Russell Godbey
1800-1888
Russell migrated from western Virginia to Illinois in 1830, stopping for a winter in Indiana so his wife could give birth. In Illinois, Russell took title for the land directly from the government and hired a young man named Abraham Lincoln to survey it for him. Lincoln later went into other work.

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This photo is believed to be of a young Russell Godbey and his wife and child (compare to a known photo of Russell at left). The photo label is not reliable: Nancy Dickerson Godbey, the first-born of Russell and Elizabeth, was born in 1823, but photography was not invented until the late 1830s. The child could be Russell and Elizabeth's last child, Mary Jane, who was born in 1841. The clothing and hairstyles in the photo are consistent with fashions in the 1840s.