew Russell and Hannah Hardgrave.

52 Ancestors: Week 52 "Resolution": Andrew Russell

My 5th-great-grandfather Andrew Russell is one of my brick walls. I do not know when or where he was born, or who his parents were. Some online family trees state that he was born in 1778 in North Carolina, but I have never seen a source for this information. There were men named Andrew Russell in Augusta County, Virginia, where my Andrew Russell's wife's parents were from; I suspect that he may be related to them.

Andrew Russell married Hannah Hardgrave on 28 June 1799 in Lincoln County, Kentucky. In 1800, he lived in Pulaski County, Kentucky, which had been created from parts of Lincoln and Green Counties in December 1798.

He was one of the commissioners that helped to plan the town of Somerset (the county seat of Pulaski County) and arrange the location of public buildings such as the courthouse, jail, and stocks. (Pulaski County Fact Book II: Chapter 2: The Founding and Growth of Somerset.)

He was enumerated in Somerset in the 1810 United States census. This is the only census record that I have for him. His household consisted of 1 free white male age 26-44, 2 free white males under age 10, and 1 free white female age 26-44, 1 free white female age 10-15, and 3 free white females under age 10.

1810 United States census, Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky, roll 8, page 143, image 00135. Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Andrew was a private in Tunstall Quarles' Company of Infantry, 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia during the War of 1812. His regiment constructed Fort Jennings in Ohio and remained there on garrison duty. They later headed north up to Put-in-Bay, Ohio. They were sent back to Cincinnati and discharged in 1813. The 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia Reenactment Group's unit history provides more information on the regiment's activities.

Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky. Soldiers of the War of 1812. Printed by authority of the legislature of Kentucky. Frankfort, KY: E. Polk Johnson, 1891. Available from Internet Archive.

Compiled service record, Andrew Russell, Pvt., Tunstall Quarles' Company of Infantry, 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia, War of 1812. Record Group 94. National Archives, Washington, DC.

In the 1820 United States census, Andrew's wife Hannah was enumerated as head of household in Davidson County, Tennessee. Andrew may have died by 1820. I have found no further record of him.

This year I kept my resolution to obtain Andrew Russell's military records from the National Archives and Records Administration. In the coming year, I resolve to obtain land records. According to a Rootsweb family tree page for James Matthews (who rented land from Andrew Russell), Andrew Russell received two certificates for 100 and 300 acres of land on Pitman's Creek in June 1801. According to note 10, this information came from Pulaski County Order Books 1 and 2.

I will also take another look at the microfilmed Pulaski County, Kentucky tax lists at my local Family History Center. I made digital copies of the relevant pages, but some of the microfilm was very hard to read. Some of the copies are difficult to read; those pages might be a little easier to read if I go back to the microfilm. Fortunately some images, like the one below, are legible.

1800 Tax List, Pulaski County, Kentucky. Pulaski County (Kentucky). Tax Assessor. Tax books 1799-1822. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Historical Society, 1952-1953. Family History Library microfilm 8209.

52 Ancestors: Week 51 "Nice": James William Tarkington

My 2nd-great-grandfather James William Tarkington was born on 28 May 1850 in Tennessee, probably in Davidson County. He was the son of  Joseph Tarkington and Amanda Russell.
 

From family group sheet compiled by P. C. Lampley, 12 December 1983.

Joseph, Amanda and James Tarkington lived in Davidson County, Tennessee in 1850, near Amanda's family.

1850 United States census, Davidson County, Tennessee, population schedule, roll M432_875, page 279B, image 564. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.

By 1860, the Tarkington family was living in Williamson County, Tennessee. They probably moved there in 1858 after Amanda's uncle James Russell purchased land in Williamson County as trustee for her mother Sobrina Russell.

1860 United States census, District 1, Williamson County, Tennessee, population schedule, page 98. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.

By 1870, James was no longer living in his parents' household. He had moved in with James and Louisa Sawyer, who were living in Davidson County, Tennessee.

1870 United States census, District 11, Davidson County, Tennessee, population schedule, page 21. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.

In 1877, James and his brother George worked as guards at the penitentiary.

