Thursday, March 23, 2023

Genealogy Story – The Russell Family in 1950

Having previously researched (see here) where all the descendants of my great-great-grandfather, Walter James Russell, were living in 1920, I thought it might be interesting to move forward another generation and see how the family has gotten larger and spread. A generation is about 25 years, but since I’ll be using census data to get all the addresses, I’ve done the below using the 1950 census, i.e., 30 years later. Since census results are only released after 72 years has passed, this will be the latest that I’ll be able to do this exercise. As before, I’ll look each address up and see if I can find a picture of the dwelling which they would have lived in. Those who have passed away in the prior 30 years will be in italics.

It took a fair amount of research to complete the below. Since the 1950 census has been available for less than a year, I had not gone through and added this information to this part of my family tree. There are also considerably more children who have been born in the interval from 1920 to 1950, so I had to trace many of these still living individuals to help complete my tree. All addresses below are in CT except where noted.

·       Louis Russell (1871-1946) and his second wife, Helen [Madigan] [Pulver] [Lewis] (1868-1945) have both passed on.

 

o   Erskine Russell, 55, divorced his first wife in 1928 and he remarried in 1932. Following the death of his father, with whom he worked, he also changed jobs and moved to Prospect. Their house has since been leveled, but his daughter’s house next door is still standing.

[Salem Rd, Prospect]

§  Dorothy [Russell] Hill, 33, married in 1938. They and their two children were living next door to her parents.

[82 Salem Rd, Prospect]

 


§  Vernon Russell, 29, married after the war in 1946. He and his wife and their first son (myself) were living on the 23-acre property that they purchased. They would remain in that same house until their passing in 2006 and 2012.

[70 Seery Rd, Wolcott]

 


o   Linus Russell (1896-1948) passed away at the age of 51. His last residence was at the Veterans Mental Hospital in Northport, Long Island

[Northport VA Hospital]

 


o   William Merchant Russell, 50, was living with his wife on what used to be her parents farm in New Milford. The farm no longer exists.

[Route 7 near Lanesville Rd, New Milford]

§  William Merchant Russell, Jr., 24, was living right across the road from his parents. He is married and has 3 children (ages 3, 2, and 10 months).

[Route 7 near Lanesville Rd, New Milford]

o   Loretta [Russell] McNaught, 51, was living with her husband and 20-yo daughter in the home which used to be her father’s and which she moved into following his death in 1946.

[57 Radcliffe Ave, Waterbury]

 


o   Martha Pauline [Russell] Scott, 46, was living with her husband, 3 children, and 3 other relatives, in Bristol.

[36 Roberts St, Bristol]

 


o   Lola [Pulver] Woodcock (1884-1913)

 

§  Lola [Woodcock] McGreen, 43, had been married, but is now separated. She had no children. The home she lived in was demolished and is now a parking lot for CT State employees who work in the Capital complex just a few blocks away.

[186 Buckingham St, Hartford]

§  Ethel May [Woodcock/Schofield] [Smith] Christian, 42, was adopted by the Schofield family in 1914 following the death of her mother. She married, had 2 children, divorced and remarried, taking her 2 children with her. She was living with her new husband and her children.

[88F, Apsley St, Hudson, MA]

 


§  Ruby Gertrude [Woodcock/Schofield], 39, was adopted by the Schofield family in 1914 following the death of her mother. I have not been able to find her in subsequent records.

 

§  Juanita Woodcock, 37, had married a few times and had moved around. I was unable to locate her place of residence in 1950.

 

 

o   Eva [Pulver] Peet, 58, was living with her husband and grown son in New Milford.

[11 Bennett St, New Milford]



§  Kenneth Peet, 39, was living with his wife and 4 children in New Milford.

[Prospect Hill Road, New Milford]

o   Marguerite [Waldron] Lewis, 52

[Prospect Hill Road, New Milford]

§  Gordon Lewis, 30, was living with his wife and 2 children in New Milford.

[Grove St, New Milford]

·       Martha Jane [Russell] Bradley, 75, was living in Greenwich with her husband, her widowed daughter, Beatrice Strong, 43, and her granddaughter, Betty, 15.

[11 Elm Pl, Greenwich]

 


o   Marion [Bradley] Crosby, 56, was living with her husband. Two of their children, Ronald and Donald, has passed away before 1950.

[28 Prospect Ave, Greenwich]

 


§  Martha [Crosby] Moore, 26, was living with her husband and 2-yo son.

[10 Cassidy, Greenwich]

 


o   Alfred Bradley, 54, is living with his wife in Greenwich.

[269 Taconic Rd, Greenwich]

 


§  Alfred Bradley, Jr. (1919-1946) passed away. But his widow, Betty June [Stenberg] [Bradley] Carr, and Alfred’s young daughter, Melody, are living with Betty’s new husband in Florida.

[213 NE 1st Ave, Delray Beach, FL]

 


§  Chester Bradley, 27, was living with his wife and one daughter in Stamford. That site is now a business.

[2840 Summer St, Greenwich]

o   Adrian Bradley, 50, was living with his wife in a beach community in VA.

