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James Russell Jr. (abt. 1710 - 1784)

James Russell Jr. aka Russel
Born about in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colonymap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of , and
Husband of — married 15 Jan 1741 (to 11 Oct 1784) in Andover, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Baymap
Descendants descendants
Father of , , , , and
Died at about age 74 in Walpole, Cheshire, New Hampshire, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 8 May 2012
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Contents

Biography

James Russell Jr. was born in March, 1710-11 at Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay, the son of James Russell Sr. & Priscilla Osgood.[1] The specific day of March 7th, is posted in the FindAGrave memorial, but is not supported by documentation. The photo of his gravestone states he was "in the 74th year [of his age]" when he died in October, 1784. This usually means he was 73 years old & would be 74 at his next birthday, & then be "in the 75th year of his age". His actual birthday could be from the 1st to the 24th of March 1710-11. [2]

James apparently lived in a few places around New England. Records indicate Andover, Massachusetts and Walpole, New Hampshire; also Ashford and Willington in Connecticut.

There was another James Russell-12881, born 1709 in Lexington, Massachusetts, and it can be difficult to separate them at times, but this James Russell definitely moved around more.

His intention to marry Lucy Farrar was published at Andover, the 17th of May 1740. [3] The actual marriage took place the 15th of January, 1741, at Andover. [4]

James & Lucy removed to Ashford, Windham County, Connecticut Colony, after the 27th of July, 1748, the date that James of Andover bought three tracts of land from Ebenezer Peck. (Ashford, CT, Deeds, Book D, pg. 300.) The transition to Willington, Windham County (now Tolland), CT, occurred the 15th of November, 1751, when James bought 71 acres in Willington from John Wesson. (Willington, CT, Deeds, Book C, pgs. 183-85.) The removal to Walpole, Cheshire County, New Hampshire is not clear. His son Aquila is found there at the earliest date, 1772, but James' earliest mention is the 13th of June, 1773, when he is selling rough 25 acres of land to his son, Aquila. (Cheshire, NH, Deeds, Vol. 2, pg. 78.) How James acquired the land is not known.

James & Lucy's children are recorded in Andover, MA, & Willington, Windham County (now Tolland), Connecticut Colony. First five at Andover, last four at Willington, CT:

  1. James, born the 11th of January, 1741-42, at Andover, MA, & died the 19th of Nov., 1752, at Willington, CT.[5][6]
  2. Priscilla, born the 5th of July, 1743, & died the 12th of Nov., 1752, at Willington, CT.[7][6]
  3. Jeduthan, born the 31st of January, 1744-45;[8] died 1813.
  4. Lucy, born in September, 1746;[9] died 1829.
  5. Aquila, born the 1st of May, 1748.[10] died 1823.
  6. Thomas, born the 10th of April, 1751, at Willington, CT;[6] died 1845.
  7. Priscilla, born the 20th of February, 1753-54;[6] died 1816.
  8. Hannah, born the 15th of November, 1754;[6] died 1840.
  9. James, born the 14th of February, 1757, & died the 28th of March, 1759.[6]

James & Lucy were residents of Walpole, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, when they died, the 11th of October, 1784 & the 24th of April, 1791, respectively. They are both buried in the Walpole Village Cemetery. Findagrave memorials for both, have photos of their gravestones.[2]

Research Notes

Do NOT merge info ... unproven to be the same individual ...

- James Russell-26384 m: 1729 Mary White
- James Russell-3494 m: 1741 Lucy Farrar.

Conflation with James of Yarmouth

It's been suggested that James Russell of Andover was the same James Russell of Yarmouth who married Mary White. In fact, their profiles were merged for two years (Dec. 2018 till Dec. 2020). During this time, no evidence was presented to show a definitive connection between these two men or their families. Two comments posted in this profile, below, focused on evidence & circumstances that did not support the conflation of these two James'. In summary:

1) There is a deed involving James of Andover which states he was of Andover, during the time the James of Yarmouth was at Yarmouth having his family. (Essex County, MA, Deeds, Vol. 70, pg. 44.) In all the deeds involving James of Andover, he is of Andover. (Note: The Yarmouth deeds were also destroyed in the 1827 fire.)
2) James of Andover was born in 1710 & Mary White would have been born circa 1703. They would have been 19 & 26 years old, respectively, & he would have been under 21 years of age, in that era, the age of an adult.
3) James of Andover was the oldest son, & given that his father passed away in 1717,[11] he would have had to leave Andover & abandon his familial responsibilities to have married Mary White at Yarmouth, who had a child out of wedlock.

