russellcountyhistory.org joins my Russell County in the Civil War website (russellvets.org) and this blog as the main outlets for my historical research.
russellcountyhistory.org will cover three main areas of research:
In the News - the In the News section currently has over 350 newspaper clippings from various southwest Virginia newspapers which relate to Russell County from 1854-1941.
I am in the process of transcribing all of the mentions, although some are quite long. Approximately 60 articles have been transcribed, the rest have basic subject indexes created. I will also be adding several hundred more clippings over the next several months. Of interest in these papers are several articles related to the Howard Little murder case, a complete roster of the Glade Spring Rifles in the Civil War, a roster of a previously unknown Confederate unit, Captain Thomas' Nitre Unit, Colonel James Preston's Battalion, and numerous other topics.
The Campbell Archive - the second section of the new site presents several hundred historical documents from the Campbell, Martin, and Steele families of Russell County. These documents have been passed down from family to family and are now in my possession. Wills, land deeds, agreements, letters, and more are represented in the collection, covering the years from 1832 to 1936.
The section is currently composed of paper documents only. I will eventually add the photographic collection as well.
Slaves and Free Blacks - the third and most important section of the new site covers the lives of African-Americans in Russell County in the 19th century. Researching African-Americans in the Civil War time period is incredibly difficult. Most slaves mentioned in historic records are only given their first names and the names of their owners. Occasionally it's possible to match up the 1850 and 1860 Slave Schedules of the census to other records and roughly match up a slave to an owner, location, or document. This section contains five sub-sections:
- Slaves and Free Blacks mentioned in Law Order Books, 1853-1864
- Slaves and Free Blacks mentioned in Wills, 1850-1865
- Slaves and Free Blacks mentioned in Death Records, 1853-1866
- Slaves and Free Blacks mentioned in Birth Records, 1853-1862
- Slaves and Free Blacks mentioned in 1860 Mortality Schedule
Each section contains a transcript of the entire mention of the slave or free black in the respective records. Combined the above offer a detailed look at the lives of African-Americans in Russell County in the 19th century. I will continue to add records to this section. I have the Law Order Books from 1864-1867 ready for transcription, and additional wills are also on order.
The new site is not complete. I have hundred of additional articles to add, more Campbell documents, and additional research on African-Americans in Russell County. Please bear with me as I try to juggle my Civil War research (always endless!), the weekly blog posts on this site, and the new site.
As always, I am interested in additional material for these sites, especially photographs of Civil War soldiers. Although there are hundreds of pictures out there of Russell County soldiers, I do not have permission to simply grab them from another persons' website (and I don't like it when people use mine without permission.) So if you have a photo or document, please get in touch with me!
If you like this site and appreciate the work I've done over the last 20 years, please support me. If you are willing to help with transcribing newspaper articles, please get in touch with me as well. It's easy!
As always, I am interested in additional material for these sites, especially photographs of Civil War soldiers. Although there are hundreds of pictures out there of Russell County soldiers, I do not have permission to simply grab them from another persons' website (and I don't like it when people use mine without permission.) So if you have a photo or document, please get in touch with me!
If you like this site and appreciate the work I've done over the last 20 years, please support me. If you are willing to help with transcribing newspaper articles, please get in touch with me as well. It's easy!
