Bob:
I had not remembered that Richard Cavitt mentioned William and George
Russell in his pension application. Maybe if I had known you were
interested in Russells, the name would have rung a bell.
The activities of my own predecessors took them back and forth for 15
years between Rowan County, North Carolina and eastern Kentucky and the
Cumberland basin - always through the Holston, Clinch, Powell valley,
Cumberland Gap region. Naturally, I've often come upon references to
Captain/Colonel/General William Russell, but I can't say that I know much
about him or any of the other pioneers of the Watauga. I've just read
overviews, not details. Incidentally, several of my kin were with the
ill-fated Boone/Russell Kentucky expedition of 1773 when the eldest sons
of the leaders and four others were killed by Shawnee a few miles short
of the Cumberland Gap.
As to books about the area and era in which you are interested, let me
suggest that you consult the bibliographies of the following: R. L.
Kincaid's "The Wilderness Road," Bobbs-Merrill, 1947; Henderson's
"The
Conquest of the Old Southwest," Century Co., 1920; Elliot's "The Long
Hunter," Reader's Digest Press, 1976 ; J. M. Faragher's "Daniel
Boone,"
Holt & Co., 1992. Some of the material these authors list as sources are
redundant and a lot will be hard to find but worth the effort.
I have Volume I of a five volume set called "Holston Historical Library,"
T. W. Preston, Kingsport Press, 1926. Vol. I is entitled, "Historical
Sketches of the Holston Valley (To the 19th Century)." It's a little book
comprised of 16 short sketches and a couple of great map reprints. The
short pieces on Dunmore's War, The State of Franklin and Cherokees on the
Warpath are pretty good - as overviews. Again, the book's real value to
you would be its bibliography.
Have fun.
Jack Bryan