Our family is so close that we sometimes forget that we are technically a “blended family.” The fact that we are close builds on the legacy of our grandparents who showed love and respect to each other’s children from previous marriages. As Larry Russell says, “I love all my cousins; I grew up with all of them and played with everybody.” 

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In 1915, Elmira Richmond married Tom Hundley when she was 15. Tom was 20. Tom served in World War I in 1917. Together they raised five children, though this fact is not commonly known in our family. We have always been told that the couple had four children. According to the death records, Aron Hundley was their second child. He died at 3 years old in 1921. We don’t know how he died. To my knowledge, there has never been any discussion of Aron. The other children were very young when he died or not yet born so they would not have known or necessarily remembered. Elmira must have carried this sorrow in her heart and borne the grief with God alone. I don’t know how she did it. Perhaps she focused on taking care of her remaining children: James Hundley, Astoria Hundley, Herman Hundley and Beatrice Hundley. 

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Elmira and Tom Hundley had challenges in their marriage and eventually separated. There are no details of this separation, only that Elmira had to let her children stay with relatives for a while. This she greatly regretted. She told my mom “To always keep your children with you.” The separation was no doubt a hard time. As a result, Herman Sr., according to his son Herman, never really talked about his childhood, only that it was difficult. The challenges he faced as a child inspired Uncle Herman to work hard and build a good life for his children. He succeeded in being a good provider and loving husband and father. 

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Around the same time Tom and Elmira Hundley married, Louis “Crimp” Russell married the former Mattie Warden. Before marrying, Louis served in World War I. After his induction, he served only 89 days because the war ended. Louis and Mattie had four children. Two died, one shortly after birth, Ida Mae Russell, and the last child was stillborn. Mattie died delivering her last baby. Her surviving children were Martha Louise Russell and Edna Russell.

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Louis and Elmira eventually met and married in 1931. They had four children together, Bertha Mae Russell, Robert Louis Russell, Annarene Russell, and Bobbie Jean Russell, rounding out their family to the ten siblings that connect all of us.

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James Hundley, Martha Louise Russell Fletcher, Astoria Hundley Parker, Herman Hundley, Beatrice Hundley Miller, Edna Russell Brown, Bertha Mae Russell Hughes, Robert Louis Russell, Annarene Russell Hereford, Bobbie Jean Russell Washington