There is some confusion in the family trees on Ancestry and in the shared tree at FamilySearch about the different men named Isham Russ.
There are several men by the name of Isham Russ that are sometimes confused with each other as they are contemporaries in time and place. This post is an attempt to sort out the confusion.
The first two that get confused are 3rd cousins once removed-- my great-great grandfather Isham A. Russ (FamilySearch ID number L7F4-CHT) who was born in 1829 in Brunswick county, North Carolina and Isham Allen Russ (M723-PNP) who was born in 1825 in Robeson county, North Carolina.
Isham A. Russ is the son of Isham Russ and Dorcas McKeithan. His father died in 1832, so I have not seen him being part of the Isham Confusion. Isham A. married Mary Elizabeth Pinner and they are buried together in the Cool Springs Baptist Cemetery in what is now Lee county, North Carolina.
As stated above, he often gets confused with Isham Allen Russ (M723-PNP) who is the son of Josiah Russ and Elizabeth Allen. Isham Allen married Sarah J. He died around the same time as Isham A. but the exact date isn't known (by me, at any rate). He died between 1 March 1893 and 8 October 1903, so some people think that Isham A's death info and findagrave entry is Isham Allen's... but it isn't.
The 1850 census in Cape Fear North East Side, Bladen county, N. C. has the following household:
Thomas J. Russ 31 constable
Isham A. Russ 22 farmer
Sarah J. Russ 17
Emeline Russ 19
William J. Bigford 25 laborer
Some people have incorrectly attached this record to my Isham, but the record belongs to Isham Allen as Sarah J was Isham's wife and Thomas J, Isham, and Emeline are siblings.
Tracking the men and their locations shows that they often lived in nearby but not neighboring counties in North Carolina; and then in the 1880 census, they both lived in Robeson county with Isham A. in Thompson Township and Isham Allen in Smiths Township. The two townships look to be about 30 miles apart.
During the Civil War, there are 3 Ishams that enlisted--two in South Carolina and one in North Carolina. One was wounded, one was a POW, and the third was neither wounded nor a POW and not as much information is had on his service. Supposedly two of the three are Isham A. and Isham Allen, but I have not been able to figure out the third Isham. Some people have erroneously added all the Civil War records to Isham A.
According to the fold3.com website for the Civil War there are (see below for more details):
1-Isham Russ serving in the 6th Calvary from South Carolina.
2-Isham Russ serving in the 26th Infantry from South Carolina.
3-Isham Russ serving in the 23rd Infantry from North Carolina.
1-Isham Russ, Private in the Confederate Army, POW
6th South Carolina Calvary Regiment Company D
Enlisted 20 December 1863 at Camp Harleston for the whole war [I have not been able to figure out where Camp Harleston is]
Imprisonment date 11 June 1864
Imprisonment place Louisa Court House
Captured at Trevilian
Arrival date 20 June 1864
Transfer record--transferred to Elmira, New York
Transferred on 25 July 1864
Paroled at Elmira, NY 14 March 1865 and sent to James River for exchange
(a little history about the situation: "captured at Trevilian" during the Civil War means they were taken prisoner at the Battle of Trevilian Station, a major cavalry engagement that took place near Louisa County, Virginia on June 11-12, 1864, where Union soldiers under General Philip Sheridan clashed with Confederate cavalry led by Wade Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee; this battle is particularly known for a moment where General George Custer's Michigan Brigade was nearly surrounded and captured, but was saved by reinforcements from Sheridan.)
2-Isham Russ, Private in the Confederate Army
26th Infantry South Carolina Company D
Enlisted 1 September 1862 for the whole war
Enlisted 10 February 1863 at Church Flats
No more info was available about this Isham on Fold3.com
(same person who enlisted twice because there are 2 records with 2 enlistment dates for the 26th S. C. Infantry Company D? or two men by the same name in the 16th Infantry?)
Due to the fact that his age is correct and his residence was Richmond county make me pretty confident- but not 100%- that this is my great-great grandfather:
3-Isham Russ, Private in the Confederate Army, injured (combining a few records to get all this info):
23rd Infantry North Carolina Company D
He volunteered and was not conscripted and enlisted for a year.
Residence Richmond county, N. C.
He enlisted at the age of 31 [born 1829-1830] at Rockingham, Richmond, N. C.
Enlisted on the 30th of May 1861 in Richmond, VA [or should that be Richmond county, N.C.?]
He was a butcher (pay slip said he was paid 25 cents)
Casualty date 1 July 1862 wounded at Malvern Hill Battle, VA, sent to hospital
Notes: 1862-11-30 absent wounded, for previous five months
Gold Star [but I haven't been able to find out what that means]
Honor Roll [this is on the same page that "deserted" is written so it's confusing]
Mustered out 15 May 1863
Muster out information: deserted
There are at least 2 more men by the name of Isham Russ in the area that are the next generation.
Born in 1865 in Richmond county is Isham Arthur Russ (L7F4-46P), who is Isham A.'s son.
The other was born in 1867 and is Isham Murdock Russ (MP3Q-11N), who is Isham A's 1st cousin once removed. Isham Murdock Russ is the son of Isham A.'s cousin John Culpepper Russ and his wife Clara Moore Huggins. Even though they are different generations, he has gotten confused with Isham A. probably because both of these men married a woman named Mary.
If you are wondering about Isham A and Isham Allen being 3rd cousins once removed:
common ancestors:
John Russ III and Hannah Ross
2 of their sons were:
Thomas V & Mary Singletary and John IV and Mary Wood
next generation:
Thomas VI & Anna Singletary and John J. V & Sarah Corbett
next:
Joseph & Sarah Wilson and Isham & Dorcas McKeithan
next:
Josiah & Elizabeth Allen and Isham & Mary Elizabeth Pinner
next:
Isham Allen Russ & Sarah J
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