Charles Taze Russell and Albert Delmont Jones must have been quite close at one time. Here, in January 1878, we have CTR attending Albert's wedding and serving as an Attendant. Of course, with Albert, this marriage was to be the first of several, which are documented elsewhere on this blog. This is from The Portsmouth Times Ohio) for 9 January 1878:
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Strictly speaking, Maria Francis Russell had no real connection with the Watch Tower Society once she separated from her husband, CTR. But in view of her attitude, actions and concerns, looking at her situation by the end of her life is useful to know.
Maria was a school teacher who married a wealthy merchant. She believed the message he taught through Zion’s Watch Tower magazine and, for a number of years, actively supported his mission. He gave her fulsome praise and thanks in the original foreword of his first major work, The Plan of the Ages.
Around this time, the Russells lived in a large
house on Clifton Avenue. They had a live-in servant and a gardener, and the house was big
enough to shelter CTR’s sister and her children when they needed help, and
later to take in Charles and Rose Ball.
But in the interests of CTR’s work and mission, in
1894 they moved into an apartment on the top floor of the newly built Bible
House.
Photograph by the author
This was no doubt very convenient and likely saved a great
expense. While not cited as a reason for the marriage breakdown in the 1890s,
it would not have helped, as their paths diverged on how they saw their
respective roles in marriage.
Maria left the family home in 1897 and never went
back. On the financial front, she then claimed to have written half of the first
three volumes of Millennial Dawn (Studies in the Scriptures) and virtually all
of volume four by herself. She circulated a booklet attacking CTR in which she
basically demanded royalties. CTR saw this as a direct threat to his religious
work. His view was that, while she had undoubtedly helped in various ways, the
subject matter was his and his alone. While financial arrangements for her
support were eventually worked out, she never did get any royalties. However, it
could be said that neither did CTR, because the whole point was to put
everything back into the work of the Watch Tower Society.
For a fuller description of the issues, see the old
post at:
https://jeromehistory.blogspot.com/2025/08/maria-1-maria-russell-and-millennial.html
But money was much on Maria’s mind. When CTR
died, the papers reported her hiring legal counsel to try to challenge his last
will and testament.
With that background in mind, it is interesting to
travel forward 20 years in time after CTR’s death to see how Maria made out.
This is where her Last Will and Testament, made in 1936, is of note.
She bought a
home in St Petersburg, Florida, with her sister Emma in the early 1920s. Emma had
been married to CTR’s father, and again, financial disputes came to the fore
when Emma’s husband died, and bequests were made to his children as well as to
her. When Emma died, Maria inherited her estate.
So, below is a transcript of Maria’s Last Will and
Testament. There is just one sentence which could not be transcribed with 100%
certainty, but it does not affect the contents of the will.
It details all her property, the house and parcels
of land, various cash bequests, the writing off of money previously loaned to
others, and personal effects. The main beneficiary was her niece, Mabel
Packard, Emma’s daughter, who looked after her at the end.
(transcription)
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT.
I, MARIA F. RUSSELL, of the County of Pinellas and State of Florida, being
of a sound and disposing mind and memory and desiring to leave instructions for
the disposition of such property as I may die seized of, hereby make, publish
and declare this to be my last will and Testament, expressly revoking all
former wills, testaments and codicils by me heretofore made.
ITEM ONE.
It is my desire that as soon after my death as is consistent that my
executrix, hereinafter named, shall pay all of my just debts. I direct that my
body shall be placed beside that of my sister, Emma H. Russell, in the lot that
we jointly owned in Royal Palm Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Florida.
ITEM TWO.
The residence where I now reside was owned jointly by my sister, Emma H.
Russell, and myself, and since her death I have had the use thereof. To my
niece, Mrs. Mabel R. Packard, I give, devise and bequeath in fee simple, my
undivided half interest in said property, which is located at 516 - 14th
Avenue, N. E. in the City of St. Petersburg, Florida, and otherwise described
as follows: to-wit:
Lot 9, Block (?), North Shore addition,
according to the map or plat thereof on file and of record in the office of the
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Pinellas County, Florida.