Directory of Nashville, Edgefield, and Adjacent Towns in Tennessee, for 1877. Compiled by T. M. Haddock. Nashville: Tavel, Eastman & Howell. Page 348. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

In 1880, James was still living with James and Louisa Sawyer, but this census revealed something new: his relationship to the head of the household was "Gr. son." Since James and Louisa had married in 1845, James Tarkington could not be the son of a child that they had together. When I first came across this record, my first thought was of the family tree in my father's baby book, which stated that James William Tarkington's mother was Amanda Sawyer. Although Louisa (McDowell) Sawyer's previous husband was Asbury Tarkington, they married in 1832, and Joseph Tarkington was born in 1830. Since Joseph Tarkington married Amanda Russell in 1849, I think that the birth year of 1830 is likely to be correct. For further analysis, see my posts on Amanda Russell and Joseph Tarkington.

1880 United States census, Fourteenth District, Davidson County, Tennessee, population schedule, page 5. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

James married Anna Malvina Binkley (listed as Louvina D. Binkley on their marriage license; I have found so many variant forms of her name!) on 30 November 1880. They were married by Samuel W. Bransford, Minister of the Gospel.

Davidson County, Tennessee marriage license, James W. Tarkington and Louvina D. Binkley. 30 November 1880. Nashville, Tennessee: Metropolitan Government Archives.

Davidson County, Tennessee marriage license, James W. Tarkington and Louvina D. Binkley. 30 November 1880. Nashville, Tennessee: Metropolitan Government Archives.

James and Anna had five children: Laura Belle Tarkington (born 27 August 1881), Mary Magdalene or Margaret Tarkington (born 15 February 1884), Viola Maydell Tarkington (born 15 September 1886), my great-grandmother Anna Gertrude Tarkington (born 16 April 1889), and Robert Vaughn Tarkington (born 15 December 1892).

In 1885, Louisa Sawyer wrote her will. She left her estate to her husband James Sawyer, and specified that after his death, it was to go to her grandson James W. Tarkington. None of Joseph and Amanda Tarkington's other children were mentioned in the will. If James W. Tarkington was her biological grandchild, his siblings would be too. It seems far more likely that she would leave her property to a step-grandson that had lived with her for at least ten years and who she probably had come to think of as a grandson, than that she would disinherit her son and all but one of her grandchildren.

Will of Louisa Sawyer, 28 January 1885.

James William Tarkington died at his parents' home in Nashville on 12 June 1894. The cause of death was emphysema. He was buried at the J. R. Binkley Cemetery in Vaughn's Gap.

Davidson County, Tennessee death registers, June 1894. No. 653, James Tarkington. (Side 1). Ancestry.com. Tennessee, City Death Records, 1872-1923 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.Original data: Tennessee City Death Records, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis, 1848-1907. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Davidson County, Tennessee death registers, June 1894. No. 653, James Tarkington. (side 2). Ancestry.com. Tennessee, City Death Records, 1872-1923 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.Original data: Tennessee City Death Records, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis, 1848-1907. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives. 

Daily American, 13 June 1894, page 5

Nashville Banner, 13 June 1894

It was nice of James William Tarkington to live with his grandparents (biological and step) for so many years. He was probably very helpful to them. His step-grandmother seems to have loved him as her own grandson. And the documentary evidence of this living arrangement provided me with important clues that helped me to identify his mother's father. That was very nice too!

General Pulaski Memorial Day

General Casimir Pulaski plaque, Cambridge Commons, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo by Daderot (Own work) [Public domain], 14 February 2010. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

October 11 is General Pulaski Memorial Day, in honor of Casimir (Kazimierz) Pulaski. In 1929, Congress passed a resolution designating October 11 as General Pulaski Memorial Day. Since 1931, a presidential proclamation has been issued for the holiday every year.

Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski was born on 6 March 1745 in Warsaw, Poland. He and his father Józef Pulaski were among the founders of the Bar Confederation, an association formed to defend Poland against Russia and King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Pulaski became the commander after his father died in 1769. One of his military accomplishments was taking control of the Jasna Góra Monastery in September 1770. In 1771 members of the Bar Confederation attempted to kidnap King Stanisław August Poniatowski, and Pulaski was implicated. He went to Silesia, Prussia in 1772 and met with Franciszka Corvin-Krasińska, the wife of Charles of Saxony, Duke of Courland. He went to France in 1773, and attempted to join the French Army, but was unsuccessful. He spent some time in a debtors' prison in 1775. He met Benjamin Franklin in 1777. Franklin and the Marquis de Lafayette recruited him for service in the Continental Army.

On 23 July 1777, Pulaski arrived in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He traveled to Pennsylvania in August, and met George Washington. His first battle in North America was the Battle of Brandywine on 11 September 1777. Pulaski gathered troops together and charged in order to prevent the British from retreating. On 15 September 1777, Washington made Pulaski a brigadier general in the Continental Army cavalry.

