Emma
Russell was the younger sister of Maria Frances Ackley, who married CTR. About
a year after Maria’s wedding, Emma married CTR’s father Joseph Lytle Russell.
They had one child, Mabel, who was born in September 1881. There were family
difficulties which may have come to a head over Joseph Lytle’s last will and
testament, although Emma was left well provided for. She and her sister shared
a house together. She died in 1929 and was living with Maria at the time at 516 14th Avenue North, St Peterburgh, Florida.
This
photograph of Emma as an older lady would have been taken in the 1920s, probably
on the front steps at the home she shared with Maria. (You can see a photograph
of the house if you check out Emma on Find a Grave).
The
photograph of Emma was given by a descendant to a researcher over 25 years ago.
That researcher shared it and has no problem with my reproducing it. Of course,
the ones we really need to ask are the descendant family, but I have been
unable to track them down. It also means we have no way of verifying that this
really is Emma, although I have no reason to doubt it. So it is published here
– with that caveat – for now.
Thank you for your research.
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of questions regarding Emma and Joseph Russell. The Last Wills and Testaments for both PA and FL say the same things, and between Emma and Mabel (Jos & Emma's daughter) obtained over 60% of the estimated $30,000 Joseph estimated his properties to be worth. Although he did not list his debts. He could have overestimated the worth of the houses. None of what was listed in the Will was cash, but homes, properties and stocks. Charles and Margaret were also listed in the will. Margaret was willed about the same estimated amount as did Mabel. Yes in 1900 Maria, Emma, Selena (their 84 year old mother) and Mabel lived together to survive. They had three boarders listed in the 1900 census that supplied income. So something happened with the properties listed in J.L. Russell's Last Will.
ReplyDeleteOne other matter. The exact date of Emma and Joseph's wedding is not known. The history here suggests a year after Maria and Charles. The Pittsburg Daily Post ran a short article stating that Adventist Preacher C.T. Russell and M. F. Ackley were married in her home ob March 13, 1879. So we have an independent & credible
source for their wedding. Not so for Joseph and Emma. BUT the 1880 federal census conducted June 14, 1880 lists Charles and wife Maria living at the same home, 80 Cedar Ave. with widowed 60 yr old Joseph L. Russell and 26 yr old Emma Ackley (single sister in law to Chas). It is clear that in mid June 1880 the two were NOT married. Everyone speculates that Emma and Joseph were married in 1879 or early 1880. Not so. Mabel, the daughter of Emma and Joseph, was born Sept16, 1881. There are no official records to be found indicating when the two were married. It doesn't seem likely that they married in the five-six months between June and December 16, the likely conception of Mabel. I suspect that elderly Joseph and young Emma discovered her pregnancy sometime between January-March 1881 and underwent a Common Law marriage. PA had an unusual form of Common Law marriage that did not require a period of years living together. All that was necessary to complete a common law marriage in PA was an exchange of vows. No witnesses nor forms were necessary. The form of common law marriage in PA was convenient for situations where couples found themselves in trouble with a baby.
The comment from “Unknown” questions whether Mabel, Joseph and Emma Russell’s daughter was conceived within wedlock. All we know is that in the June 1880 census Joseph and Emma were not yet married (but living at CTR’s home so I personally would assume that a marriage was imminent) and their one daughter was born in September the following year, 1881 (this information from her marriage certificate). While births and particularly deaths may often be traced in official records (although there is no record of Mabel’s birth extant) the official recording of marriages only came later in Pittsburgh. As an indicator of this, you will not find any legal reference to the marriage of CTR and Maria. We only know the date of their marriage because CTR was sufficiently well known for the local paper to give him a couple of lines. Unless you made the news, or chose to announce a wedding in the paper, there would no record for posterity outside a family Bible or other family papers.
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