(94.) 1. Samuel RUSSELL was born about 1806 somewhere in the Kennebec River valley, Maine.⁽¹⁾

Sometime around 1825, Samuel, by that time a lumberman, moved to New Brunswick.⁽²⁾

He appeared on the 1851 New Brunswick census, living in the Town of Colebrook, Grand Falls, Victoria County, New Brunswick, where he was listed as Samuel Russell, American, lumberman, age 45, came to New Brunswick in 1825, living in household with wife Ellen (age 28), and children Susan (9), Christopher (8), Mariby (7), Warren (6), and Anne (2), all of whom were "native," that is, born in New Brunswick. The census showed the family as living in its own house, owning 2 "stores, barns or outhouses", with no cleared land, one cow, and two swine. None of the children were attending school.⁽⁴⁾

Map of land holdings along the upper St.John River in
Saint John Plantation and St. Francis, probably about
1870-1880. Holdings of Samuel Russell are indicated by the
blue arrows. Thanks to Maynard Jalbert.
Click for enlarged view of image.

Sometime between the 1851 census and 1860 the family moved to the Upper St.John River valley in Aroostook County, Maine. Samuel appeared on the 1860 US census in Township 17, Range 8 (St. John Plantation), Aroostook, Maine, listed as age 58, lumberman, owning real estate with a value of $200, owning other property (personal estate) valued at $150, born in Maine, living with children Mary, age 15, Ann, 11, Warren, 13, and Ellen, 7.⁽⁵⁾ His wife Ellen is notably absent, meaning that she had probably died sometime between 1851 and the 1860 census.

Samuel Russell appeared on the 1870 US census in St. John Plantation, Aroostook, Maine, listed as age 78, farmer, real estate worth $350, born in Maine, living with daughter Annie, 19, and two domestics Tossey Carrow (probably Anastasie Caron), 35, and her daughter Rose, 8.⁽⁶⁾ He appeared on the 1880 US census in St. John Plantation, Maine, listed as age 84, widower, farmer, couldn't read or write, born in Maine and both parents born in Maine, living with daughter Ann, age 29. ⁽⁷⁾

He was baptized shortly before his death in Feb 1892 in St. Charles Roman Catholic Church, St. Francis, Maine. An oral family tradition has it that he converted to Roman Catholicism at the same time as his daughter Helen (Ellen) Russell Jalbert. He died on 22 Feb 1892 in St. Francis, Maine.⁽⁸⁾

Gravestone of Samuel Russell and his
daughter Helen, St.Charles cemetery,
St.Francis Maine.
Click on image for enlarged view.

He was buried in St. Charles Catholic cemetery, St. Francis, Maine. (The tombstone inscription reads: "Russell / 1806 Samuel 1892".)

Samuel was mentioned in a passage from the book The History of the Upper St.John River by Edward Wiggen, published in 1872: "Continuing up the river on the American side, we pass the farm of Mr. Samuel Russell who came from Kennebec many years ago, and who always had a yoke of noble big oxen."⁽³⁾

The mystery of Samuel Russell
What remains unknown is where exactly Samuel Russell came from. Based on Wiggins we know he came from somewhere in the Kennebec River valley. Also unknown: why he moved to New Brunswick in the first place; and why he ended up moving to the Upper St.John River valley. Although I have as yet found no firm evidence, I have some ideas on the reasons for these moves.

The first Americans to move to the Madawaska territory were lumbermen who came from the upper Kennebec River valley: John Baker, Jesse Wheelock, and others, who came in 1817-1818 from Somerset County, which covered the upper Kennebec, and settled in the area around Fort Kent, Baker Brook, St.John Plantation. One report indicates that John Baker went first to the Gaspé region of Québec, which includes the Baie des Chaleurs area and Carleton, before he settled in Madawaska. It seems likely that Samuel Russell is somehow connected to this group of American lumbermen.

