William Russell (1605 - 1661)

Born 1605 in England

Husband of Martha (Davies) Hall — married before 1636 in England

Descendants

Died 14 Feb 1661 at about age 56 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts

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Biography

This profile is part of the Russell Name Study.

Disputed Origins

A previous version of this profile claimed that his father was Joseph Russell, without source.

The parents of William Russell are presently unknown. In 1661, during a deposition, he stated he was 56 years old; therefore, William was born about 1605 most likely in England.^[1] Some researchers have indicated he “possibly” married Martha Davies on 23 June 1636 in St. Albans, England.^[2][3] Based on the birth of his oldest son, Joseph, he married Martha around or before 1636.

" Somewhere about the year 1640, when John Milton was engaged In thinking out and writing down the first drafts of his Areopagitica" or his "Penserosa," and when a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio" might have been secured for a pound or so In the second hand bookshops of that city, William and Martha Russell with their son, Joseph, set sail for America, probably from the port of Ipswich on the east coast. Mr. Russell was a "housewright" or carpenter, and Is known to have been England In 1636 and to have been in Cambridge In Massachusetts In 1645. He appears to have resided first at Menotomy (Arlington) In Massachusetts." ^[4]

By 1646, William and Martha appear in Cambridge as members of the First Church. Church records indicated he possibly came from Ipswich. ^[4][5] All but two of William and Martha's ten children were born in Cambridge. William either sensed or was advised he was nearing death in early 1661 and made a declaratory Will on 2 February 1661.^[1][6]

"Like many of the early arrivals, Mr. Russell did not at once fix upon a permanent abiding place, but he is usually spoken of as of Cambridge," and there died . . ."^[4]

William Russell passed away in Cambridge on 14 February 1661.^[7]

"His widow, Martha, married, second. May 24, 1665, Humphrey Bradshaw, and, third. May 24, 1683, Thomas Hall. She died in 1694."^[4]

Children of William and Martha Russell

All born in Cambridge except the first two, follow:^[1][6]

1. Joseph, born in England 1636, married, June 23, 1662, Mary Belcher^[8].
2. Phoebe, died July 8, 1642^[7].
3. Benjamin, married Rebecca _____.
4. John, born January 11, 1645^[9][6], married Elzabeth Fiske, daughter of David Fiske.
5. Martha, about 1649. ^[10]
6. Philip, born 1650, married April 19, 1680, Joanna Cutler^[11].
7. Thomas, died July 21, 1653.
8. William, born April 28, 1655^[12][6], married Abigail Winship.
9. Jason, born November 14, 1658^[13][6], married Mary Hubbard.
10. Joyce, born March 31, 1660^[9][14], married Edmund Rice of Sudbury.^[15]

Land Aquisitions

1. 22 October 1645 bought land in the “Ale Wife Meadow”, Cambridge from Captain George Cook ^[1][16]
2. Acquired four more tracts of land in Cambridge and Charleston, one was a farm owed by Richard Jackson ^[1]
3. In 1656 he purchased a lot in the stinted pasture^[1][17]
4. In 1659 he acquired 9 acres from R. Lowden and three and one half acres from Ann Frothingham. ^[1][17]

Research Notes

Ancestral File Number

49PR-64

Note Family Search support for this feature ended July 2013

Birth Location

June 1605. Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, England. ^[1]

John G. Hunt makes convincing evidence in the American Genealogist regarding the birth location, specifically Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, England , marriage, specifically St. Albans, and William's possible relatives.^[2]

Found multiple variations of birth date. Using 1605 in England, date based on his deposition in 1661. Again, John Hunts evidence is compelling with respect to birth location

Marriage - wife's name

Correct spelling of LNAB of wife Martha (Davies vs Davyes) needs to be determined. Bob Keniston 2/24/2015 18:45 US CST

"Possibly the WILLIAM RUSSELL, of Abbots Langley, carpenter, bachelor, and MARTHA DAVYES of the same, maiden, Marriage license granted 26 May 1636 at St. Albans, Herts.: marriage at St. Stephens; Walter Davyes of Bovingden, Wheelwright, a surety." ^[2][3]

Found multiple possibilities of marriage date. Using before 1636, despite compelling evidence from John Hunt

Events when did he get to America

It is generally agreed William arrived in New England between 1636 and 1640. At present, no arrival records have been found.

