No, Ida. None of Uncle John’s siblings or half-siblings married a Russell.  
That has been very thoroughly studied and researched. I have been in touch 
with  family members of all branches of the tree. John’s wife was not a 
Russell and  she had no half-siblings.

And, YES, I will report back, when I return from my trip.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your help and for your  interest.
Carole



In a message dated 11/9/2009 4:03:21 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

Carole:

Having the Bible record and your great-grandfather's  list of siblings 
is great.

Could one of John W Spencer's sisters or  half sisters have married a 
Russell? Was John W's wife a Russell? Could  William P be her half brother?

The value of a Y-DNA study initially  would be to verify whether 
William P is indeed a Russell and perhaps save  you time and money in 
searching the wrong paper trail(s). It would be  interesting to find 
out whether William P is related to our group of 5  closely related 
Russell men in Southside Virginia counties who have had  
direct-male-line descendants test for them. It is possible for you to  
sponsor a test subject, be the contact person with the genealogical  
world, and preserve the test subject's anonymity.

Adoption as we  know it is pretty much a 20th-21st Century phenomenon. 
In earlier  centuries children frequently grew up under the surnames 
of stepfathers  and others whom we today would consider foster 
parents. Rarely would  someone go to court in England or America to 
formally adopt someone. Even  then it might be the case of a childless 
adult male adopting another adult  male for purposes of inheritance.

The book _A Place in Time: Middlesex  County, Virginia, 1650-1750_, by 
Darrett B. Rutman and Anita H. Rutman  (New York: W W Norton, 1984) 
may be a help to you in understanding  guardianships and the plight of 
many children and their complex families.  "From the standpoint of 
children, parents were ephemeral" (p. 118). "By  the time [Agatha] was 
ten, she had lost a father, two stepfathers, a  mother, and her 
guardian uncle" (p. 119).

Please report back  whether your trip to the Halifax County courthouse 
answers any of your  questions.

--Ida Skarson McCormick, [log in to unmask], Seattle

At  06:24 AM 11/9/2009, Carole D. Bryant <[log in to unmask]>  wrote:
><snip>Mainly, I'm trying to  discover if it is  possible that the 
>father of William P.
>might be  discovered  through genealogical means, rather than DNA. There  
are
>living direct male line descendants of William P. whose names are  Spencer,
>but whether they have enough  interest to have a DNA  test, I could not 
say.
>
>John W. Spencer's father was married  twice. He had six children by his
>first wife before her death, then  remarried and had ten more. That 
>explains the
>  wide  spread of ages for the other siblings.<snip>

To subscribe, change  options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions  
at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html



To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html