 Pulaski participated in the Battle of Germantown, and spent the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. He assisted General Anthony Wayne in February 1778, but returned to Valley Forge in March.

Pulaski created a new cavalry regiment, Pulaski's Legion. Its headquarters were in Baltimore, Maryland, and most of the men were recruited there.They participated in the Little Egg Harbor Massacre on 15 October 1778.

On 8 May 1779, Pulaski arrived in Charleston, South Carolina.In September, he headed to Georgia. Pulaski's regiment served as advance guard for Admiral Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing's troops. Pulaski commanded both the French and American cavalry on 9 October 1779 at the Siege of Savannah. He was wounded by grapeshot and carried off the battlefield. He died on 11 or 15 October 1779.
My 5th-great-grandfather Stephen Mayo also participated in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown.  He and his brother Benjamin were at Valley Forge together.

Pulaski County, Kentucky is named for Casimir Pulaski. My 5th-great-grandparents Andrew and Hannah (Hardgrave) Russell lived in Pulaski County, Kentucky, and my 4th-great-grandmother Sobrina Russell was probably born there.

References
Bar Confederation
Casimir Pulaski 
Casimir Pulaski, Father of the U.S. Cavalry
A Chronology of Casimir Pulaski's Life 1745-1779
General Casimir Pulaski (1745-1779)
General Pulaski Memorial Day

Military Monday: More Information on Andrew Russell, Private in 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia, War of 1812

 My 5th-great-grandfather Andrew Russell was a private in Tunstall Quarles' Company of Infantry, 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia during the War of 1812. According to the book Soldiers of the War of 1812, the men in the company were enlisted from 1 September 1812 to 1 October 1812. I recently received Andrew Russell's compiled service record from the National Archives and Records Administration, and found out that he served with the company for a longer period of time. He was enlisted from 1 September 1812 to 30 March 1813.

The 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia Reenactment Group has a unit history on their Web site. By looking at the history and the compiled service record, I can see what Andrew was doing during the War of 1812.

The unit history states that the 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia was formed in Frankfort, Kentucky on 1 September 1812. The regiment marched to Lexington, Kentucky, and then went to Newport Barracks in Newport, Kentucky. The men received 2 months' advance pay at Newport.

The company pay roll dated 30 November 1812 states that Andrew Russell was advanced ten dollars at Newport.

Compiled service record, Andrew Russell, Pvt., Tunstall Quarles' Company of Infantry, 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia, War of 1812. Record Group 94. National Archives, Washington, DC.

By mid-September, the men had arrived at General William Henry Harrison's headquarters in St. Marys, Ohio. They then headed north and constructed Fort Jennings. It was completed in October 1812. They remained at Fort Jennings on garrison duty.

Several months later, the men headed further north, and got as far as Put-in-Bay, Ohio. They were then sent back to Cincinnati, and were discharged in 1813.

According to the company muster roll dated 9 March 1813, the company marched 164 miles to the rendezvous, and 164 miles back. They marched about fifteen miles per day.

Compiled service record, Andrew Russell, Pvt., Tunstall Quarles' Company of Infantry, 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia, War of 1812. Record Group 94. National Archives, Washington, DC.

Amanuensis Monday: Amanda Tarkington's Confederate Widows Pension Claim: William Tillett's Statement

The statement that William Tillett gave in support of my 3rd-great-grandmother Amanda (Russell) Tarkington's Confederate Widows Pension is transcribed below.

GEO B. GUILD, President                                                               HON. FRANK DIBRELL
  FRANK A. MOSES, Special Examiner                                                 ATT'Y GEN. CHAS. T. CATES
      W. H. COLEY                                                                           JOHN P. HICKMAN, Secretary


                                                          HEADQUARTERS
                                           Tennessee Board of Pension Examiners
                                                BOARD MEETS SECOND TUESDAYS IN JANUARY, 
                                                                                APRIL, JULY AND OCTOBER
                                                       Nashville, Tenn. ______________  190____
       _____________No.__________________________
                                     (Must give number when writing)

State of Tennessee  }                  Personally appeared before
Davidson County      }                 me William M Tillett whom I
know to be a man of truth and integrity of character who after being sworm to me makes the following additional statement in the case of Mrs Amanda Tarkington the widow of Joseph Tarkington decd she being an applicant for a state pension as follows. I was present at the marriage of Amanda Russell and Joseph Tarkington they were married at the old Russell place on the Harding pike in Davidson County Tenn on the 12th day of June 1850 by Esquire Porch a justice of the peace. I have known them as man and wife up to the death of Joseph Tarkington in 1903 and that they were living together at that time as man & wife ____

