FAMILY HISTORIES Fussell Family Home Page

In 1891, Edwin Neal Fussell published a book called Genealogy of the Fussell Family, in which he gives a history of the early Fussells in this country. According to this genealogy, William and Elizabeth Fussell of Yorkshire, England, had two sons who came to the American Colonies. Benjamin Fussell (b. ca. 1708 England; d. 1784 NC) and his brother, Solomon Fussell (b. 1704 England; d. PA), immigrated to Philadelphia. Solomon came first to the new world in 1721 and settled in Philadelphia, where he opened a chair shop. Benjamin immigrated to Philadelphia some years later.

Benjamin Fussell left Philadelphia and moved to North Carolina around 1735. In 1737 Benjamin Fussell and William Pinlett obtained lots number 96 and number 97 in Newton (later Wilmington), New Hanover County. In 1744 Benjamin sold his water lot with buildings and improvements for 200 pounds. In several deeds and court records Benjamin is referred to as a carpenter, and in a 1744 land deed his wife was named as Margaret.

From 1740 to 1760 Benjamin acquired several pieces of land on the north and south sides of Rockfish Creek. In 1748 Benjamin was a member of the Company of Captain John Sampson that answered the alarm at Wilmington, signaling the Spanish invasion. By 1760 Benjamin was married to Elizabeth James, daughter of Richard James, an early settler in New Hanover County. She was the mother of all his known children. The will of Benjamin Fussell dated 1784 names two sons, Benjamin (b. 1768 NC) and John, and wife Elizabeth.

Benjamin (b. 1768 NC) married Lucretia Collins and they had the following children: Jacob, Elizabeth, William, Morris, James C., John C., Nancy, Arnold B. (b. 1806), Sufronia, and Lucretia.

By 1850, most of the descendants of Benjamin Fussell were residing in southern Georgia. His son Arnold B. (b. 1806) was listed in the Irwin County records as serving as a member of the April 1828 term of the Grand Jury. In 1832, he drew lot 32, 16th district, 1st section, Cherokee County (now Union County) in the Cherokee Land Lottery, at which time he lived in Ware County. Arnold B. is found in the 1840 Georgia census. His first known child, James Fussell, was born around 1832, suggesting that he was married to Mary ____ around 1831 or 1832. Other children born in Georgia were: Jacob, Berry, William, Elizabeth, Lucretia Ann, and Columbus. Arnold B. Fussell moved from south Georgia to Alachua County, Florida.

After moving to Alachua County, Arnold B. and Mary had Benjamin Arnold (b. 1845 FL), Mary Mariah, and Francis. Therefore, it appears that they moved from Georgia around 1844 or 1845. In 1853 Mary died. She is buried, along with other family members, in Linden Cemetery in Sumter County. In 1856, Arnold B. fought in the Seminole War. He served as private in the company of Captain Johnston of Florida Mounted Volunteers. He died in 1857 and is buried by his wife Mary. His estate was settled in Sumter County in 1858.

On November 9, 1861, at the age of sixteen, Benjamin Arnold Fussell enlisted in the Confederate Army at Newnansville, Florida, to serve for a period of twelve months during the Civil War. He was taken prisoner on November 25, 1863, by the Union Army at Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and from there was forwarded as a prisoner to Louisville, Kentucky, on December 7, 1863. Then on December 8, 1863, he was sent to Rock Island Barracks in Illinois.

To gain his freedom and avoid staying in a Union prison, he chose to serve with the United States Army doing frontier service in the West fighting Indians. Confederate prisoners who agreed to fight with the U. S. Army on another front were called Galvanized Yankees.

Rather than returning to his native Florida after his military service, Benjamin Arnold came to Alabama and settled first in Monroe County, where he married his first wife, Amanda Stacey, daughter of Amos and Elizabeth Stacey, on April 14, 1867. He later moved to neighboring Butler County, where he married his second wife, Lizzie Gafford, and where he lived for the remainder of his life