[Beach Rd, Poquoson, VA]

o   Beatrice [Bradley] Strong (see above)

 

§  Lois [Strong] Scheuritezel, 20, was living with her husband in Greenwich.

[6 Circle Dr, Greenwich]

o   Ida [Bradley] Schofield, 43, was living with her husband and 3 children in Stamford.

[815 High Ridge Rd, Stamford]

 


o   Walter Bradley, 39, was living with his wife and young son in an apartment building in Hartford.

[9 Dorothy St, Hartford]

 


o   Jennie [Bradley] Bennett, 39, was a twin of Walter. She was living with her husband and 2 sons in Stamford.

[47 Aberdeen St, Stamford]

 


·       Charlotte [Russell] Hoyt (1876-1946)

 

o   George Hoyt (1891-1941)

 

o   Charles Hoyt, 59, was living with his wife and son, Edison, in Norwalk. Their son, Frank, had been killed in the Philippines during WWII. The location in Norwalk is now a parking lot.

[20 Webster St, Norwalk]

o   Josephine [Hoyt] Wheeler (1897-1919)

 

§  Marion [Wheeler] Hankey, 36, was living with her husband and 4 children in Waterbury. The home no longer exists as it is now an industrial area.

[147 Washington Ave, Waterbury]

o   Hazel [Hoyt] Hosford, 49, was living in Fairfield with her husband and 7 of their 11 children.

[41 Alden St, Fairfield]

 


§  Genevieve [Hosford] Bullard, 28, was living in Fairfield with her husband and young daughter.

[449 Mill Plain Rd, Fairfield]

 


§  George Hosford (1922-1949) never married.

 

§  Hazel [Hosford] Condon, 25, was living with her husband and daughter in New Fairfield.

[16 Jericho Rd, New Fairfield]

 


§  Robert Hosford, 23, was living with his wife and children in Bridgeport. The house has been replaced by an industrial building.

[219 Black Rock Ave, Bridgeport] 

·       George Hall Russell (1878-1923) had passed away. One of his daughters was stillborn. Two of his three other children had also passed away, but there were still grandchildren from those relationships.

 

o   Andrew Russell, 48, was living with his wife and 2 sons in West Virginia.

[Grafton St, Romney, WV]

o   Evelyn Russell (1903-1940) had passed away. Her husband and one daughter, Avis [Russell] Moray, together with Avis’ husband and young daughter, were living in Washington, CT.

[Rt 47 S, Washington]

§  Florence Fenn, 26, was living in Danbury.

[Padanaram Rd, Danbury]

§  Vera [Fenn] Pettit, 29, was living in Litchfield County, but I have not been able to confirm her address.

 

o   George T Russell (1905-1948) had passed away. He had married and divorced, then remarried, with one child from each relationship.

 

§  Myra Russell, 19, was living with her mother, Laura, in Andover, NH.

 

§  John Russell, 15, was living with his mother, Annie, in Hampton, CT.

 

·       Gertrude [Russell] Gustafson (1880-1903) had died young. Her children were placed in the Swedish Christian Orphanage in Cromwell when she died.

 

o   Eleanora [Gustafson] Bartlett, 51, was living with her husband in Bristol.

[111 Circle St, Bristol]

 


§  Charles Bartlett, Jr., 20, was living in Bristol with his wife and 2 children. He passed away just 2 years later. The house has been demolished and is now the site of a business and parking lot.

[1144 Farmington Ave, Bristol]

§  Raymond Bartlett (1923-1946) passed away a few years earlier.

 

o   Albin Gustafson (1901-1930) had passed away. He and his wife were childless.

 

·       Earl Russell, 59, was still living with his wife in Bridgeport.

[483 Noble Ave, Bridgeport]

 


·       Silas Russell, 58, left the VA home when it moved to Rocky Hill in 1940. He was now rooming at a home in Greenwich.

[4 Tremont St, Greenwich]

 


·       James Walter Russell (1893-1927), passed away in a work-related accident. His widow was living with their son Robert (see below).

 

o   Donald Russell, 27, has married and recently moved to NY where he is living with his wife and one child. He is working as a control tower operator at the Albany airport and is living in some airport supplied temporary housing adjacent to the runway.

[Sicker Rd, Colonie, NY]

o   Shirley [Russell] Mecsery, 25, was living with her husband in Cos Cob where he has started a radio and appliance business.

[66 Orchard St, Cos Cob]

 


o   Robert Russell, 24, was not yet married and was living with his mother in Greenwich.

[19 Orchard Place, Greenwich]

 


·       Edith Russell, 54, was unmarried and continued working as a child nurse. She moved around frequently as the children in the family she was working for got older and the family did not need her services. I have not been able to locate her place of residence in 1950.

 

 

Except for a few individuals all the family members lived in western CT – in Litchfield, Fairfield, New Haven, and Hartford counties. There were one family each in NH, MA, NY, VA, WV, and FL.

In the years since then, the extended family documented here, like many families in the US, has continued branching out and moving to other places in the country. There are now family members living in all four corners of the US, from Maine to Florida to the west coast. But there is still continued contact. Even today, over 100 years later, I am still in contact via email and/or social media with various cousins from nearly every branch of the Russell family documented above.

 

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