Dorothy Russell

Dorothy -

• b. England;
• d. 1694, Hadley, MA; will dated Feb. 16, 1681/2
• Burial: Wethersfield Village Cemetery Wethersfield Hartford County Connecticut, USA
• Created by: Nareen, et al Record added: May 31, 2009 Find A Grave Memorial# 37773839

Dorothy's surname is sometimes given as COTTON, without substantive evidence (which would be welcome). It may be that the COTTON surname is based on a bequest in the 1652 will of Rev. John COTTON to "my cousin Henery Smith." However, Rev. Henry SMITH was deceased at the time of the will, and the bequest was for "diet, lodging and apparel so long as he serve my wife, and £20" - certainly not intended for Rev. Henry SMITH

After Henry Smith’s death, Dorothy (unknown) married John Russell as his second wife. John was baptized at Cretingham, Suffolk, England, February 26, 1597/8 and died at Hadley, MA, May 8, 1680, aged 83. Dorothy removed to Hadley with her new husband and there made her will in 1682. It was proved on December 22, 1694. It disposes a decent estate to her son Samuel (executor), daughter Dorothy Hall, and daughter Mary Smith. The last was her son Samuel's wife, and she evidently made her home with Samuel after John Russell's death.

Dorothy married

1. Henry SMITH was born ABT 1595 in Norwich, Norfolk, Eng, and died 09 AUG 1648 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT. He was the son of [Unknown] SMITH.
2. John Russell. He was Dorothy Collins widower.

9 Children of Dorothy and Rev. Henry Smith:

1. Philippa Smith Est 1622 - Bef 1687 Mary Smith Est 1624 - Aft 1667. Married Deacon John Birdseye, Sr.
2. Mary Smith Est 1624 - Aft 1667. Samuel Hale.
3. Peregrine Smith Bet 1627 & 1629 - Bef 1648. Married Mary.
4. Rebecca Smith Cal 1631 - Aft 1679/80. Married Nathaniel Bowman.
5. Dorothy Smith Bet 1633 & 1635 - Bef 1706. Married 1) John Blakeman 2) Mark Sension 3) Isaac Moore
6. Samuel Smith 1638/39 - 1703. Married Mary Ensign.
7. Joanna Smith 1641 - 1664. Married Philip Russell.
8. Noah Smith 1643/44 - Aft 1648. Died as a child.
9. Elizabeth Smith 1648 - . Died young.

   ---

Married second in 1649 John RUSSELL (b. Feb. 26, 1597, Suffolk, England; d. May 8, 1680, Hadley, MA), father of Rev. John RUSSELL, successor to Rev. SMITH at Wethersfield, CT, and first minister at Hadley, MA about 1659.

A founder of Hadley, Massachusetts.

Dorothy's name is inscribed on the famous "Hadley Bible" a quarto bible believed to have belonged to Dorothy, and given to William Goffe, a regicide her stepson, Rev. John Russell, was harboring for several years. This bible was passed down, it is believed, through the Smith family after Goffe's death at Hadley.

Source: Cultivating a Past: Essays on the History of Hadley, Massachusetts By Marla R. Miller page 127-128.

Her maiden name might have been Cotton (she may have been a relative of _____ Cotton, made freeman on ______________. .Many of her descendants were named Cotton, and the Cotton family of England was a well known northern English landed gentry family, that would have been associated with other emigrants of this group who came with the Winthrop Flleet. She married (1) REV. HENRY SMITH (his second wife) about 1633-5, and (2) John Russell about 1649.

The children of Rev. Henry & Dorothy Smith: Dorathy b. 1638 Samuel b. Jan. 27, 1639 Joanna b. Dec. 25, 1641 Noah b. Feb. 25, 1644, died young Elizabeth b. Aug. 25, 1648, died young

John & Dorothy Russell removed from Wethersfield, CT. to Hadley, Conn. with his son, Rev. John Russell and his other children, in 1659.

Children, Noah & Elizabeth are not mentioned in Dorothy Russell's will, so it is assumed that the died young and did not leave issue.