Death Date conflicts 1661 or 1662

14 February, 1661. Cambridge, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States.^[7][18]

Many sources use 1662. Find A Grave has been corrected to 1661^[19]

The handwritten death record indicates 14 February 1661 and the Inventory of the estate occurs in 1661.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} Notes of GEORGE ELY RUSSELL, CG, FNCG, FASG, 5110 Garland court, Hunting Hills, Ijamsville, MD. 21754-9630
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .), V44, pgs 83-84.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Brigg, William, BA, The Herts Genealogist and Antiquary, Harpenden: William Brigg, 1895, VI, pg. 296
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Russell, Arthur Joseph and Child, Alice Webber, The ancestors and descendants of Abel Russell, revolutionary soldier from Westford, Massachusetts, and Fayette, (Starling Plantation) Maine. Comprising one of the lines of descent from William and Martha Russell, of Cambridge in Massachusetts, who came to America from England about the year 1640Press of Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, pgs. 7-8.
5. ↑ Pope, Charles Henry, "Pioneers of Massachusetts", C.H. Pope, Boston, 1900, pg. 396.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4} Russell, Hezekiah Stone, Descendants of William Russell, Cambridge, Mass., about 1640, by Hezekiah Stone Russell of Pittsfield, Mass. March 1, 1900. (Printed for Private Circulation) (Pittsfield, Mass. Eagle Publishing Company, 1900) (Free e-book) p. 5
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Baldwin, Thomas W., Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 Volume 2. Marriages and Deaths (Boston, Mass. 1914)(Free e-book) (Records are also available at ma-vitalrecords.org) p. 725
8. ↑ Baldwin, Thomas W., Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 Volume 2. Marriages and Deaths (Boston, Mass. 1914)(Free e-book) (Records are also available at ma-vitalrecords.org) p. 341
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Baldwin, Thomas W., Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 Volume 1. Births (Boston, Mass. 1914)(Free e-book) (Records are also available at ma-vitalrecords.org) p. 616
10. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQXX-53X : 10 February 2018), William Russell in entry for Martha Russell, ; citing , ; FHL microfilm 496,864.
11. ↑ Baldwin, Thomas W., Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 Volume 2. Marriages and Deaths (Boston, Mass. 1914)(Free e-book) (Records are also available at ma-vitalrecords.org) p. 342
12. ↑ Baldwin, Thomas W., Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 Volume 1. Births (Boston, Mass. 1914)(Free e-book) (Records are also available at ma-vitalrecords.org) p. 617
13. ↑ Baldwin, Thomas W., Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 Volume 1. Births (Boston, Mass. 1914)(Free e-book) (Records are also available at ma-vitalrecords.org) p. 615
14. ↑ Russell, Hezekiah Stone, Descendants of William Russell, Cambridge, Mass., about 1640, by Hezekiah Stone Russell of Pittsfield, Mass. March 1, 1900. (Printed for Private Circulation) (Pittsfield, Mass. Eagle Publishing Company, 1900) (Free e-book) p. 6
15. ↑ Ward, Andrew Henshaw, ‘’A genealogical history of the Rice family : descendants of Deacon Edmund Rice, who came from Berkhamstead, England, and settled at Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1638 or 9’’,C.B. Richardson, Boston, 1858, pg. 6.
16. ↑ Register Book of the Lands and Houses in the New Towne and the Town of Cambridge ... (Cambridge, 1896), page 131
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} Wyman, Thomas Bellows and Edes, Henry Herbert,The genealogies and estates of Charlestown : in the county of Middlesex and commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1629-1818, D. Clapp, Boston, 1879, Vol. II, page 836.
18. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FC9N-42N : 3 November 2017), William Russell, 14 Feb 1661; citing Death, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 892,249.
19. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #124096014

Other Sources

• Stearns, Ezra S. Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire (Lewis Publishing Company, 1908) Vol. 2, Page 729
• History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; from its first settlement to 1868 (1913) Vol. 2, https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofl02hudsiala
• Lexington, Mass. -- Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths to Jan. 1, 1898:Death: page 198
• History of Cambridge, Massachusetts
• AGBI: American Genealogical-Biographical Index, Godfrey Memorial Library, Middletown, CT, USA, Volume: 151, Page Number: 255.

The Swift fam. Hist. Notes. By Katharine Whitin Swift et al. Whitinsville, Ms. 1955. (Viii, 170p.):133, 142