My 500th Blog

As we draw to a close the tumultuous year of 2020, I thought it fitting that I also celebrate a milestone in my blog writing – the writing of my 500^th blog entry!

I began this journey nearly six years ago on February 1^st, 2015 when I was inspired by a few blog entries that one of my brothers had written. Since then, others of my siblings have also gotten into the blog writing habit as have a few of my nieces and, interestingly, one of my grandsons. So it’s kind of become an extended Russell family tradition.

There are a number of different themes in my writing – most of them exploring the many aspects of my interest in the intersection of genealogy, geography, and history. I have taken a few of these major themes and published a synopsis of all the ones in that category as my 497^th (Pierpont blogs), 498^th (Russell blogs), and 499^th (Wolcott History blogs) so that my readers can have a convenient place to find those that interest them.

But I’ve also felt free to write about whatever happened to pique my interest at the time. So, there are few works of fiction (short stories), a few about the various computer technologies that I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the years, and others such as my early attempts at poetry.

When I wrote my autobiography back in 2014, I wrote the following in the introduction:

“When I started genealogical research into my family roots a few years ago I found that I felt bad that I had never taken the opportunity to talk to either of my parents about their heritage and early life before their passing.  So instead I had to rely on my own vague memories for some information and the “glue” that tied it into a story sometimes did not exist.  This book is my own story both so that I can share it with my children now, and so that my descendants have it all available to them after my eventual passing.” 

There is much the same rationale behind my blog – to capture my story and the things that interest me in a place where it can be read by those who come after me – not only my children, but increasingly my grandchildren and beyond.

So, to those of you who are reading this, I hope that I have been able to enrich your lives by giving you a glimpse into mine – my interests, my family roots, etc.

I am not planning on stopping writing any time soon. Should I set a goal of writing blog number 1000? No! I do not write these for that type of goal. I write if and when there is something of interest to write about and I will continue to write as long as I have interests. My life could end tomorrow or it could go on for many years. I might become mentally incapacitated and be unable to write, or I could keep my wits about me somewhat indefinitely.

This 500^th blog is merely a milestone along my life’s journey. I hope in reading them that you, the reader, have had your life enriched.

Index to Wolcott History blogs

As we reach the end of a decade, I have now written 500 entries in my blog since beginning in February 2015. I’ve written on a variety of subjects, but there are a few deserve special recognition – stories about the Pierpont family, stories about my Russell ancestors, and stories about the history of my hometown, Wolcott, CT. I’ve written so many about these three topics that I thought it might be helpful to put together an index of all the stories in these areas.

This is the index for all those stories about Wolcott History, organized into various categories to make it easier to read them (instead of doing a search in my blog and reading them in chronological order).

 

Farmingbury Stories

·       Indians

·       The Bound Line

·       Early Settlers of Farmingbury

·       Early Settlers Research

·       Echoes of Farmingbury

·       Founding members of the Congregational Church

·       Revolutionary War Service

·       New England religious roots

·       Josiah Atkins House

 

Geography Stories

·       How Geography affected Wolcott growth

·       Hiking - part 1

·       Hiking - part 2

·       Hiking - part 3

·       Old Maps and Abandoned Roads

·       Rivers and Brooks

·       Lakes and Ponds

·       Swimming

·       Biking

 

People/Families

·       Alcock/Alcox/Alcott family

·       The Alcox Family

·       The Alcox/Alcott - Pierpont Connection

·       Wolcott History - biographies

·       Biographical Sketches

·       Inter-family marriages

·       Samuel Orcutt

·       Addin Lewis

·       Seth Thomas

·       Town Names and Clocks

·       Leverett Kenea - Memorial Day

·       Congregational Church pastors

·       Town Clerks

·       First Selectmen

·       Southington Mountain, Town Green, Postmasters

 

Places

·       South East Burying Ground

·       Northeast Burying Ground

·       Pikes Hill Cemetery

·       Pillwillop Farm

·       Wolcott Library Early Contributors

·       Finch Brook

·       The Russell Property

 

Wolcott Schools

·       Census Records, Schools, and Teachers

·       How the schools were named

·       How I am related to everyone for whom the schools are named

·       First grade - my personal melting pot

·       School assignments - early poems

·       Instrumental music program - playing the flute

·       Taking Driver Training in high school

·       Senior project - Students Approve Vietnam Effort (Project SAVE)

·       Wolcott History - a poem

·       My favorite teachers

 

My Life in Wolcott

·       Moving to Wolcott in 1946

·       My Wolcott Connections

·       More Wolcott Connections

·       The Growth of a Wolcott Neighborhood - 1935-1955

·       The Growth of My Wolcott Neighborhood - 1954-1961

·       Wolcott Remembrance

·       Trick or Treating in the 1950s

·       Easter memories

·       Scouting in our family

·       Being a bad boy

·       Fire!

