Rev Samuel RUSSELL

1660 - 1731  (70 years)

• Name	Rev Samuel RUSSELL  [1]
  Birth	4 Nov 1660	Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America   [1, 2]
  Christening	Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Historical notoriety	[2]
  	Historical notoriety
  Scholastic Achievement	1681	Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America   [2]
  	Scholastic Achievement
  Pastoral tenure	Between 1687 and 1731	Branford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America   [2]
  	Pastoral tenure
  Residence	Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America   [2]
  	During childhood years
  _FSFTID	KCYB-MR6
  _FSLINK	https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KCYB-MR6
  _UID	3122881D415147A691174282FD7359C97521
  Death	25 Jun 1731	Branford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America   [1, 2]
  Burial	26 Jun 1731	Branford, Center Cemetery, Branford, New Haven, Connecticut   [1]
  Person ID	I594765918	Carney Wehofer July 2025
  Last Modified	2 Jan 2025

  
  

  Father	Rev John RUSSELL, Jr.,   b. 24 Jan 1626, Ipswich, Suffolk, England d. 10 Dec 1692, Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America (Age 66 years)
  Mother	Rebecca NEWBERRY,   b. 1631, Yarcombe, Devonshire, England d. 21 Nov 1688, Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America (Age 57 years)
  Marriage	1651	Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America   [3]
  Family ID	F536734382	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Abigail WHITING,   b. Abt 1666, Branford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America d. 7 May 1733, Branford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America (Age ~ 67 years)
  Marriage	25 Jan 1686  [2]
  Children	1. Col. John RUSSELL,   b. 24 Jan 1686, Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America d. 4 Jul 1757, Branford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America (Age 71 years)   2. Abigail RUSSELL,   b. 16 Aug 1690, Branford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America d. 19 Jan 1764, Ridgefield, Fairfield, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America (Age 73 years)   3. Samuel RUSSELL, Jr.,   b. 28 Sep 1693, Branford, New Haven, Connecticut d. 19 Jan 1746, Guilford, New Haven, Connecticut (Age 52 years)   4. Timothy RUSSELL,   b. 18 Nov 1695, Branford, New Haven, Connecticut, British Colonial America d. Sep 1794, Derby, New Haven, Connecticut, United States (Age 98 years)   5. Daniel RUSSELL,   b. 19 Jun 1698, Deerfield, Connecticut, British Colonial America d. Aug 1774 (Age 76 years)   6. Jonathan RUSSELL,   b. 21 Aug 1700, Branford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America d. 24 Jul 1774, North Branford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America (Age 73 years)   7. Pastor Ebenezer RUSSELL,   b. 4 May 1703, Branford, New Haven, Connecticut, British Colonial America d. 22 May 1731, Old Plain Cemetery, Stonington, New London, Connecticut, British Colonial America (Age 28 years)   8. Ithiel RUSSELL,   b. 1705, of North Branford, New Haven, Connecticut, British Colonial America d. 26 Mar 1772, Branford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America (Age 67 years)   9. Mary RUSSELL,   b. 1707, Branford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America d. Dec 1748, Branford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America (Age 41 years)
  Family ID	F536728565	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	2 Jan 2025

  
  

• Photos

  Samuel Russell house

  
  