I also give, bequeath and devise unto the said Mabel R. Packard all of the
household furniture contained therein.
At this time the said Mabel R. Packard is indebted to me in the sum of
Fourteen Hundred ($1400.00) Dollars, evidenced or to be evidenced by a mortgage
upon the house and lot on Jackson Street in the city of Pittsburgh, Pa. I
desire and instruct that such indebtedness as may exist from the said Mabel R.
Packard to myself at the time of my death shall be cancelled, and if a mortgage
has been placed upon said property in my favor I desire that same be satisfied
of record by my executrix hereinafter named.
ITEM THREE
I give, devise and bequeath unto James Russell Packard and John Alden Packard,
share and share alike, the following described property, to-wit:
The west half (W ½) of East half (E ½) of Southwest quarter (SW ¼) of
Section 33, Township 1 South, Range 3 East, in Jefferson county in the State of
Illinois.
ITEM FOUR
(?) ...hereinafter is intended to pay the following sums in
cash...(?)...named persons, to-wit:
This first sentence for ITEM FOUR is virtually illegible
in the original.
Readers here might like to have a try at deciphering this. Based on standard language in wills of this
period, the delights of AI produced these two alternative suggestions:
To be paid, equivalent in cash, by my Executor to each
of the following persons, to‑wit:
I give and bequeath the following legacies, bequests,
and sums of money to the following named persons, to-wit:
To my niece, Mrs. Laura E. Fritz, of Arlington, Illinois, the sum of One
Thousand ($1,000.00) Dollars.
To Mrs. (?) White, St. Petersburg, Florida,
the sum of Five Hundred ($500.00) Dollars.
To my great-nephew, James Russell Packard, the sum of Seven Hundred
($700.00) Dollars.
To my great-niece, Mildred Packard, the sum of Four Hundred ($400.00)
Dollars.
To my great-nephew, John Alden Packard; the sum of Four Hundred ($400.00)
Dollars.
To my niece, Selina G. Raynor of Belleview, Pa., the sum of One Hundred
($100.00) Dollars, and my beaded purse.
To Mrs. Estella Floding of Arlington Heights, Ill., my gold watch.
I direct that if there be additional funds in cash after the above bequests
have been paid, I give, devise and bequeath to my niece, Mrs. Mabel R. Packard,
Three Hundred ($300.00) Dollars.
In the event that the cash remaining to my estate is not sufficient to pay
the above bequests in full, my executrix is instructed to decrease the bequests
proportionately, and in the event that the cash remaining to my estate is more
than sufficient to pay said bequests, I instruct my executrix to increase the
same proportionately.
ITEM FIVE.
I give, devise and bequeath the following personal property as follows:
To Mrs. Laura E. Fritz three bead pins.
To Mrs. Howard G. Raynor my sable fur cloak.
And to little June Packard my amethyst ring.
ITEM SIX.
All other property of which I may die seized and possessed or to which I
may be entitled, I give, devise and bequeath the same to James Russell Packard
and John Alden Packard, share and share alike.
ITEM SEVEN.
I nominate and appoint my niece, Mabel R. Packard, as executrix of my
estate. I desire that she qualify and be commissioned as such executrix without
bond. I give unto her full power and authority to manage, sell and dispose of
any property I may die seized and possessed of without order of court, and to
carry out the terms and directions herein contained. In the event that the sale
of any property shall be necessary, I hereby give her authority to sell and
dispose of same at public or privatesale, and to execute any deeds,
conveyances, bills of sale or other instruments necessary to effectuate the
same as fully and completely and lawfully as I could do were I in life. I
request my executrix to be diligent in the execution of this trust and to close
my estate at the earliest possible moment and at the least expense.
IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand
and seal this 4th day of April, A.D. 1936.
Maria F. Russell (Seal)
We, the undersigned, at the request of Maria F. Russell, have signed our names
hereto as witnesses to what she declared is her last will and testament, and at
her request she signing in our presence and we signing in the presence of each
other and in her presence on the day and year above written.
Maria died in 1938, and as requested, she was laid to rest next to her sister in the Royal Palm Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The house still exists. While modest by the standards of some in the area,
the last time it was on the market, it still sold for over one million dollars.
