Russel aka Ruck Sizemore

• Children: Martha Sizemore (1857)

Notes on Parentage:

• Russell Sizemore, like his mother Rhoda, carried the Sizemore surname, though his parentage was long attributed to his mother’s husband, Joseph Wilder. However, it is generally accepted that, while they may have known each other in Hawkins County, Tennessee, in 1801 or 1802, Wilder and Sizemore were not living together at the time, whether or not they were a couple.


• Hawkins County was a remote frontier region during this period, and no census records exist from that time. Consequently, few records survive, and much of what we know comes from oral traditions passed down through the Sizemore, Bowling, and Collins families. The stories are often contradictory and connected to various individuals across generations, making it difficult to discern the likely truth of specific events.


• One persistent myth regarding Russell’s biological father is that he was the Cherokee Chief Red Bird of Clay County, Kentucky. However, Rhoda was living in Hawkins County when Russell was born. Furthermore, letters from 1797 between Congressman John Sevier and Cherokee diplomats make it clear that Red Bird had been killed around that time. These letters discuss the punishment of his murderers and the potential impact on relations between the Cherokee and the U.S. government, ruling out any possibility that he fathered Russell.


• Contemporary accounts from friends, neighbors, and family suggest that Rhoda lived with her sister Winnie and Winnie’s husband, Bill Begley, for several years. This period coincides with the timeframe when Russell was conceived and born. Modern DNA evidence adds further clarity: hundreds of cousin matches connect us not only to William Begley but also to his siblings, aunts, uncles, and their descendants. This strong genetic evidence leads us to confidently conclude that William Begley was Russell Sizemore’s biological father, resolving this particular Sizemore mystery.


• I am currently working to identify, collect, and map the genetic strands that we and our Sizemore cousins inherited from Russell (as well as George, Rhoda, and others) to gain a clearer picture of who they were and where they came from. I’m not alone in this effort—Melungeon researchers have spent decades poring through every document they could find across Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Now, with affordable DNA processing and increasingly powerful analytic tools, DNA is continually uncovering truths that challenge us to reexamine the legends and stories passed down through generations.
  
  
• Further Reading:
• Sizemore DNA Project
• 20 Years of Melungeon Research