Russell Breeden

M, (10 July 1807 - 20 September 1876)

Father*Jeremiah Breeden1
Mother*Elizabeth Hurst1
Russell Breeden|b. 10 Jul 1807\nd. 20 Sep 1876|p2743.htm|Jeremiah Breeden||p2748.htm|Elizabeth Hurst||p2749.htm|Bryant Breeding|d. b 1787|p2752.htm||||John Hurst|b. c 1735\nd. 1817|p2750.htm|Nancy Nunn|b. 1740\nd. 1786|p2751.htm|

Charts Pedigree for Stanley Russell McKinney
Relationship 3rd great-grandfather of James Jay McKinney.
Last Edited 1 Apr 1999
Reference MMMMMFC
Researcher 0
Unrelated 0

Note* MH May 2, 1983:
Greene Co. Boone Township(near Ash Grove)
1880- dwelling no. 342: Geo. Squibb 27, farmer: wife: Amanda 28; daughter, Ada 3, adopted daughter Sally 9 months. dwelling no. 343: Wm. Breeden age 25, born Mo.. father Va. Mother Ky. wife: Ada 21, born Ill. Russell age 1. Delaney age 66, says clearly under relationship, Mother. born Kentucky!. It says on the line with Russell under illness or disability, probably, the first word is hard to read-Rheumatic fever-the fever is clear. They may have meant it for the next line with Delany's name. It seems a rather sophisticated diagnosis for a baby in those days.
So now we know Delany is Russell Breeden's wife and that he died between 1870 and l880, since she is listed as widowed. Also all the children listed must have been Breeden, so some are hard to place.

In 1830 I found Russell Breeden by himself-listed all nearby families Scott Co. Mo. with daughters of age he might have married~not enumerated by name. This is the year Mastin says he was born in Putnam Co. Ind.
i
1830-40 Census Scott County Mo. town of Richland (This county is right on the Miss. River, where Sikeston is. They only enumerate everyone but the head of the house. Who alll these people are I don't know. Russell Breeden free white males (5-l0)1(l0-l5)1(l5- 2O)2(20-3O)l this must be Russell. (40-50)3 or possibly 2. Free white females(under 5)2 (10-15)1(15-20)1 Probably Mary Breeden. (40- 50)1.
They are not in Mo. or Tenn. in 1850 census-will try Ark. & Ky.

1860 Census Greene County Mo. Township of Center.Post Office: Bowdark.
This enumerator is a pain & he was still on the job in 1890. By then he had taken to just listing a lot of people by their first names. This p.o. was quite clearly written & had me baffled-a look at the map showed he meant Bois D Arc. Russell Breeding (note spelling) age 52 farmer value real estate 2,00O personal property value 1,500. born Va. no entry for when married. Delany 47 born Tenn. female white Sarah J. Eliza, Sarena C. Harriet E. Lennaessu (what he meant I do not know- that is how it looks. Amanda M. William S. The unknown name is a female. Forgot the ages will try to add but they are 19 for Sarah; 17 Eliza; 14 Sarena; 12 Harriet; iO unknown female; 8 Amanda; 6 William.
2,3 
Note Russell Breeden was born on July 10, 1807, in Lee County, Virginia. He was the youngest child of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Hurst Breeding.

When Russell was eighteen or nineteen years of age, he was whipped by his father for some infraction. Much incensed, he determined to leave his father’s house and find his fortune in the Wild West. Russell changed the spelling of his name to Breeden at that time; none of his descendants knew that it had ever been any other way. Russell’s intentions in doing this are unknown. Perhaps he may have been attempting to return to what he perceived as the original or “correct” spelling; or may have only been conforming to the “western” way. It may be noticed that some of his brother Squire’s children did the same.

After being on the road for some time, he encountered a family caravan heading westward. In the household of one of the travelers, a Mr. Harsin, or Harrison, there was a teen-age girl whose particular task was to keep track of the family’s cattle, and to drive them after the covered wagon. She must have given ample promise of the spectacular woman she was to become; a tall redhead with milk-white complexion and flashing white teeth. Russell seems to have forgotten the Wild West completely, and promptly attached himself to the group.

She was Delaney Brooks, born in Tennessee on January 15, 1812, a daughter of Mrs. Harsin by a previous marriage.

As their purpose was a search for suitable places to settle permanently, their westward journey was a somewhat leisurely affair. They appear to have halted in numerous places to examine the countryside, various individuals dropping out as they discovered locations which suited them.

Russell and Delaney Brooks were married in Putnam County, Indiana, on February 9, 1829, and took up residence there. At first they decided to learn trades; Delaney studied tailoring and Russell shoemaking. At that time, virtually all clothing was made to order. However, they seem never to have made use of these skills except for their own family.