Given the fact that people tend to move to areas where they know people already, or to move with others to areas where there are opportunities, I would hazard to guess that Samuel Russell travelled to the Baie des Chaleurs with some of the Kennebec lumbermen, or that he travelled there to join some of them who were already there. As lumbermen they were clearly moving to areas where there were opportunities for them to work in that trade. Russell moved to various parts of New Brunswick, including the Nelson-Miramichi region, where he met and married his wife Ellen Baldwin.

The couple returned to the Baie des Chaleurs region; their first two children (and perhaps others) were born and/or baptized in Carleton, Québec on the Gaspé peninsula on the Baie des Chaleurs; their third and fourth children were baptized in Restigouche, in the same region. They thus lived in the Gaspé region from at least October 1839 through June 1845. Sometime between mid-1845 and mid-1849 the family moved to the Grand Falls, NB region (their next child was baptized in Van Buren, in 1849; and their last child was born in 1853 in that region as well, in Grand Falls).

For some reason, sometime between the birth of their daughter Ellen (Helen) in 1853 and the taking of the US census in June 1860, Samuel Russell and his family decided to move to Madawaska, and ended up settling in the region of St.John Plantation, the exact area where the Kennebec valley lumbermen had settled. It seems very probable that Russell moved to this region to join people he already knew who lived in that area. For more information on possible ancestry, click on Samuel's name above. If you have any information about Russell, about Kennebec lumbermen in the Gaspé or in other parts of New Brunswick, please let me know! (More information on Russell families of the Kennebec valley)

Copy of marriage record of Samuel Russell and Ellen Baldwin,
thanks to Maynard Jalbert.
Click on image to see full screen view.


St. Paul's Anglican Church, Chatham, NB
Thanks to the Parish of St.Paul's for granting permission
to reproduce this photo, originally from their website
at http://www.apocm.org/pages/stpaul.htm

Samuel Russell was married to Ellen BALDWIN on 13 Nov 1834 in Nelson (on the Miramichi River), Northumberland County, New Brunswick.⁽⁹⁾ They were married by Rector Samuel Bacon, who was the rector of St.Paul's Anglican Church 3 miles upstream from Chatham in Miramichi (Nelson); it is thus likely they were married at St.Paul's (though the record I have does not indicate that). Ellen's name is recorded as Eleonore. The marriage ceremony was witnessed by Samuel Creech and Charles Baldwin, both of whom signed. Ellen also signed, while Samuel signed with his mark.

(95.) Ellen BALDWIN ⁽¹⁰⁾ was born in New Brunswick, Canada. ⁽¹¹⁾ (Although she is listed as being about 28 in the 1851 census, this is highly unlikely, since that would mean that she would have been married at age 11.) She appeared on the 1851 New Brunswick census in the Town of Colebrook, Grand Falls, New Brunswick, listed as Ellen Russell, age 28, born in Canada, living in household with husband Samuel and children Susan (9), Christopher (8), Mariby (7), Warren (6), and Anne (2), all of whom were "native," that is, born in New Brunswick.

Ellen BALDWIN died between 1853 and 1860, ^(12)(13) sometime between the birth of daughter Ellen (Helen) in about 1853 and the 1860 US census, in which she is not listed with her family. (Her name is listed in the Madawaska records as "Goodwin," and at the church where her daughter Ellen was married to Joseph Jalbert as "Boldin." According to research by her great-grandson Maynard Jalbert, many relatives told him that her last name was Baldwin, misspelled by the French-speaking priests at the church as Boldin.)

