Cyrus Coleman Russell
Our great-grandfather Cyrus Coleman Russell was born in Smith County, Tennessee on 20 October 1872. He was the second oldest child of Elijah Simpson Russell (a farmer) and Elizabeth Kemp Russell. Cyrus grew up in the area, specifically in Macon County. As Cyrus didn’t get married until he was 34 years old, he probably helped out on his father’s farm in Macon for several years. Tobacco was a common crop in the area during that time.
Otia Edna Marshall
Our great-grandmother Otia was born 21 January 1887 in Thomkinsville, Kentucky to parents James and Kittie E. Silvey Marshall. As the third oldest of nine children, Otia likely helped out in raising her siblings and was probably ready to get out of the house. She married Cyrus at the age of 19.
Marriage and Children
Cyrus and Otia probably met in Macon County and the two were married there in 1906. Cyrus worked as a merchant in a dry goods store for the next approximately 10 years. Together, Cyrus and Otia had the following children:
- Lillian W. (about 1907- )
- Lois O. (about 1908- )
- Robbie or Bobbie (about 1910- )
- Hazel G. (about 1913- )
- Edna, our grandmother (1915- 2003)
Cyrus’ security work
Shortly after the birth of their daughter Edna, Cyrus and Otia moved to Texas where Cyrus worked as a watchman at Armour and Company in Fort Worth, according to his WWI Draft Registration Card. It’s unclear if this job prompted his move from Tennessee to Texas.
Armour and Company at FORT WORTH STOCKYARDS.
The Fort Worth Stock Yards were officially incorporated on 23 March 1893. The Fort Worth livestock market became the largest in Texas and the Southwest, ranking between third and fourth consistently among the nation’s large terminal livestock markets for five decades, from about 1905 to the mid-1950s.
An agreement made in 1902 with Armour and Swift brought in two of the nation’s largest meatpackers, who constructed modern plants adjacent to the stockyards. Boom years followed for the Fort Worth Stock Yards Company after the arrival of Armour and Swift. Population in Fort Worth tripled during the first decade after Armour and Swift came.
The year 1917 set records that stood for nearly thirty years; more than a million cattle and a million hogs arrived, for a total of 3.5 million animals in all categories-cattle, calves, hogs, sheep, and horses and mules. In 1921 a Packers and Stockyards Act decreed that the nation’s large meatpackers divest themselves of stockyards, so Armour and Swift had to begin the sale of Fort Worth Stock Yards Company stock.
Excerpt from a Texas State Historical Association article
Over the next 20 years, Cyrus left Armour and started working as a night policeman at a place called Aman and Company, according to census data. This could be a reference to Amon G. Carter, who was the creator and publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and a nationally known civic booster for Fort Worth starting in 1930. Also during these years, sadly, Cyrus and Otia’s marriage fell apart.
Divorce and reconciliation
As of 1940, according to census data, Otia was living with her daughter, Hazel, in Fort Worth and was divorced from Cyrus. Interestingly, it appears that Otia and Cyrus somehow reconciled, as records show they were re-married in Chihauahua, Mexico on 14 July 1944. However, that reconciliation remains unclear as Cyrus’ death certificate indicated he remained divorced at his death in 1949. This appears to be a family mystery!
Cyrus died 14 December 1949 in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he had lived his last five years. He was buried at Crestview Memorial Park.
Otia died in Fort Worth on 23 July 1965 of cervix cancer. She was buried at a different location, in Greenwood Memorial Park and Mausoleum.
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