 

Miscellaneous

·       Learnings from the 1870 Census

·       Wolcott genealogical connections

·       WWI Effects

·       My extended Pierpont family relatives in Wolcott

·       The Polish connection

·       A tangled Wolcott web

·       The Nancy Hall Bible

·       How the roads got their names

·       Cousin connections and common Wolcott names

·       Mattatuck Drum Band

·       Chronology of Wolcott

·       Civil War Involvement

·       Wolcott History Resources

Index to Russell blogs

As we reach the end of a decade, I have now written 500 entries in my blog since beginning in February 2015. I’ve written on a variety of subjects, but there are a few deserve special recognition – stories about the Pierpont family, stories about my Russell ancestors, and stories about the history of my hometown, Wolcott, CT. I’ve written so many about these three topics that I thought it might be helpful to put together an index of all the stories in these areas.

This is the index for all those stories about the Russell family, organized into various categories to make it easier to read them (instead of doing a search in my blog and reading them in chronological order).

Family Origins

·       Origins of the Russell Family name

·       Russell Ancestral Lines

·       Royal and famous relations

·       Tracing the Russell family

·       Scandinavian Roots

·       My Norman ancestors

·       My Pedigree

 

Early Generations

·       John Russell - Immigrant Soldier

·       John Russell - Revolutionary War service

·       Loyalists in my family tree

·       Finding Caleb Russell's Family

·       Silas Russell descendants

·       Phoebe Isaacs

·       Caleb Barton

·       Literacy in my Russell ancestors

·       Anna Pauline Merchant

·       A major flaw in my family tree - part 1

·       A major flaw in my family tree - part 2

·       Morgan Lewis Cook

·       Benjamin Judd Rogers

·       Stephen Simmons - Civil War Casualty

·       Being a Mayflower Blue Blood

 

Great-grandparents and Grandparents

·       Louis Russell

·       Erskine Russell

·       Walter Linus Russell

·       Edith Russell

·       Tracing Female Ancestors

·       Sisters and step-sisters

·       Eva's journals

·       Finding Juanita

·       Vera Estelle Levy

·       The Gap in the Levy Story

·       Nana Rogers and Nana Russell

·       Charles Rogers

·       Vera Rogers passing - She'll keep!

·       My Great Aunts - part 1

·       My Great Aunts - part 2

·       How my grandparents and parents met

·       Cause of death of my grandparents

 

My Parents

·       The Nomadic Life of Vernon Russell

·       Ancestor occupations

·       My father's Navy service - part 1 - Overview

·       My father's Navy service - part 2 - The Ship

·       My father's Navy service - part 3 - Log of Dates

·       My father's Navy service - part 4 - Ship's Log

·       War Story - Vernon Russell

·       Memories of a grandfather - by Chris Russell

·       Marrying a cousin - my parents

·       The bridal shower

 

Other Russell connections

·       Second Cousins

·       Distant connections between my wife's ancestors, and my Pierpont/Russell ancestors

·       New Milford connections

·       Contacting cousins

·       Finding a birth mother

·       Finding a birth mother - part 2

·       Russells, Russells, everywhere

·       The shot heard round the world

·       Presidential Connections

·       Finding living relatives

·       Pierpont-Russell connections

·       A cousin web

·       The Oliver Wolcott connection

·       Famous and not-so-famous Russells

·       Finding Cousin Jane

·       William Merchant Russell

·       The James Walter Russell family

·       The James Walter Russell family - part 2

 

Miscellaneous

·       Slave Owners in my family tree

·       Mayflower ancestors in a Jewish family (Levy)

·       Were my Levy Ancestors Jewish?