For notes on supposed DNA evidence, please see the G2G discussion, "DNA connections and finding ancestors that match?" [12]

Sources

  1. ↑ Original Vital Records of Andover, MA, Births, Marriages Deaths and Intentions, 1701-1800, pg. 7.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Findagrave Memorial for James Russell Jr., No. 95136126.
  3. ↑ Original Vital Records of Andover, MA, Births, Marriages Deaths and Intentions 1701-1800, pg. 425.
  4. ↑ Original Vital Records of Andover, MA, Births, Marriages Deaths and Intentions 1701-1800 pg. 110.
  5. ↑ Original Vital Records of Andover, MA, Births, Marriages Deaths and Intentions, 1701-1800, pg. 82.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Original Town Records of Willington, CT, Births Marriages Death, Vols. A & B, pgs. 45-46.
  7. ↑ Original Vital Records of Andover, MA, Births, Marriages Deaths and Intentions, 1701-1800, pg. 93.
  8. ↑ Original Vital Records of Andover, MA, Births, Marriages Deaths and Intentions, 1701-1800, pg. 95
  9. ↑ Original Vital Records of Andover, MA, Births, Marriages Deaths and Intentions, 1701-1800, pg. 96
  10. ↑ Original Vital Records of Andover, MA, Births, Marriages Deaths and Intentions, 1701-1800, pg. 101. Mid page, very faint;
  11. ↑ Vital Records of Andover, MA, thru 1849, Vol. 1, pg. 538.
  12. ↑ G2G Discussion: "DNA connections and finding ancestors that match?", October, 2018
  • Massachusetts Vital Records], Andover, Essex County. Birth records; B324 & B322 These are transcriptions, while original records are referenced in the profile.
  • Massachusetts Vital Records, Andover, Essex County. Marriage records. This is a transcription, while the original record is referenced in the profile.
  • Aldrich, George. "Walpole As It Was, Containing the Complete Civil History of the Town From 1749 to 1879" 1880; pg. 349-352.

Acknowledgements





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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with James by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with James:

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.

Images: 1
Deed involving James Russell of Andover & his mother.
Deed involving James Russell of Andover & his mother.


Comments: 5

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Patricia Abbott
I would agree that James Russell who married Lucy Farrar and James Russell who married Mary White are two different people. First, is the multiple deed evidence that clearly places James the son of James Russell and Priscilla Osgood in Andover. In addition to that, consider that James Russell of Andover was born in Apr 1710 (in the original town records). He was also the oldest son in the family. To marry Mary White in Yarmouth (100 miles away from Andover) requires that before coming "of age" (since the marriage was in 1729), he would have abandoned his responsibilities for the family homestead in Andover, moved away, married an older woman with an out-of-wedlock child, stayed in Yarmouth for 10 years, and then returned to Andover and married nice Lucy Farrar. And that is not how families in that era worked. There just is no evidence that James Russell of Andover married Mary White. I have read the rationale that this is due to a supposed yDNA connection of Barnabas Russell to Robert Russell born 1630, but this seems to be a misinterpretation of the DNA data. Just because person A and person B in the 21st century share a patrilineal ancestor and that person A is descended from Robert Russell of Andover, does not mean that person B is also descended from Robert Russell. The common patrilineal ancestor could be the father of Robert Russell born 1630 or the grandfather of great-grandfather or great-great-grandfather. The James Russell of Yarmouth who married Mary White could be a fourth or fifth cousin of James Russell of Andover and the descendants of these two different James Russells could still share a common patrilineal ancestor demonstrated through yDNA. At least that is my understanding.
posted by Patricia Abbott
Nace Few
It's been stated that the James Russell who married Mary White, is the same James Russell who married Lucy Farrar. The James who married Mary White, was of Yarmouth, MA; has his marriage recorded there, 1729; has his children recorded there, 1730 thru 1737; & his wife Mary's death is recorded there in 1738. However, a deed written in 1734, when James of Yarmouth was married there & having children, states that the James who married Lucy Farrar, was of Andover. The deed involved Priscilla Osgood Russell Eaton, wife of James, & the mother of the James who married Lucy Farrar. In fact, every deed I found involving this James, from the above mentioned 1734, to 1740, 1744 & 1748, all have James of Andover. I find no evidence that James of Yarm. is the same James of Andover. Thoughts?
posted by Nace Few
R Prior
Thank you for finding these deeds and providing new evidence relating to separating the various James Russell.
posted by R Prior
R Prior
Russell-7312 and Russell-3494 appear to represent the same person because: Same person, while there are some gaps in the records, all known records have been added in the sources to provide the best picture possible.
posted by R Prior
R Prior
James Russell did not actually marry Deborah Elwell Carlisle. There was an "intention" to marry recorded on April 21, 1739, but she dumped him and turned around to marry William Nelson later that summer.

http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Gloucester/Images/Gloucester_M384.shtml http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Gloucester/Images/Gloucester_M475.shtml

posted by R Prior

Rejected matches › James Russell (bef.1711-)

Featured National Park champion connections: James is 11 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 20 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 12 degrees from George Catlin, 14 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 22 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 8 degrees from George Grinnell, 22 degrees from Anton Kröller, 13 degrees from Stephen Mather, 17 degrees from Kara McKean, 12 degrees from John Muir, 15 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 26 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.

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