Genealogy Story – Yale part 2

In a blog I wrote recently (http://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2017/03/genealogy-story-harvard-and-yale.html), I gave a list of the ten men who were involved in establishing the Collegiate School of Connecticut in 1701 – which became Yale just a few years later. In that blog, I described these men as follows:

·        Samuel Andrew (1656-1738), Harvard class of 1675, pastor in Milford, CT – Rector in 1707-1719, while at Harvard was a tutor to James Pierpont, Samuel Russell, Noadiah Russell, and Joseph Webb. He and Samuel Mather married sisters. His granddaughter married the grandson of Noadiah Russell and James Pierpont.

·        Thomas Buckingham (1646-1709), the only non-Harvard graduate, pastor in Saybrook, CT – the founders originally agreed to locate the Collegiate School in Saybrook and it was only with much resistance that it was relocated to New Haven.

·        Israel Chauncy (1644-1703), pastor in Stratford, CT – son of Charles Chauncy, president of Harvard, he and James Webb married sisters. In addition to his father, a brother and nephew were also ministers.

·        Samuel Mather (1650-1727), Harvard class of 1671, pastor in Windsor, CT – cousin of Cotton Mather

·        Rev. James Noyes II (1640-1719), Harvard class of 1659, pastor in Stonington, CT – a cousin to Timothy Woodbridge, father, grandfather, and other relatives were also ministers.

·        James Pierpont (1659-1714), Harvard class of 1681, pastor in New Haven, CT – related to Abraham Pierson by one marriage and to Thomas Buckingham by another marriage. His children married descendants of Noadiah Russell, Samuel Russell, and James Noyes. Five of his children either became ministers or were married to one. (See http://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2017/02/genealogy-story-james-pierpont.html for further details).

·        Abraham Pierson (1646-1707), Harvard class of 1668, pastor in Killingworth, CT (later renamed Clinton) – first Rector of the Collegiate School, was supposed to teach in Saybrook, but due to his pastoral duties, taught at his parsonage in Killingworth. Son of a minister.

·        Noadiah Russell (1659-1713), Harvard class of 1681, pastor in Middletown, CT – two of his sons also became ministers.

·        Joseph Webb (1666-1732), Harvard class of 1684, pastor in Fairfield, CT

·        Timothy Woodbridge (1655-1732), pastor in Hartford, CT – son of a minister, his brother and son were also ministers. His daughter married a son of Abraham Pierson.

·        Samuel Russell (1660-1731), Harvard class of 1681, pastor in Branford, CT – 2^nd son of Rev. John Russell (1626-1692) of Hadley, MA, Harvard 1645, ministered in Wethersfield CT 1650-1659, then left CT and founded Hadley MA.

I’ve now had a chance to do some further genealogical research on these individuals with the goal of seeing what their connection (if any) is to me. I expected to find some of the below, but the degree of connectedness is pretty astounding. So, without further ado, here is how each of these men is related to me.

·        Samuel Andrew, grandfather-in-law of William Russell (my 1^st cousin 7 times removed)

·        Thomas Buckingham, 2^nd husband of Mary [Willet] [Hooker] whose first husband was my great*8 uncle

·        Israel Chauncy, married to 1^st cousin of my great*8 grandfather, Abraham Nichols. His wife and Joseph Webb’s wife were sisters.

·        Samuel Mather, cousin of sister-in-law of James Pierpont (through his first wife)

·        James Noyes II, father-in-law of Abigail Pierpont (my great*7 aunt)

·        James Pierpont, great*7 grandfather His children married descendants of, Samuel Russell

·        Abraham Pierson, uncle of first wife of James Pierpont

·        Noadiah Russell, great*7 grandfather, his daughter married Joseph Pierpont.

·        Joseph Webb, married to 1^st cousin of my great*8 grandfather, Abram Nichols

·        Timothy Woodbridge. His daughter married a son of Abraham Pierson. Also a cousin of James Noyes II.

·        Samuel Russell, great*3 grandfather of my great*3 aunt, Abigail [Russell] Pierpont

While some of these connections are multiple “hops”, e.g. cousin of a cousin sort-of-thing, the fact that I can document a family connection to every single one of them seems pretty amazing to me.  And it is further demonstration of what I quoted in that earlier blog:

The clergy, unlike farmers or artisans, were relatively successful in developing effective local and trans-local alliances which, in turn, led to patterns of collective action and to formal corporate institutions. This is not surprising, for the clergy were, by their very nature, a group with clearly defined common interests, a group whose members had been trained together at either Harvard or Yale (thus having shared an intensive common socialization experience), who were often sons of clergymen themselves (thus having kin-continuity), and who presided over a social institution, the church, whose interests they had a vital interest in preserving. The clergy, as earlier suggested, followed simultaneously two patterns of alliance-making, a bifurcation dictated by the non-inheritable nature of the clerical office. On the one hand, they cultivated close ties with important lay families in the communities in which they served, which strengthened their power in their congregations and opened up occupational opportunities for their sons. On the other hand, they cultivated trans-local alliances with other clergymen (to consolidate professional identity) and with powerful laymen (to further the interests of the church).