Family links:

Spouses:

• Henry Smith (1599 - 1648)
• John Russell (1608 - 1695)

Children:

• Phillippa Smith Birdseye (1622 - ____)*
• Samuel Smith (1639 - 1703)*
• Dorothy Smith Moore (1641 - 1706)*

References

• Ancestry.com. Hale, House and Related Families [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data:Jacobus, Donald Lines. Hale, House and Related Families, Mainly of the Connecticut River Valley. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2001. “ Rev. Henry Smith, Wethersfield, Connecticut.” Page 732 - 733. Archive.Org
• Source: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=gwenbj&id...
• https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Dorothy_Unknown_%28195%29
• http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sam/hsmith/henry.html

Early and later genealogists disagree on the subject of Rev. Henry Smith's wife or wives. It was claimed that the tenor of Henry's will indicated that he had two wives. Reading, however, does not indicate two wives. The wife, we know, was Dorothy _____, and there is no reason to suppose she was not the mother of all his children. Dorothy remarried after Henry's death to John Russell and the family moved to Hadley, Massachusetts. She died in 1694. Her birth would have been about 1600-1604 if we except the birth of Phillippa in 1622.

Henry and Dorothy's son Samuel wrote a letter saying, "My Father & Mother came over in 1636/37, "firste to Watertown which is neare Boston, & after a yeare or two to Weathersfield"[1]

Donald Lines Jacobus tells us that it was not[2] "the wife of Rev. Henry Smith who came to New England in April, 1635, as Dorothy Smith, aged 45, with a daughter Mary, aged 15."[3] One supposes because this Dorothy was considerably older than a Henry b. c 1600.

Jacobus also says: "Nor does it seem possible that the Henry Smith with wife Dorothy who joined the church in Charlestown, Mass., in 1637, was the Rev. Henry." 5th mo (July) 10th day 1637[4] There were a lot of Henry Smiths early in New England. Anderson lists five, but only one that I know of had a wife Dorothy. Anderson includes this reference in Henry of Wethersfield's entry in the Great Migration Directory.[5]

Anderson has concluded that this is the Henry who left Weymouth, England, bound for New England, in April 1637. "Henry Smith, wife, 4 children, 4 menservants, 4 women [servants]"[6] This would seem to be one child off but perhaps Dorothy was not yet born, or the count was wrong. Given a two month voyage, July 1637 is good timing for joining a church.[4]

If Samuel's remembrance of his mother's statements were off on the point of staying in Watertown a while, and instead his family moved from the Charlestown/Watertown area (only seven miles apart) shortly, there would be time to make the journey and arrive in Wethersfield before Nov 1637.

We know the family of Mr. Henry Smith "of this towne" was in Wethersfield 22 Nov 1637, when Leonard Chester named him overseer of his will on that date.[7][8]

Henry died in 1648. Henry's will says: "I have well proved the difficultyes of this Country, how hard a thinge it will be for a woman to manage the affaires of so great a family as the Father of Mercyes hathe blessed me withall, and have had allso experience of the prudence and faithfullness of my deare wife, who shall, in parting with me, parte with a great parte of her livelihood, I give to my wife full power to dispose of all my estate in howses, Lands, Cattell and Goods whatsoever, within dores and without, only providing if she marry again, or otherwise be able comfortably to spare it from her owne necessary maintenance, that she give to ..."

About 1648/9, Mr John Russell, from Cambridge, arrived in Wethersfield. Dorothy married John Russell as her second husband. He too had been married before and had two sons from his first marriage. They resided at Henry's homestead until they departed for Hadley, Massachusetts, about 1659. [9]

22 Aug 1677. Dorithy Russell had several parcels of land, which were to be hers and to her heirs at the death of John Russell, did with John's consent give a parcel of land to Phillip Russell (son of John) as part of a marriage dowry, Philip having married her daughter, Joanna.[10] This was after the death of Joanna.

Upon John's death in 1680, he left her £3 to be paid by his sons.[10]

Dorothy made her will 16 Feb 1691. An inventory was taken 22 Dec 1694. Dorothy left her estate to her son Samuel Smith and her daughter Dorithy Hall and daughter-in-law Mary Smith, wife of Samuel.

