Wednesday 8 April 2020

2. Pittsburgh Presbyterians

Many of those from Scots-Irish stock who immigrated to America belonged to the Presbyterian Church. The Russell family were no exception.

Their family tree can be traced back (so far) to a Thomas Russell who married Fannie Grier (Russell) in Londonderry in what is now Northern Ireland. According to the Aunt Sarah Russell Morris document (see article on Mary Jane Russell on this blog) the Russells had thirteen children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. Most of them came to America. Some settled in New York and New Jersey, but our particular interest is in those who ended up in the Pittsburgh area. Charles Tays, James and Joseph Lytle Russell were three brothers, who all lived and ultimately died in Pittsburgh. They were all buried together in the Allegheny cemetery in a family plot originally purchased by James.

Relying on his obituary for details, one of the first to reach America was Charles Tays Russell in the early 1820s. By 1831 he was in Pittsburgh with a store. We now know that he joined the Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh in 1834.

The Third Presbyterian Church Pittsburgh was established in 1834, and as members joined they were given a number. In the very first year of its operation, Charles T Russell, became a member, and was given the number 47. Here is his entry in the church admissions register.


The entry states he was admitted on January 22, 1834, by certificate, which means he came from another Presbyterian Church with a letter of introduction. We do not know which one that was, or whether it was in Pittsburgh or elsewhere.

The right hand column details what eventually happened to these members. The entry for Chas T Russell shows that he was “suspended.” Had he simply left for another church the entry would have read “dismissed” – which can be a bit confusing for readers unfamiliar with the terms as they were used in the register. Had he misbehaved and been expelled the register would have stated that, and quite likely would have given salacious detail of his offense. However, the entry “suspended” in this context suggests that Charles Tays simply lapsed. He stopped attending, he ceased making contributions, and eventually the church wrote him off. There is no evidence of any subsequent involvement in religious affairs for the rest of his (admittedly) sketchy history. And his obituary does not tell us who conducted his funeral service.

It does confirm the family’s Presbyterian background. Other arrivals from this family would have automatically gravitated towards the Pittsburgh Presbyterians.

We have no church record for his brother James. We know James was in Pittsburgh in 1840 because of the census. He purchased the family plot for ten graves in the Allegheny cemetery in the mid-1840s in Section 7, plot 17. His wife Sarah was the first to be buried there in December1846, and he joined her a year later in December 1847.

Our particular interest is in another of the Russell brothers, Joseph Lytle, because he became father to Charles Taze Russell, named after his uncle but with variant spelling for the middle name. As noted in the previous article, the Watchtower Society’s history video Faith in Action part 1 (Out of Darkness) suggests that he came to America already married in 1845. But this information, likely based on his obituary, is incorrect. As the previous article outlines, Joseph Lytle’s application for citizenship in 1848 stated that he had been in the United States for five years. This can now be confirmed because his name occurs in a Pittsburgh newspaper for 1843.

The Pittsburgh Daily Post began a regular column in 1843 listing the names of all those who needed to collect mail from the Pittsburgh post office. It is a great shame for researchers that the feature did not start in earlier years. In the issue for Monday, October 16, 1843 (repeated in the following two daily issues) we find Joseph L Russell.

 One notes that the name Joseph has an unusual spelling. This is either a misprint in the paper or some creative spelling on the part of whoever sent the letter, perhaps from the old country, Ireland. Whatever the reason, this is probably why this newspaper reference has not been discovered until recently.

Above the name of Joceph (sic) L Russell is James Russell, who was likely his older brother. A month later in the issue for Saturday, November 18, 1843, we find the oldest brother, Charles T Russell, also being asked to collect his mail.

So Joseph L Russell was in Pittsburgh in October 1843. His older brother Charles Tays Russell had been there for more than a decade and had joined the Third Presbyterian Church in January 1834. The next discovery is that Joseph Lytle chose to join the same church in 1845.

Here is the same church register that featured Charles T Russell as member number 47.  We are now up to member number 551, Joseph Russell.


Joseph was admitted to this church on March 7, 1845, by certificate. This means that like Charles Tays before him, he had come from another Presbyterian Church with a letter of introduction, but again we don’t know from which church, whether in Pittsburgh or elsewhere. I cannot quite picture him traveling across the Atlantic clutching a letter of introduction, so he likely belonged to another American Church before joining the 3rd Presbyterian. We also note in the right hand column that he was ultimately “dismissed” so changed churches again.

As noted in the previous article, Joseph Lytle was to transfer from the Third to the Second Presbyterian on December 1, 1849. Here again is the Second Presbyterian register that provides that information.


To explain the abbreviations ex = examination and cert = certificate. So Joseph L. Russell was admitted to the church on examination and certificate on December 1, 1849. This confirmed that he had been a member of another church in good standing before transferring to the Second Presbyterians.

The event is also mentioned in the Second Presbyterian Session Minutes from December 1, 1849, as reproduced below.


These minutes add the extra information that pulls the story together: Joseph L. Russell was previously a member of the Third Presbyterian Church (New School) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In fact it was this reference that opened the door on the research into the Russell brothers’ religious affiliations, as outlined in the article that follows this.

December 1, 1849, was an interesting time for Joseph L to change churches. It may have been linked to the impending birth of a first child as noted in the previous article, or it may have been a simple geographical relocation within the greater Pittsburgh area. At present we do not know.

What is still missing is any information about Ann Eliza in surviving records of Pittsburgh Presbyterian churches. We have no marriage record for her and Joseph or any baptism record for her children. However, the church Joseph Lytle joined (and we assume Ann with him) was also the church Ann’s brother, Thomas, attended at some point. Thomas Birney’s obituary from 1899 as referenced in the previous article states that he joined the Second Presbyterian Church in 1845. That date cannot be verified because we have no record of this in extant church records. Neither do have any record of his marriage to Mary Ann Covell. However, between 1857 and 1872 six of his children were baptised in that church, including a daughter named after her aunt, Ann Eliza.

Second Presbyterian baptism register. Ann Eliza, daughter of Thomas
and Mary Ann Birney, born October 29, 1856, baptized September 12, 1857.

So in summary, Joseph Lytle Russell and Ann Eliza Birney came to the United States as singles. Joseph was in Pittsburgh as early as 1843 and Ann was there from at least 1848. They met and married in Pittsburgh, likely after meeting through Pittsburgh Presbyterian Church contact. Joseph had previously joined one Presbyterian Church in 1845, the same church his older brother Charles Tays had joined back in 1834. Ann Eliza’s brother was Presbyterian and his children were baptised there in the 1850s.

So at the time that Joseph and Ann started their family, first Thomas and then Charles Taze Russell, they were Presbyterian in faith.

No comments:

Post a Comment