Samuel RUSSELL and Ellen BALDWIN had the following children:

+2 i. Susan RUSSELL.
3 ii. Christopher RUSSELL was born on 29 Jul 1841 in Carleton, Québec. ⁽¹⁴⁾ (On north shore of the Baie des Chaleurs.) He appeared on the census in 1851 in Colebrook, Grand Falls, New Brunswick, as 8 years old, born in New Brunswick, living in household of parents (Samuel and Ellen Russell). ⁽¹⁵⁾
4 iii. Mary RUSSELL was born about Jan 1844 in New Brunswick. ^(16)(17) She was baptized on 22 Jun 1845 in Ste-Anne de Restigouche, Québec. ⁽¹⁷⁾ The baptismal record lists Mary Russell, baptized 22 Jun 1845 at the age of 1-1/2, daughter of Samuel and Mary Helen (Baldwin), farmer, of Restigouche, godparents James Connor and Jonnah Whitten. She appeared on the census in 1851 in Colebrook, Grand Falls, New Brunswick, as Mariby Russell, age 7, born in New Brunswick, living in household of parents Samuel and Ellen Russell.⁽¹⁸⁾ She appeared on the 1860 US census in 1860 in Township 17, Range 8 (St. John), Aroostook, Maine, as 15 years old, living with her father, Samuel Russell.⁽¹⁹⁾
5 iv. John Warren RUSSELL was born in Feb 1845 in New Brunswick. ^(16)(20) (tombstone inscription that noted that he died on March 14, 1864 at the age of 18 years and 6 months, would give birth date of August 1845) He was baptized on 22 Jun 1845 in Ste-Anne de Restigouche, Québec. ⁽¹⁷⁾ Baptismal record lists Warren Russell, son of Samuel and Marie Helen (Baldwin), baptized 22 June 1845 at the age of 4 months, godparents Joseph Olscamp (the priest who baptized him) and Florence Olscamp. He appeared on the census in 1851 in Colebrook, Grand Falls, New Brunswick, as Warren Russell, age 6, born in New Brunswick, living in household of his parents (Samuel and Ellen Russell). ⁽²¹⁾ He appeared on the 1860 US census in Township 17, Range 8 (St. John), Aroostook, Maine, as age 13, living in his father's household (Samuel Russell).⁽²²⁾ He died on 14 Mar 1864. (From tombstone, at small Baptist church in St. Francis, NB. Tombstone reads: "In memory of John Warren, son of Samuel and Ellen Russell, who died March 14, 1864, aged 18 years and 6 months") He was buried in St. Francis Baptist Church cemetery, Connors, New Brunswick.
6 v. Ann RUSSELL was born about Dec 1848 in New Brunswick. ^(23)(24) She was baptized on 15 Jul 1849 in St. Bruno's Catholic Church, Van Buren, Maine; her godparents were Michael Riley and Esther Nugent. The record notes that she is "eight months" old at the time of baptism. ⁽²⁵⁾ (Although the family was Protestant, children were often taken up the river from Grand Falls, NB, accompanied by a traveling minister, and baptized at St. Bruno's.) She appeared on the New Brunswick census in 1851 (line 39, p.19) in Colebrook, Grand Falls, New Brunswick, as Anne Russell, age 2, born in New Brunswick, living with parents Samuel and Ellen Russell.⁽²⁶⁾ She appeared on the 1860 US census in Township 17, Range 8 (St. John), Aroostook, Maine, as age 11, living in her father's household (Samuel Russell).⁽²⁷⁾ She appeared on the 1870 US census in St. John Plantation, Aroostook, Maine, as Annie Russell, age 19, living in her father's household (Samuel Russell).⁽²⁸⁾ She appeared on the 1880 US census in St. John Plantation, Aroostook, Maine, as age 29, single, "at home", couldn't read or write, living with her father Samuel. ⁽²⁹⁾ She appeared on the 1891 Canadian census in St. Francis, New Brunswick, as age 32, living in household of Charles and Ellen Collins England in St Francis, New Brunswick. She lived her last 23 years, after her father's death, in the Fort Kent Poor House or nursing home. She died on 19 Nov 1933 in Fort Kent, Maine.⁽³⁰⁾ She was buried on 19 Nov 1933 in St. Louis cemetery, Fort Kent, Maine.⁽³¹⁾
(47.) +7 vi. Helen (Ellen) RUSSELL.

 

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Last revised 13 Jan 2011