MY FAVORITE ANCESTOR

Joseph Tipton Russell

When I first started researching my ancestors, more than forty years ago, I knew that my paternal second great grandfather, Joseph Tipton Russell, died in Buchanan Co., Missouri, and that he was born in "the mountainous region" of Tennessee.  I had also been told that he was Scots Irish.  

After several years of research, I discovered that his parents were Elijah Russell who was born 10 January 1782 in North Carolina and Elizabeth Edens from Virginia whose mother was a French Huguenot.  This couple was married in Carter Co., Tennessee.  They had nine children, Joseph Tipton being the youngest, and they migrated from Tennessee to Illinois to Missouri.

After more years of research, I figured out that Elijah Russell came to Tennessee from Wilkes Co., North Carolina -- but, after much research, I have never been able to be sure of his parents.  He may have been a son of William Russell but I can't prove it and I don't know where William came from either.

Joseph Tipton Russell is very different from my other ancestors.  He is the only one who is both Scots Irish and French Huguenot.  He is from the south rather than New England, England, or The Netherlands, where the records are nice and tidy and easy to find, like my other ancestors.  He is my favorite because his family is such a mystery!  My son Russell is named after this branch of the family.