• Notes

  The Rev Samuel Russell (4 November 1660 – 25 June 1731) was one of the founders of Yale University. He was born on 4 Nov 1660 in Hadley, Hampshire Co, MA (first settled in 1659 and officially incorporated in 1661), the second son of Rev. John (1626-1692) & Rebecca (1631-1688) (Newberry) Russell. Samuel grew up in Hadley which had been founded by his father, and attended Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1681. Per the work Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University by John Langdon Sibley, Vol 3, 1678-1689, p 236, following graduation, Samuel returned to Hadley and taught at the local grammar school (the Hopkins School) "six months for £15", (1682-83). Per the work A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts by George Sheldon, Press of E. A. Hall & Co, Greenfield, MA, Vol II,1896, p 197, it is speculated that the Rev Samuel Russell may have served briefly as an interim pastor at the First Church of Deerfield, MA sometime during the period 1683-1686, but the early church records from that era are no longer existent, and this cannot be documented. The Russells did have a connection to Deerfield. Samuel's father, the Rev John Russell, purchased a lot in Deerfield in 1673 (Edward Richards of Dedham to John Russell of Hadley Aug. 14, 1673 - Book A, p. 129) which was not built upon until after Samuel, then in CT, sold it in 1707 (Samuel Russell of Branford to William Arms of Deerfield June 18, 1707 - Book F, p. 433) , which was presumably leased to a local farmer during the time the Russells owned it. On 24 Jan 1686, the Rev. Samuel Russell married Abigail Whiting (1665-1733), daughter of the Rev John (1635-1689) & Sibyl (1638-1672) (Collins) Whiting. (Conflicting sources show the venue for their wedding as Hadley, MA, Deerfield, MA, Hartford, CT, or New Haven, CT. If anyone can cite an original source for their wedding location, please do so. The "Rutherford B Hayes genealogy" in the Rutherford B Hayes Presidential Library cited by a contributor, is not an original source. We need a church or local government record). To their union were born 9 known children – to wit: John b 1687, Abigail b 1690, Samuel b 1693, Timothy b 1695, Daniel b 1698, Jonathan b 1700, Ebenezer b 1703, Ithiel b 1705, and Mary b 1708, annotated in the work An Account of Some of the Descendants of John Russell the Emigrant, by Gurdon Wadsworth Russell, Wadsworth, Tuttle & Beresford (Publishing) Hartford, Conn, 1910, pp 131 & 132. Beginning in Feb 1686, he was taken under consideration as a pastoral candidate at the Congregational Church of Branford, in New Haven Co, CT. Finding favor with the congregation, they called him to be their pastor, the motion being recorded in the church records on 7 Jun 1687, per A History of the First Church & Society of Branford, Connecticut 1644-1919 by J. Rupert Simonds, The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co, New Haven, Conn 1919, p 44. On 12 September 1687, he was ordained as the 5th pastor of the Branford Church where he officiated for the remainder of his life. (The Simonds book lists the pastors in an appendix). Long standing tradition has it that Yale University was founded by a group of ministers, when they met in the Rev Samuel Russell's study in Branford to contribute books for the university library. In the work Connecticut- A Guide to its Roads, Lore, & People, Written by Workers of the Federal Writer's Project of the WPA for the State of CT, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1938, p 339, under the section on Branford, CT it is stated that, "On the south side of the Green...On the SE corner is a small commemorative tablet near the site of the Reverend Samuel Russell House, where in 1701 ten clergymen met and donated books for the founding of the Collegiate School, later Yale College". Presently, there is some controversy involving the timing of the founding of the university, and whether the ministers or the Connecticut General Assembly should be given credit. Although he was not one of the original trustees, the Rev. Samuel Russell was very much involved in the preliminary discussions to found the college, as noted in The School of the Prophets, Yale College, 1701-1740, by Richard Warch, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1973, pp 19 & 27. (See the footnote on pp 25 & 26 of said work for comments on the now questionable basis for the long standing tradition regarding the university's founding). The Rev. Samuel Russell was subsequently appointed a trustee on 11 November 1701, per Documentary History of Yale University, 1701-1745, by Franklin B. Dexter, Arno Press & The New York Times, New York, reprinted 1969, p 31. The doors of the Samuel Russell house in Branford are preserved in the 1742 Room of Sterling Memorial Library at Yale. The "Russell Parsonage" where at some of the meetings to found Yale were held, was built around 1690. The following quote is a testimony to the amount of effort put forth by the Rev. Samuel Russell during his long career as a minister of the Gospel ."During Mr. Russell's ministry 237 members were added to the church, of whom 96 were males and 141 females. He baptized 870 persons, 833 of these being infants. Under his leadership the church grew from being an unorganized group of worshipers, in an obscure settlement, and became one of the strong churches of the state, with a position of relative importance in interdenominational affairs much greater than it has ever had since", quoted from A History of the First Church & Society of Branford, Connecticut 1644-1919 by J. Rupert Simonds, The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co, New Haven, Conn 1919, p 67. For the first 30 years of his ministry, the Rev Russell was the only pastor in the Branford locale, but in 1715, the farmers in North Branford requested permission to establish a congregational society – in other words, to set up a new church, due to their inconvenient distance from the church in Branford proper. Their request being denied initially by the Branford First Church, the farmers petitioned the General Court of Connecticut to consider their case. Their appeal was favorably received, and the spin-off church in North Branford came to fruition over the next 10 years. The parish boundaries were finalized in 1723, and a meeting house erected in 1725. Far from being a mark against the Rev Russell, the church split was the natural outcome of all his years of effort in building up the church. Near the end of his life in June of 1730 when old age and infirmity were taking their toll, the Rev Russell petitioned the Branford First Church to seek a replacement. He died a year later in Branford where he had served as pastor some 43 years, on 25 Jun 1731 (the date shown in CT VRs - Wikipedia shows the 24th in error).

  
  

• Sources

  [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 15 Dec 2022), entry for Samuel Russell, person ID L85P-YTT. (Reliability: 3). [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2025), entry for Rev Samuel RUSSELL, person ID KCYB-MR6. (Reliability: 3). [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2025), entry for John Russell, person ID LKSZ-TBL. (Reliability: 3).