John graduated from Harvard College in 1645 and succeeded Rev. Smith as pastor at Wethersfield.[2] He became embroiled in church conflicts about the "half-way covenant" which resulted in him leading a group of Wethersfield and Hartford church members to move to Hadley, a new settlement north of Springfield, Massachusetts, where a new church was founded.[2] His father John Russell bequeathed to "my eldest son Jno. Russel, pastor of the Church of Christ at Hadley..." in his will.[1]
Marriages
He married (1st) Mary Talcott on June 28, 1649 at Hartford. She was the daughter of John Talcott of Cambridge.[1]- she died between 1655 - 1660.[2]
Children of John Russell and Mary Talcott:
John Russell was born September 23, 1650 and died January 29, 1669/70.[3]He was baptized in 1650 at Hartford. [citation needed]
He married (2nd) Rebecca Newberry, daughter of Thomas Newberry. They were married by 1660 as their oldest child was born at Hadley on November 4, 1660.[1] Rebecca died on November 21, 1688.[3]
Children of John Russell and Rebecca Newberry:
Samuel Russell was born November 4, 1660 and died January 25, 1731.[3]
Rev. Russell is known in history for harboring Edward Whalley and William Goffe, two judges who were condemned to the scaffold back in England as "regicides" for signing the death warrant for King Charles I in 1649 during the English Civil War. The two were hiding in Rev. Russell's home from 1661 to about 1675, a situation that left him and his family in great peril. "History of Hadley" calls him a patriot with pure motives of humanity, sympathy and duty; goes on to say about Whalley & Goffe, "swift retribution awaited any who might relieve or conceal them. Any neglect of precaution, any unforeseen mishap to the premises, any single case of misplaced confidence... doomed to nameless torture and death.[4]Read about the legend, "Angel of Hadley" here:[5]
Death
Rev. John Russell died December 10, 1692 at Hadley, Massachusetts. [6]
Sources
↑ 1.01.11.21.31.4 Great Migration 1634-1635, R-S. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VI, R-S, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009. Featured Sketch: John Russell. p. 136.
↑ 2.02.12.22.3 Hale, House and related families by Donald Lines Jacobus and Edgar Francis Waterman, 1952, Connecticut Historical Society, p 751.
↑ 3.03.13.23.33.43.53.63.7 The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.) Vol. 60 (1906) p. 383.
↑ Judd, Sylvester. "History of Hadley: Including the Early History of Hatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby, Massachusetts." H. R. Hunting & Co., Springfield, Massachusetts. 1905. Introduction pp. v, vi, xi, xvi.
Great Migration 1634-1635, R-S. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VI, R-S, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009. Featured Sketch: John Russell (the father of this profile.) p. 136.link for subscribers$
Hale, House and related families by Donald Lines Jacobus and Edgar Francis Waterman, 1952, Connecticut Historical Society, p 751.link to hathitrust.org
Judd, Sylvester. "History of Hadley: Including the Early History of Hatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby, Massachusetts." H. R. Huntting & Co., Springfield, Massachusetts. 1905. Introduction pp. v, vi, xi, xvi.link
Judd, Sylvester & Boltwood, Lucius Manlius. History of Hadley (Metcalf, Amherst, Mass., 1863) Page 52
The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.) Vol. 60 (1906) p. 383.link for subscribers$
Collins, James Wade Ferris. The Family and American Descendants of Deacon Edward Collins of Cambridge, Medford, and Charlestown, Massachusetts, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., Winter 2020) Vol. 174, WN 693, Page 56.
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Thank you for the source ideas, RJ.
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