The Peyton Russell Cemetery

The Peyton Russell Family Cemetery is located in Kanawha County, West Virginia, near the town of St. Albans, on the property once owned by Peyton and Ann (Childress) Russell, my g-g-grandparents. To find it, take the Coal River Road,   to 719 Coal River Road. The house, at that address, is about a mile upstream from Upper Falls on the left hand of the road (the river side) . To the right of the house is a narrow private road up a steep hill. At the crest of the hill, and to the right, is a barely visible path which leads to the cemetery. That path, when I visited the cemetery in the summer of 1995, was overgrown with bushes and briers and the cemetery was completely overgrown with the same vegetation. Only two graves were marked with identifiable tombstones. James Madison Russell and Margie, his daughter, had concrete markers, but their names while still legible are eroding and will soon be gone. The rest were marked with simple sandstone rocks; one at the head and another at the foot. I suppose that at one time there were names etched on the stones but they have long since weathered away.

Following are the names passed on to the Russell Family by Clellie Mae (Russell) Chesley and Ida (Russell) Bell, granddaughters of Peyton and Ann. Without them, this little cemetery would have soon been forgotten.

  Peyton Russell, b. 9/22/1798,  d. ca. 1866.  
  Ann (Childress) Russell, b. 4/7/1805,  d. ca. 1868  
  James Madison Russell, b. 5/22/1847, d. 913/1922  
  Lester Bryant, b/d 1904. Son of Gordan Bryant and Margie Ann (Russell) Bryant  
  James Flippin, b. 12/15/1920, d. 12/16/1920. Son of Aubrey Flippin and Virginia, daughter of Homa (Russell) and Charley Walk  
  Dana Oxley, Hugh Oxley, Mamie Oxley and Sally Oxley. These were grown children of Walter Oxley and Lottie (Roberts) Oxley. They died of bronchial problems  
  Green Roberts. d. ca. 1918.  He was the husband of Lola (Russell) Roberts  
  Lola (Russell) Roberts, b. 7/9/1859, d. 4/1/1919  
  Infant son of Meredith Russell and Sarah Jane (Parsons) Russell  
  Bessie Ann Russell, b. 1880 d. 1/26/1896  
  Carrie Frazier Russell, b. 1882, d. 4/10/1907  
  Elisha Anderson Russell, b. 7/28/1849, d. 1884  
  Elizabeth M. Russell, b. 3/22/1839, d. 1906. Married first to William Lacy 
and second to Charlie Couch   
  Fanny Ethel Russell, b/d 4/10/1898  
  Lon Russell, infant  
  Margie Ann (Russell) (Bryant) Russell, b. 2/13/1872, d. 8/21/1914  
  Melvin Russell, d. infant  
  Nancy Jane Russell, d. age 9  
  Melvin Ulysses Russell, d. as infant  
  Merideth "Hook" Russell, b. 6/17/1835, d. 4/22/1922  
  Odie Russell, b/d 6/28/1891  
  Spencer Russell, b. 8/13/1829, d. 1850  
  Two infant children of Adie Wisman and Myrtle (Racer) Wisman  
  Two infant sons of George Roberts and Myrtle (Racer) Roberts  
  Infant daughter of Ronald Roberts  

High on a hill, with the Coal River stretching out below, the location of the cemetery must have afforded a beautiful view when the first and last Russell was laid to rest there. The surrounding land was used as a pasture, and as a result, kept fairly well cleared. But seventy five years have elapsed since the last burial and in the ensuing years farming has ceased and the pasture land has reverted to its natural state. In a few more years all physical evidence of the ones buried in this little family cemetery will be gone.

Contributed by, Charles Good

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