Hi Victoria,

Unfortunately,I don’t have answers for you but I do have a theory regarding who your Susanna’s family might be.

There was a Moses Russell and wife Susanna (née unknown) baptizing children in Coley’s Point between 1841 and 1856. They did not baptize a Susanna I’m sorry to say, but I hypothesize she might belong here. Records were just so poor back in the day, hers may just not have been properly recorded.

My rationale as follows:

1. Naming a child Susanna after her mother was quite likely.

2. Francis and Susanna Menchinton’s 2nd son was named Moses — a name that appears unique in his Minchinton line. The 2nd son is a likely honoree to be named for his maternal grandfather.

3. Moses and Susanna baptized a son Moses Russell 1852-1906 (so, if I’m correct, he would be Susanna’s brother) who named a son Arthur Russell in 1888; this child died in Oct 1891. I find it an interesting coincidence that Francis and Susanna named a son Arthur Russell Menchinton a few years later and I think this was likely in honor of her brother’s son’s death. Note that Arthur Russell was an unusual name for the period — there is only one other (an Arthur William Russell 1889-1953) born prior to 1900.

So, circumstantially I believe Susanna could belong to this family, but I’ve yet to find proof.

There are no known Susannas in either Coley’s Point or neighboring Bay Roberts during that period who are unaccounted for.

Carol

Hi Jackie,

There was a Fanny Russell baptized in 1838 in Bay Roberts, and she is the most likely candidate.

Jun 12 1838 Fanny of Stephen & Mary Russell

This doesn’t mean she was born 1838, she could have been already a few years old, although not necessarily so. Also, her age at death might be slightly off — not necessarily 100% accurate.

Stephen and Mary Ann Russell also baptized Henry and Patience, both on Jun 8 1834. So, one of these children were likely older (they were not noted as twins) which maybe establishes a precedent for not baptizing on a timely basis.

There was a Patience Russell married to Wm Snow; she was ~1828-1914. I believe this is Patience above — again, the years never exactly line-up. Her obituary stated her parents were Stephen and Mary Russell, too bad it didn’t also list siblings! I also note she did name a daughter Frances.

Edward and Mary Cave named a son Stephen in 1869, which perhaps adds a little more evidence. I think above you are suggesting they perhaps had a daughter Mary Ann? That would also tie in.

Hopefully this is helpful.

Carol

Hi Joann,

Thank you and you’re very welcome. I have collected a lot of info on the Russell’s trying to solve my own Russell lines, which I unfortunately have still yet to do — such a challenging lack of information in the early 1800’s.

I do have more information on their children. Which child of William and Rebecca are you descended from and what would you like to know?

Regards,
Carol

Hi Don,

Charles was the son of William Russell and Rebecca Snow/Bradbury (she is expected to be a widow); here is their marriage from the provincial archives:

Nov 18 1857 William Russell & Rebecca Bradbury both of Bay Roberts, witnesses Stephen Russell & Edward Snow, M Blackmore clergy.

While the marriage record states Rebecca is surname Bradbury, there are marriage records in the US for 4 of her children that state their mother’s née as Snow. Her marital status was not given on the marriage record, but I expect she was née Snow and widow Bradbury. Alternatively, her name might simply have been recorded wrong in the marriage record — it did happen back in the day unfortunately.

Charles was the 4th of 11 documented children of this couple, and was born either Sept 6, 1866 (baptism record) or Sept 10, 1866 (according to his death record.)

Seems that William was the son of Abraham Russell, born about 1829. While William and family were originally of Bay Roberts, they moved on to Country Road later in the mid/late 1800’s as did many families, and William can be found there with his 2 eldest sons (your Charles had already moved to NS) in the 1889 Voter’s Lists:

1889 VL: William, age 60, so born about 1829, son of Abraham; John, age 27, so born about 1862, son of William; William, age 25, so born about 1864, son of William. The ages of his 2 sons line up reasonably to their birth records.

Rebecca was born about 1838; she died in Country Road May 4, 1910 at age 73.

Regards,
Carol

PS Martha Jane was widow Messervey; she was née Rose from Burgeo.

Hi Wade,

We are likely related. I have spent some time on this line as I have a DNA connection through to William and wife Elizabeth Mercer married in 1870, via their son Azariah.

I have also concurred with Geoff (particularly based on the obituary of Elizabeth in 1914) that your William only married once. The obituary Geoff shared can be further complemented by the following notice a month earlier:

Aug 1914, Bay Roberts Guardian: Mrs. Elizabeth Russell, widow of the late Wm. Russell, was taken to the Lunatic Asylum by Const. Wells on Friday last for treatment.

So, the poor woman likely had a tough last month, and the absence of notifications about families in either of these clippings suggests there were none. And what it also indicates is that there were 2 Williams of the same vintage that married an Elizabeth, widow Mercer in this case.

Then there was a 3rd William Russell of the same vintage that died in 1918, and was married to Mary Fradsham, agreed he was not your ancestor.

Don’t you wish they were more creative in naming — way too many William, Elizabeth, Mary, etc names!

I have 95% certainty that your William was the son of an Abraham and his first wife Susanna, based on corroborating evidence.

If you are back to researching, then let me know. My Frances Russell born about 1823 is a mystery I have been working on!

Regards,
Carol

Btw, the unknown 5th child Mrs William Mercer was Elizabeth 1874-1961.

Hello, it would be helpful to know the district of Newfoundland where the family lived and what year your grandfather William was born. I am also wondering if you have tried researching on the Newfoundland Grand Banks or NLGenweb websites. Both have a great deal of information that might help you.