·       Tracing my Jewish heritage

·       Jewish cousins

·       Jewish cousins - part 2

·       Indians, Moravians and Ancestors

·       Finding and losing relatives

·       The Russell wives

·       Serving their country

·       Tribute to a Russell cousin

·       Robert Earl Russell - the last of his generation

·       DNA testing find Charlotte Russell

·       Carrying on the Russell name

·       Why I do what I do

·       Marrying my cousin

 

Index to Pierpont Blogs

As we reach the end of a decade, I have now written 500 entries in my blog since beginning in February 2015. I’ve written on a variety of subjects, but there are a few deserve special recognition – stories about the Pierpont family, stories about my Russell ancestors, and stories about the history of my hometown, Wolcott, CT. I’ve written so many about these three topics that I thought it might be helpful to put together an index of all the stories in these areas.

This is the index for all those stories about the Pierpont family, organized into various categories to make it easier to read them (instead of doing a search in my blog and reading them in chronological order).

Origins of the Pierpont Family

·       My Norman ancestors

·       My Pedigree

·       William the Conqueror

·       William the Conqueror - part 2

·       William the Conqueror and the Pierrepont family

·       An unexpected connection

·       Lords and Sirs in the family tree

·       Name change when coming to the Americas

·       Changing names

·       First Church of Roxbury, MA

·       The Pierponts of Roxbury, Massachusetts

·       Pioneers of Massachusetts

·       Lost Dukedom of the New England Pierponts

 

Rev. James Pierpont of New Haven and his immediate family

·       James Pierpont

·       Harvard and Yale

·       James Pierpont and Yale

·       Yale - part 2

·       Princeton University

·       James Pierpont siblings and cousins

·       Carrying on the family name and business

·       James Pierpont descendants

·       Summary of connections to other Connecticut founding families

·       A triple marriage - three grandsons of Rev. James Pierpont

·       Religious Leader ancestors

 

My Pierpont Grandparents

·       A tangled Wolcott web

·       Sam and Hattie Nichols - my grandfather's "adoptive" parents

·       How my grandparents and great-grandparents met

·       My Pierpont grandparents

·       Grandparent Cousins

·       Trail blazer with a bucket of paint

·       Waterbury Hall of Fame

·       Cause of death of grandparents

 

The Blackman Family

·       The Blackman and Talmadge family

·       Prospect Connections

·       The Reno Nevada connection

·       Edna Blackman

·       My Great Aunts - part 1

·       My Great Aunts - part 2

 

My Mother’s Family

·       My mother's Pierpont cousins

·       Second Cousins

·       Ancestor occupations

·       Spouses of my mother's siblings

·       Stories from my mother - part 1 - My Dad

·       Stories from my mother - part 2 - After 8th grade

·       Stories from my mother - part 3 - After High School

·       Stories from my mother - part 4 - Camping

·       Stories from my mother - part 5 - Memories of Camping

·       Stories from my mother - part 6 - Memories of Dawn

·       Stories from my mother - part 7 - Open House

 

Other Pierponts

·       Famous/Infamous Ancestors

·       Helen Pierpont - Traveling to China

·       The William Russell chest

·       The men in Margaret Miller's life

·       Charles Somers Miller

·       Hezekiah Pierrepont and Brooklyn

·       Hezekiah Pierrepont - Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington

·       The John Pierpont Study Table

·       Albert Pierrepont - Hangman

·       J. Pierpont Morgan

·       James Lord Pierpont - The Original Jingle Bells

·       James Lord Pierpont - Is Jingle Bells racist?

·       Lawyers and Politicians in the family tree

·       400 Years of John/James Pierpont

·       Ernest Hemingway

·       Daniel Pierpont Bible

 

Miscellaneous

·       Slave Owners in the Pierpont Family Tree

·       Slave Owners in my family tree

·       Battle of New Haven

·       Distant connections between my wife's ancestors, and my Pierpont/Russell ancestors

·       Leaving a legacy

·       The Pierpont Wives

·       My extended Pierpont family relatives in Wolcott

·       Ron James Pierpont - filling a hole in your life

·       Connecting the New England and VA/MD Pierpont families

·       Presidential Connections

·       Inter-family marriages

·       Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe

·       Why I do what I do

·       The Alcox/Alcott - Pierpont Connection