I think it is fair to say that by her own terms of reference, ultimately, Maria did not do TOO badly.
(from a project in progess)
AKA: Emma, after Joseph
To understand the title, you will have to read on)
After Joseph died, Emma continued to live on Cedar Avenue for a few years. Her sister returned from Chicago and went to live with her, before moving into the house next door for a while. The comings and goings involving Maria and Cedar Avenue have been detailed in the previous chapter.
Mabel
reached adulthood and eventually married on Cedar Avenue in 1903. We will
return to Mabel’s story briefly in our final chapter.
After
Joseph’s death, Emma lived on for over thirty years, but there are some gaps in
her known history.
Some
sources give a 1910 census reference for Emma as living in Pittsburgh, Ward 4,
Allegheny. She is a dressmaker on her own account. At least one critic
suggested that the Russell family left her almost penniless, hence the need to
work at dressmaking. This is so wrong on several levels. First, and most
obviously, this is the wrong person. This Emma is Emma A Russell. One can see
how Emma might revert to Ackley rather than Hammond for her middle name, but
although the age fits, this Emma is Single, not Widowed. Of course, that could
be a choice when the enumerator called. But this Emma’s father was born in
England, whereas Mahlon Ackley was born in New Jersey. This Emma is in rented
accommodation, whereas our Emma inherited two houses when Joseph died in
1897, and as we will see shortly, sold off land for nearly $5000 in 1900;
hardly penury. Perhaps the best evidence for this not being our person of
interest is the 1900 census. Joseph Lytle’s widow is there in Cedar Avenue, as
we would expect. But so is the other Emma A Russell, dressmaker. She is the
right age and living with her widowed mother in rented accommodation in
Pittsburgh. Here they are, side by side, in the 1902 Trade Directory for
Pittsburgh:
By
the 1908 directory, Emma has moved out of town to Glenn Avenue in Wilkinsburg, in
a straight line this would be about six miles away from Cedar Avenue. From the
1908 Pittsburgh City Directory:
Just
to compound the potential for confusion, both Emma A Russell, dressmaker, and
Emma H Russell, Joseph’s widow and Maria’s sister, died within a month of each
other, in February and March 1929. Life can be full of coincidences at times.
We
are on firmer ground with newspaper reports about the Ackley family. In the
real estate section of the Pittsburgh Post for 16 January 1900, we have
Emma selling land to her sister, Laura. (Paynar is an obvious misprint for
Raynor).
Then
we have the issues in Cedar Avenue already mentioned in the previous chapter.
Emma (and Mabel) garnered a special mention in The Pittsburgh Post for
19 March 1903, when they had to appear before Alderman Walter Wadsworth, acting
in the capacity of magistrate. The newspaper made a valiant effort to try to
explain the relationships:
“Mrs. Emma H Russell, who is step-mother and
sister-in-law of Mr. Russell, she being his wife’s sister and his father’s
widow, and Mabel Russell, his half sister, appeared before Alderman Walter
Wadsworth, of Allegheny, yesterday, on a charge of forcible entry and detainer,
preferred by Mrs. M.M. Land.”
Margaretta
Land, CTR’s sister, had accused them of locking her up and forcibly taking
possession of the disputed property. The charges were dismissed for lack of
evidence, and the invading parties advised to ask “for peaceable entrance to
the residence, and if that privilege was denied” to go through the proper
channels.
We
next travel a number of years to 1917 when Emma’s older sister, Laura Raynor,
died. The announcement of her passing in The Pittsburgh Press (23 July
1917), noted her surviving relatives included Emma Russell, who is now of
Bellevue, another suburb of the greater Pittsburgh area. Her sister, Selena
Barto, is also in the same area.
In the aftermath of Laura’s death, there is a legal issue, aired in 1920. Listing current court cases, the Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette for 12 October 1920 noted:
The
two executors are Laura’s son-in-law and son. We don’t know the business
dealings that prompted this legal action or how the case was resolved.
Then,
her brother Lemuel, is murdered.