I also remember distinctly the time in 1863 when Joseph Tarkington came home from the army on sick leave with asthma & pneumonia, he remained sick for a long time, I know the fact that he never was able to rejoin his command on account of his continued sickness which lasted till the war closed and for a long time afterwards, in truth he never was a well man again and suffered till he died in 1903 with this complaint. I know these facts because I saw him frequently during the time I speak of and that he never was fit for military service after he came home  –  I have no interest further than to see justice done in the application of Mrs Tarkington in her case

witness                                                                                         his
Mrs Julia Johnson                                                                W .M.  x   Tillett
                                                                                                    mark
Subscribed and sworn
before me this 2nd day Jan 1909
                                    Aris Brown
                                       Notary Public

Statement of William Tillett. Tennessee Confederate pension application 2079, Widow's Indigent Pension. Amanda Tarkington, widow of Joseph Tarkington. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Statement of William Tillett. Tennessee Confederate pension application 2079, Widow's Indigent Pension. Amanda Tarkington, widow of Joseph Tarkington. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Note: William Tillett was wrong about the date of Joseph Tarkington and Amanda Russell's marriage. They married on 12 June 1849, not 12 June 1850.

Presidential Proclamation - War of 1812

Madison, James. By the President of the United States of America, a proclamation. Washington, DC, 1812. Printed Ephemera Collection; Portfolio 228, Folder 8. Imprint 2. Printed Ephemera Collection; Portfolio 228, Folder 8. Digital ID rbpe 22800800 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rbpe.22800800. 

The War of 1812 began 203 years ago today. On 18 June 1812, President James Madison issued a proclamation which stated that the United States and the United Kingdom were at war.

Some of my ancestors and other relatives participated in the War of 1812. The ones that I know of are Chapman Gordon, Francis Hardgrave, Skelton Hardgrave, Elias L. Mayo, Thomas Mayo, and Andrew Russell.

Mappy Monday: Map of Kentucke, 1784

Map of Kentucke. From The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke, by John Filson (1784). Public domain. Available from DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska-Lincoln and  Wikimedia Commons.

This 1784 map by John Filson is the first known map of Kentucky. Filson dedicated the map to the United States Congress and to George Washington.

My Hardgrave ancestors came to Lincoln County, Kentucky around 1795. My 5th-great-grandparents Hannah Hardgrave and Andrew Russell married in Lincoln County in 1799, and afterward lived in Pulaski County, which was created out of Lincoln and Green Counties.

Census Sunday: Errors in 1870 United States Census, 7th Civil District, Williamson County, Tennessee

The 1870 United States census records for the 7th Civil District, Williamson County, Tennessee, contain errors. My 3rd-great-grandparents Joseph and Amanda (Russell) Tarkington (spelled Tarington in the census record) appear to be in a household headed by Mary Ann Clardy. The next household appears to be headed by my 4th-great-grandmother Sobrina Russell (Amanda's mother). She lived with Amanda and Joseph in 1860.

1870 United States census, 7th Civil District, Williamson County, Tennessee, population schedule, page 8. Available from Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. 

Close up:

1870 United States census, 7th Civil District, Williamson County, Tennessee, population schedule, page 8. Available from Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

1870 United States census, 7th Civil District, Williamson County, Tennessee, population schedule, page 9. Available from Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Close up:

1870 United States census, 7th Civil District, Williamson County, Tennessee, population schedule, page 9. Available from Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

By looking closely at the other families on the census pages, it becomes apparent that the enumerator recorded the dwelling and family numbers on the wrong line; they should have been written on the line below. In many households, some children appear to be in different households than their parents. Several households appear to be headed by babies less than a year old.

The below image shows households that appear to be headed by Nancy Fleming, age 4/12; James M. Gardner, age 9/12; William Hulme, age 3; and Ransom J. Dudley, age 1.

1870 United States census, 7th Civil District, Williamson County, Tennessee, population schedule, page 2. Available from Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

The error begins on the first page of the census for the 7th Civil District, but there is another problem as well: dwelling 1, family 1 begins on line 12 of the census page.

1870 United States census, 7th Civil District, Williamson County, Tennessee, population schedule, page 1. Available from Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.