Russell Family & Allegheny - Pittsburgh Census Records (page 2)

Leolaia

I'm not sure tho about 29. Shouldn't that be 39? Typo?

The specificity of Ann Eliza's and the children's birthdates, dates of death, and causes of death certainly gives one pause to dispute such, except for the fact that the BS author then proceeds to spew the BS "BS" just as vehemently as JWs spew the WT "BS". I do not take seriously any supposed WatchTower/Russell historian who swallows Russell's "BS" that he did not know who Nelson Barbour was nor that he had never read Barbour's Magazine prior to he Philly trip in 1875. Anyone who buys that is wasting their time investigating anything else about Russell. They should simply let other's do the research and investigation and wait on being fed the results. By 1875, Russell had "ran" with the very bastions of "second Adventism" (Storrs, Stetson, Wendell, are those he admits to) and the development of his theology makes it apparent that he was reading everything he could get his hands on by not only Adventists, but other "radicals" also. In 1875, Nelson Barbour was the best known Second Adventist in the U.S., and
during the pre-1873 prediction period his magazine had a greater circulation than all the other ACC magazines combined. It is the "National Enquirer" of its day.

Then, there is the old saying "that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree".

Maybe Russell researchers need to spend more time looking at Joseph Russell to figure out how he managed to turn out a son who was as big a nut as he was.

I would like to see a photo of Eliza's 1861 headstone, as well as those of the children. Even then, such could have been faked in the 1860s, or even later by the Russells or someone with an interest in maintaining the Russell's "story".

It is even suspicious that Joseph and Eliza had 3 children to die (not counting the disappearance of "Jane Russell") between 1855 and 1860. This family was not living out in the wilderness somewhere, and each child died separately under separate circumstances. Maybe Joseph separated from Eliza and moved back to Pitt to rear Taze and Mae for a "reason".

By the way, if Eliza had mental problems, that might explain why "Jane" was living with them in Philly as a teenager in 1860, but not as a 5 year old child in Allegheny in 1850. Philly relatives may have kept Jane when Joe and Eliza went back to Pitt. (It seems that Joe and Eliza may have moved back and forth several times between Philly and Pitt in the 1840s-60s. That raises even more Qs.)

I simply am not ready to dismiss that quickly the "Eliza Russell" who shows up out of nowhere in the 1880 Pittsburgh census. Her age matches exactly what "Ann Eliza" reported to the 1860 census taker. This 59 year old woman reports that she was born in Ireland, as was "Ann Eliza". She has no occupation or noted means of support; no family living in her home; and no boarders (which would be the typical means of support for an older, unmarried female). She is not a widow, but describes herself as "Divorced", which is somewhat unusual in that day and age for an older woman, since legitimate situations were labeled "separation", so the ex-husband would be legally bound to continue to pay "maintanance". Again, if Joseph did not have a "pure" Divorce, he would have had to get such before he could have married his own "Rose Ball" in 1879.

This opportunity to get his hands on a young female 1/3 his age might have been enough to motivate Joseph to bring Eliza back to Pitt, and pay her off completely with a final settlement sufficient to get her to agree to a pure Divorce, so he could finally re-marry.

This would explain why 45 year old Joseph, with two young children (9 year old Chuck and 4? year old Mae) did not remarry after 1861. Would not most men in the 1860s have wanted a wife to help rear those 2 young children? That is, assuming he was eligible to re-marry.

This might even possibly explain why the clothing stores were sold off in the late 1870s. I'll stretch this even further. Maybe Joe had his eye on Emma long before Chuck rushed into a celibate marriage with Emma's sister. (Let's hurry up and do nothing.) Maybe Joe had decided that he wanted to marry Emma back in 1875-8, but he knew that he could not marry her without first getting a full Divorce from Eliza. The only problem with a Divorce is that such would require a final financial settlement with Eliza. Now, Joe was not about to give Eliza 50% of his share of the clothing stores. So, he and Chuck dissolve the business, hide most of the assets, and then go about the Divorce.

Of course, Joe and Chuck were too moral for such a complicated scheme. Right!!!!

West70

With regard to Joseph L. Russell giving his occupation as "Grocer" for the 1860 Philly census, it might be pertinent that there was a wholesale Grocer operating in the Pitt/All area in the early 1850s called "Russell and Johnson". An "A. L. Russell" (typo -- ???) operated one of the two locations in 1852.

Balsam

Wow such interesting research your doing. I do reasearch on my family but it didn't occure to me research this. Thanks for the informative history, love it.

sf

They should simply let other's do the research and investigation and wait on being fed the results.

A complete and accurate documentary on the History Of Zions Watchtower, Its Founders and Its Sheep, would truly be something to behold. With pictures too!!

sKally

West70

Concerning my last post, I did find an "A.L. Russell" in later decades, so that was not a typo, although one can still wonder if Joe L. might not of had a connection.

There were lots of Russells doing business in the area by the late 1870s: shoe stores, boiler inspector, metal works, etc. Surely, some of these might have been relatives.

No sign of a "divorced Eliza" through 1877.

West70

Noone else want to play?

badboy

The Elizabeth that appears later than 1860 census can't be Chuck's mother because she died in 1860.

Kenneson

A sort of obituary or eulogy for Joseph L. Russell can be found in the Jan. 1, 1898 Zion's Watch Tower. According to Charles T., Joseph was 84 at his death and one of the first converts to the "present truth." He further states that his (Charles) mother died when he was 9. In the June 1, 1894 ZWT under "The Voice of the Church" is a letter from Joseph L. The Dec. 1, 1916 issue contains a Biography of Pastor Russell.

See http://www.ctrussell.us Click Watch Tower; then click the year and look for the month and date.

West70

Where are our friends the "Russell was a Mason" researchers on this one?

Here's a long (but closer) shot that CTR had hidden mental illness in his genes (mother), and a father willing to tell his children that their mother had died, when she was actually institutionalized.

Russell Family & Allegheny - Pittsburgh Census Records

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