The story of his death
lists his three surviving sisters. From the Pittsburgh Commercial
Gazette for 31 July 1921:
Emma is now “formerly
an official of Bethany College.” Her obituary (Tampa Bay Times, 6
February 1929) calls her the Dean of Women at the College. A telephone call to
the College several decades ago elicited that she had been Matron of Phillips
Hall.
These different descriptions do fit together. The college was founded by Alexander Campbell, linked to the Restoration movement (Disciples of Christ) as an all-male institution. When it eventually admitted women in the 1880s and became co-educational, it was necessary to make special provision for the welfare of female students. The Matron (later Dean of Women) was not a teaching position but more a welfare post at the College.
It was a post that
particularly went to older women, often widows who had raised families, who had
a certain administrative ability and social standing.
It has not been possible to trace Emma in the 1920
census. An exhaustive search of the 1920 U.S. Census indexes and a page-by-page
review of surviving Brooke County census images failed to locate either Emma or
even a census enumeration of Bethany College. The small town of Bethany is
there, filed under Brooke County, Buffalo District, but not the College. This
absence of the college population suggests the relevant schedule either went
missing, was misfiled, or was never actually scanned for inclusion in currently
accessible census reproductions. A lot can happen in one hundred years.
Fortunately, we have
proof of Emma at Bethany College from both the newspapers already mentioned,
and crucially from Bethany College direct.
The College published
an annual Yearbook (and still does), which detailed all academic
activities, as well as all student clubs and associations. It had a humorous diary
supplied by students of extracurricular activities. We find a few references to
Emma in it.
For example, in 1920, The
Bethanian published a photograph of the Young Women’s Christian
Association for the college. The members – not all YOUNG Women - posed for
their picture:
Unfortunately, the key is not
linked to the actual photograph; it just supplies the members’ names in
alphabetical order. The list includes Emma:
The students’ section
carried jokes and news of the day. Some examples from 1920:
From the 1921 Bethanian,
with a reference to Emma’s domain, Phillips Hall, and with a typical student
attitude toward their elders, the student diary for December 1920 records:
Emma retired around 1922, and her 1929 Tampa Bay Tribune
obituary noted that she’d held this position for eight years prior to
retirement, which would take us back to around 1914.
Perhaps the big question to ask is how Emma came to get such a prestigious job.
“As the crow flies,” Bethany is only about 35 miles from Allegheny, but in
Emma’s day, you would need to use a wagon or early motor vehicle to get to a
railroad station at the Bethany end.
There is probably a
whole story here that eludes us.
But – MA RUSSELL
RAVES.
Now there’s an epitaph
for you.
(Onto THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF EMMA HAMMOND RUSSELL)
(From a project in progess)
Maria and Emma set up home together (again) in St Petersburg, Florida, at East 516 Fourteenth Avenue North in 1922. (See photograph and newspaper cutting in a previous chapter).
As with Emma and
Joseph in the 1880s and 1890s, the hot summer climate in Florida caused an
exodus north for several months each year, at least for those who had the
financial means to do so. This appears to be what Emma and Maria did. Two news
snippets from 1927 tell the story for that year. From The Tampa Tribune
(Florida) for 16 October 1927:
A week before, The
Asheville Times (North Carolina) for 9 October 1927:
Putting the two
accounts together, Emma and Maria left Florida when it was just too hot in the
summer. They went to Hendersonville, North Carolina, and stayed there for the
summer and early fall. Making a brief detour to visit a sister in Pittsburgh
(Selena Barto), they then returned to St Petersburg, Florida, to spend the
winter there. They obviously were sufficiently well-placed financially to make
such choices.
In September 1928,
just a few months before she died in February 1929, Emma wrote her last will
and testament. The terms were quite straightforward. If she died before Maria, then she left her
share of their home to Maria with a lifetime interest, but with the
understanding that daughter Mabel, or if necessary her heirs, would eventually inherit.
(transcript)
LAST WILL
AND TESTAMENT OF EMMA H. RUSSELL
I, Emma H. Russell, of the
City of St. Petersburg, County of Pinellas, State of Florida, being of full
age, sound mind and disposing memory and realizing the uncertainty of life and
the certainty of death, do make, declare and publish this my Last Will and
Testament, hereby revoking any and all Wills that I may have heretofore made.
