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 Joann,

There is a lot of conflicting information on Ancestry and all of the William Russell’s are a real challenge. I wouldn’t copy any of that data. You’ll usually see that each tree you look at is a copy of another tree, which is a copy of another tree, etc etc and there is no source data. I think what happens is that a person is looking for a William born in the period, then finds one — assumes that is their William, not realizing how many there are.

It’s too bad for all of us that William was such a popular name! There were at least 3 Williams in the vicinity born in the period 1825ish to 1840! More born in the teens and later 1840’s as well. With oftentimes the lack of baptism records, it can take a lot of analytics and cross-corroboration of supporting facts to figure them out. Your William is not the son of Isaac and Patience; I have followed that family closely and worked with his grandson on detailed research.

There are some very very old records that refer to the surname Rosewell. Thing is, there were many surname corruptions back in the day. Rosewell might very well have been a very old root name that morphed to Russell, or perhaps (and more likely) it was a record written by a missionary struggling with the dialect or someone semi-illiterate. Russell has come out on top as the surname that became prevalent.

Carol

Hi everyone,

I did a fair amount of digging into the Russell family tree a number of years ago. I’ll try to see if I can find more of my info. I’m descended from Edward Russell (I think his parents were Edward Russell and Elizabeth Mercer) and Margaret Bradbury. I have info on Edward Jr’s siblings and descendants if anyone is interested. If anyone has info on Margaret Bradbury (born around 1825), please let me know. Thanks!

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

Carol, thank you soooooooooooo much…………I will definitely follow that up…. Yes, Mary Ann was born about 1857 and she married Edward Snow………..They had a son Philip Snow.
He is my friends Grandfather.

Jackie

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