Children
Source:[2]

Philippa, b. [say 1622]; d. by 1687; m. by 1640 Deacon John Birdsey (d. Stratford 4 Apr 1690). John and Phillippa Birdsey were admitted to the Milford church 23 Aug 1640, and dismissed to the Stratford Church 19 Mar 1649. He m. (2) Alice, widow of Henry Tomlinson.
Mary b. [say 1624]; m. by or before 1643 Samuel Hale
Peregrine b. {say 1627-9]; d. before 8 May 1648
Rebecca b. abt 1631; m. (1) Samuel Smith, s/o Lt Samuel and Elizabeth (___) Smith; divorced; m. (2) in 1669 Nathaniel Bowman
Dorothy b. [say 1633-5]; d. Farmington, Connecticut in 1706 ; m. John Blackman; m. (2) Francis Hall; m. (3) Mak St. John; m. (4) Dea. Isaac Moore
Samuel b. 27 Jan 1638/9; d. Hadley, Massachusetts 10 Sep 1703 in 65th yr; m. Mary Ensign
Joanna b. 25 Dec 1641; d. Hadley 28 Dec 1664 ae 23; m. 4 Feb 1664 Philip Russell
Noah b. 25 Feb 1643/4; d. young after 8 May 1648
Elizabeth b. 25 Aug 1648; d. young.
Sources
↑ Smith, Helen Evertson. Colonial Days and Ways, as Gathered from Family Papers (1900) Full text : Space:Henry Smith (1599 - 1648) p. 47 at archive
↑ 2.0 2.1 Jacobus, Donald Lines and Edgar Francis Waterman. Hale, House and Related Families Mainly of the Connecticut River Valley. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1978.) pp 730+
↑ Hotten, John Camden (editor). The Original Lists of Persons of Quality: Emigrants, Religious Exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years, Apprentices, Children Stolen, Maidens Pressed, and Others, who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700. (London: John Camden Hotten, 1874.) p. 68
↑ 4.0 4.1 Records of the First Church in Charlestown, 1632-1789]] (David Clapp and Son, Boston, 1880) p. 9
↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. Great Migration Directory (The). Immigrants to New Englnad, 1620-1640. A Concise Compendium. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.) p. 309
↑ Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Genealogical Gleanings in England." National Gen. Society Quarterly 71:176 (1983)
↑ Author: Connecticut. Probate Court (Hartford District); Probate Place: Hartford, Connecticut. Notes: Probate Records, Vol 2-3, 1649-1677. Leonard Chester (clerks copy) Accessed at Ancestry ($)
↑ Manwaring, Charles William. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records.Volume 1. Hartford District 1635-1700. Hartford, Conn., R.S. Peck & Co., Printers, 1904.) pp 104. 105
↑ Stiles: History of Wethersfield. p. 295
↑ 10.0 10.1 Great Migration 1634-1635, R-S. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VI, R-S, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009. John Russell Link at AmericanAncestors ($)
Great Migration 1634-1635, R-S. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VI, R-S, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009. featured article of John Russell.subscription site
"A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692 (all vol.)] by James Savage. Originally Published Boston, 1860-1862, Vol. II; Corrected electronic version copyright Robert Kraft, July 1994 http://www.archive.org/details/genealogicalcros00sava Savage Cross Index vol. 3, p. 591 and vol. 4, p. 115 http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/savage/
"History of Wethersfield" by Henry R Stiles. Vol 1 Page 295 http://archive.org/stream/historyofancient11adam#page/333/mode/1up/...
Moses S. Curtis Descendants and Ancestors by Mildred Bradford. Baltimore, Md: Gateway Press, 2000
Tuckerman, Bayard. A Sketch of the Cotton Smith Family of Sharon, Connecticut (Plimpton Press, Boston, 1915)
Page 17: "His (Henry Smith) widow, Dorothy Cotton, a near relative of the famous Dr. John Cotton, afterwards married John Russell, and removed to Hadley, Massachusetts, where she died at a great age in 1694."
Collins, James Wade Ferris. The Family and American Descendants of Deacon Edward Collins of Cambridge, Medford, and Charlestown, Massachusetts, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., Winter 2020) Vol. 174, WN 693, Page 56.