About 1840 they began a move to Missouri. Not long after they had crossed the Mississippi, one of the mares belonging to Russell and Delaney Breeding, discontented and homesick, escaped and eventually found her way back to Indiana. Russell attempted to catch up to her, and kept finding people who had seen her on the road. When she reached the Mississippi, she just jumped in and swam across! Russell gave up then, saying that if she wanted to go home so badly, she should be allowed to do so.

The family’s first Missouri home was a small farm in Polk County. But he soon found a place more to his liking. It was 640 acres in Greene County, near Sois d’Arc, mostly timberland, but with fine pastures and a large rambling log house. Delaney agreed to move only if Russell would raise horses - which seems to have been what he already had in mind. They also raised sheep, cattle and geese, and produced wheat, corn, sorghum and grass for seed.

He became a Justice of the Peace in 1855, and served until 1860.

When the Civil War began, the country was overrun by al! sorts of guerilla bands, so having accumulated a comfortable living, he felt himself to be a logical target for their depredations. He gathered his valuables together and went to visit relatives in Kansas. To his surprise, Delaney flatly refused to go. She claimed that “no American man would ever bother innocent women and children.” With that statement she was as wrong as it is possible to be; but in her own particular case, happily, right. Whoever came to the door was given food, regardless of the uniform - or lack of it - and no further
demands were ever made. One horse, however, did disappear, and they always suspected that it had been taken by a neighbor boy, as it was first missed on the day the boy started for Arkansas to enlist with the Confederacy. After the war, the horse miraculously returned. It had been shot twice, and was very emaciated.

After one summer, Russell returned, and found to his surprise - that Delaney had made new shoes for the whole family. Apparently she had been looking over his shoulder. The trip had been a disaster. There had been a severe drought and burning heat. Most of what little crop matured was eaten by ravenous hordes of pigeons; the remainder by a plague of locusts. Later there were unseasonable dust-storms and blizzards. The people almost died of cold and hunger. While telling of these experiences, Russell broke down and cried; not, he said, for himself, but for the poor people in Kansas.
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Russe!l died on September 20, 1876, and Delaney on May 2, 1890. They were buried at Johns Chapel Cemetery, just south of Ash Grove, Greene County, Missouri.4 
Residence* Greene Co., MO, MH Apr. 3, 1993:
My sister and I once went to the location of the Breedon farm and the McKinney farm just across the road. This was the farm where William settled first, and where Joseph was born. I think we can find it again-we are not sure. I do remember the Sac and Fox River ran by it and that there were 3 springs on the Breedon land that flowed into it. The two farms were in a valley enclosed on 2 sides by a bend in the river, and I remember we crossed the river into the valley. My sister was driving, and I am better at remembering where I was if I drive, but she has forgotten. I think I can find it from a map. I think there is a house where the Breedon house probably stood, but there is no house on the McKinney land., Principal=Delaney Brooks, Witness=William McKinney5 
Birth*10 July 1807 Lee Co., VA 
Marriage*9 February 1829 Putnam Co., IN, Principal=Delaney Brooks 
Census*19 August 1870 Center Township, Greene Co., MO, Breeden, Russell:Age: 62, male, whilte,Farming, Real estate value: $3,200, Personal property value: $900, born in VA;Delany, Age: 57, female,white, keeping house, born in TN; Marry, Age:27,female, born in MO; Herriet, Age:22, female, born in MO; Melvina, Age:18,female, born in MO;William, Age:16,male, farmhand,born in MO., Principal=Delaney Brooks6 
Death*20 September 1876  
Burial*after 20 September 1876 John's Chapel, near Ash Grove, Greene Co., MO, Delany and Russell Breedon and some of their children are buried here.5 

Family

Delaney Brooks
Marriage*9 February 1829 Putnam Co., IN, Principal=Delaney Brooks 
Children

Citations

  1. [S74] Unknown compiler, compiler, "Correspondence"; Margaret Hunt, August 17, 1993., Ancestral File unknown repository, unknown repository address.
  2. [S74] Unknown compiler, compiler, "Correspondence"; Margaret Hunt, July 10, 1983., Ancestral File unknown repository, unknown repository address.
  3. [S74] Unknown compiler, compiler, "Correspondence"; Margaret Hunt, May 2, 1983., Ancestral File unknown repository, unknown repository address.
  4. [S73] Paul McGowen, Breeden/Hurst Family (n.p.: n.pub., 1983).
  5. [S74] Unknown compiler, compiler, "Correspondence"; Margaret Hunt, April 3, 1993., Ancestral File unknown repository, unknown repository address.
  6. [S135] 1870 US Federal Census: Center Township,Greene Co. MO, Page 288, Lines 23-28. Family 1917. Page 288.