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.
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