FIRST: It is my will that all my lawful debts be paid as soon
as practicable after my death.
SECOND: I give, devise and bequeath unto my sister, Mrs. Maria
F. Russell, if she survive me, all my right, title and interest, being a
one-half undivided interest, in and to that certain house, now known as East
516 – 14th Avenue North, in the City of St. Petersburg, Florida, the furniture
located in said house and the lot of land upon which said house is located (all
of said property now being owned by myself and my said sister in equal
undivided portions and used by us as our home), to have and to hold same for
and during her natural life; provided and upon the condition that my said
sister, during said time, keep said house in repair and all taxes and
assessments on and against said property paid.
THIRD: I give, devise and bequeath to my daughter, Mrs. Mabel
Russell Packard, in the event she survives my said sister, Mrs. Maria F. Russell,
the remainder, after the life estate mentioned in second paragraph of this
Will, in the above described property, to have and hold same unto her, her
heirs and assigns forever. But in the event my said daughter be dead at the
death of the survivor of myself and my said sister, Mrs. Maria F. Russell, I
give, devise and bequeath the remainder, after said life estate, to all the
children of my said daughter, Mabel Russell Packard, living at that time, and the issue then living of
such of them as shall then be dead leaving issue then living, and their
respective heirs and assigns, as tenants in common, in equal shares as between
brothers and sisters, but so the issue of any child so dying shall take between
themselves in equal shares only the share which their parent would have taken,
if living.
FOURTH: I give, devise and bequeath all the residue and
remainder of my property, real, personal and mixed, wheresoever situated, or
which I shall be seized or possessed, or to which I shall be entitled at the
time of my death, to my said daughter, Mabel Russell Packard, to have and to
hold unto her, her heirs and assigns forever. But in the event I survive my
said daughter, then I give, devise and bequeath all of said residue and
remainder of my said property, aforesaid, to the children of my said daughter,
Mabel Russell Packard, living at my death, and the issue then living of such of
them as shall then be dead leaving issue then living, and their respective
heirs and assigns, as tenants in common, in equal shares as between brothers
and sisters; but so the issue of any child so dying shall take between
themselves in equal shares only the share which their parent would have taken,
if living.
FIFTH: I do hereby nominate and appoint my said daughter, Mrs.
Mabel Russell Packard, to be the Executor of this My Last Will and Testament,
if she survives me, but in the event she be not then living I appoint and
nominate James Russell Packard and Mildred Packard, to be the Executor and
Executrix of this My Last Will and Testament, and it is my desire that there be
no bond required of either said Executor or Executrix.
IN WITNESS
WHEREOF I hereunto set my hand and
seal, and publish and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament, in the
presence of the witnesses named below this the 13th day of September A.D.
1928.
Emma H. Russell (SEAL)
The above instrument was subscribed by the said Emma H. Russell in our presence and acknowledged by her to each of us; and she at the same time declared the above instrument, so subscribed, to be her last will and testamemt, and at her request and in her presence and in the presence of each other we have hereunto signed our names as witnesses thereto and set opposite our names our respective places of residence.
(Two signatures follow, both of St. Petersburg, Florida, but in the extant copy, they have been obscured by an official stamp).
Emma died in early 1929. From the Tampa Bay Times for 6 February 1929:
Only one photograph of Emma is in general circulation. It was originally provided by descendants several decades ago. Below is the picture, taken on the steps of the home she shared with Maria from the end of 1922 until her death in 1929.
Emma was laid to rest in the family plot in the Royal Palm South Cemetery in St Petersburg, Florida. Her son-in-law, Richard Packard, was the first to be buried there, then Emma herself, then her sister Maria, and finally her daughter Mabel Russell Packard.
Photograph by Christopher Gross
The 1930 census shows that, after Emma’s death, Maria continued living in the Florida home on her own. When Maria died it was left to Emma’s daughter, Mabel Russell Packard, and Mabel was living at this address when she died in 1961.
