James

 Below is an abridged version of a tentative chapter for a work on the Russell family history, expanded from articles on this blog from yesteryear. The master family history document from Aunt Sarah to which it refers can be accessed here in an earlier draft of this material.

https://jeromehistory.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-russell-family-history.html

Comments are very welcome, either on the blog or back-channel. If anyone can think of any further lines of research that can be explored for James, please do say. If any want to check the material and see if I have inadvertently omitted something, again your help is appreciated.

 

JAMES

James was the oldest of the ten Russell children who survived to adulthood, and was born c.1796. His register of death from 1847 simply states that he came from Ireland. He will have been one of the first to go to America, paving the way for others. His history, as given by Aunt Sarah, suggests a possible trail-blazer, a patriarch of the family, but he ended up in Pittsburgh and died comparatively young, five years before CTR was born. Aunt Sarah tells us that James married Sarah Ann Risk. We learn elsewhere in the document that the Risk family were Episcopalians in Faun, Ireland (which is most likely Fahan in County Donegal), and father George Risk (married to a Sarah) was an excise officer. We also note from the history of Alexander Russell, who we will come to later, but who married Sarah Ann’s sister, Margaret, that James and Sarah were already a married couple in America in Elmwood Hill, New York, by 1832.

James’ history gives us a field for ongoing research. Quoting directly from Aunt Sarah:

“James was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, conducted his Collegiate and Commercial Institute at Elmwood Hill, Bloomingdale, N.Y. now included in Central Park near West 103^rd Street.”

So he started his education in Dublin but completed it in New York.

Trinity College, Dublin, was founded in 1592. Famous alumni include James Ussher (he of Bible chronology), literary figures like Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith and later Oscar Wilde, philosophers like Edmund Burke, and statesmen like Eamon de Valera. it was specifically founded as an educational institution for Protestants who supported the established church. That meant Anglicans; non-conformists like Presbyterians would have issues. As for Roman Catholics, they were basically barred by a required oath until 1793. Matters were then relaxed somewhat and religious tests were abolished by Act of Parliament in 1873, at which point the Irish Catholic Bishops banned their flock from enrolling. The matter was not finally resolved until 1970.

By the time James enrolled Protestants of all shapes and sizes could attend. The original emphasis on theology gradually broadened to include a whole range of subjects, including mathematics, medicine, law, science and engineering.

The enrolment records for Trinity have survived. Examining the lists of those who enrolled between 1803 and 1829 (which are in two volumes covering 1803-1814 and 1815-1829) there are twenty Russells in total on the books – but only one James.

This solitary James was entered for enrolment on 3 November 1823 and “put on the books” as the register puts it, on 22 November 1823. His tutor is listed as W. Harte.

At this time, if this was OUR James he would have been in his late twenties. One might expect the James Russell in Aunt Sarah’s account to have attended college a little earlier in life. However, this is the only James found in extant enrolment records for Trinity College, and they do appear to be very comprehensive.                   

By 1832 James is in America. He is married to Sarah and they are living in Elmwood Hill, New York. Aunt Sarah records that

“James and Sarah having no children ‘adopted’ Thomas Russell, son of (his brother) Alexander.”

This Thomas Russell was born in 1833.

At some point James and Sarah moved from New York to Pittsburgh. There is a James Russell in the 1840 Pittsburgh census, but no guarantee it is the right one.

However, on Monday, 16 October 1843 The Pittsburgh Daily Post newspaper published a list of letters waiting at the Post Office for collection. It was a new feature of the newspaper that, regrettably for researchers, only started that year.

In the paper for 16 October, and repeated over the next two days, there was a letter waiting for James.

We can assume this is the James who is married to Sarah.  Next to him in the list, also with a letter to collect, is his brother, Joceph (sic) L(ytle) Russell. A few weeks later in the issue for 18 November 1843 the list included Charles T(ays) Russell, so it appears that all three brothers were in Pittsburgh together by 1843. We will return to Joseph and Charles later.

James obviously intended Pittsburgh to be became a permanent home because in 1846 he bought one of the first grave plots to go on the market in the new Allegheny Cemetery.  He and his extended family were going to stay there. Forever. Literally.

Insert background material on the Allegheny Cemetery and also the Russell family burial plot (Section 7, Plot 17) taken and expanded from here:

https://jeromehistory.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-russells-and-allegheny-cemetery.html

There is logic to what happened in the cemetery. James bought the family plot because, first: he was the oldest in the family who survived to adulthood, and second: because his wife Sarah was seriously ill and not expected to recover. James was born ten years ahead of his brother Charles Tays and seventeen years ahead of his brother Joseph Lytle.

Although the Allegheny cemetery was ‘the future’ it took a little while to gain momentum. Initially the take-up was very small. In its first year, 1845, from the opening in September to the end of the year there were only eight burials in total on the one hundred acre site.

In 1846 it was still very small; there were only 29 new interments. These included Sarah Russell. One must assume that James had the pick of many potential family plots; his choice then being dictated partly by cost, but also by situation and outlook.  However, total interments were 67 that year, because there were also 38 re-burials. It was increasingly common in the early days to remove bodies from city cemeteries at the request of relatives, who wanted a more congenial final resting place for their whole family.

So by the end of 1846, a grand total of 75 burials or re-burials had taken place at the cemetery. Sarah died of consumption in the December; her burial registration number is 73.

Almost exactly one year later, in December 1847, James died. His burial registration number is 264. He was laid to rest next to Sarah in the top row of two on the plot, the one furthest from the roadway. James died of paralysis, so one assumes he suffered a fatal stroke at the age of 51.  Here is his small stone grave marker.

Below are the register pages for James. His details are about half way down the page. On the left page we have date of interment (26 December 1847), interment number (264), name of the deceased (James G Russell), place of death (Allegheny City). On the right hand page we have age at death (51), cause of death (paralysis), plot number and cemetery section (17 G) and comments (no entry).

 

In summary: of Thomas and Fanny Russell’s ten children who lived to adulthood, James appears as the oldest, the firstborn. He may have been a pioneer, one of the first of the family to travel to America, specifically to New York. By Aunt Sarah’s account he was well educated. What might he have accomplished had he lived? But sadly, he was to die comparatively young, several years before CTR was born. Hence, he was to be forgotten by history.