Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Literacy in my Russell Ancestors

In an earlier blog (*1), I noted that I had found an example of one of my Russell ancestors being illiterate. I said at the time that finding even one example was pretty exciting. I have now expanded my search to see the progression of reading/writing and education in the entire Russell line, beginning with my great*6 grandfather, Robert Russell.


Robert Russell (1730-1811), immigrated into the US in the late 1740s from Scotland due to the turmoil in that country surrounding Bonnie Prince Charlie (*2). (Charles Stuart had taken on the British in Scotland with the support of many of the inhabitants. Following his eventual defeat, the Scots who had supported him were further oppressed by the British and many fled the country.) He was an illiterate farmer and settled in Dutchess County, NY. In his will, written shortly before his death, can be found an “X” as his mark since he was not able to sign his name.

 





John Russell (1756-1833) lived his entire life in Dutchess County. Despite his serving in the Revolutionary War, he was also an illiterate farmer. Also in his will, written shortly before his death, can be found the same sort of mark as his father had written twenty years earlier.

 








Caleb Russell (1775-1830) continued in the same occupation as his father and grandfather. I have not been able to discover any examples of his writing, and the census records of the day did not record whether someone was literate, but given that both Caleb’s father and his son could not read/write, it is safe to assume that Caleb could not either.

Silas Russell (1803-1886) also continued in the farming occupation in Dutchess County. Following the Civil War when his son-in-law, Stephen Simmons, was killed at the Battle of Peach Tree Creek in GA, his daughter applied for a government pension. Silas and his wife had to testify in writing that she was who she said she was and that she had been born at home. In their attestation, they both signed with the same “X” as had been used by the Russell family in prior generations.

 











Walter Russell (1852-1895) initially worked on his father’s farm in NY. When he married around 1870 he and his wife moved a short distance to the east to Kent, CT. In the 1880 census, the last one in which he is listed, the census taker noted with a mark that he was not able to read or write. The various US states had only recently started passing compulsory education laws in the mid-1800s, with Massachusetts and Connecticut being the first around the time Walter was born. But New York did not pass such a law until 1874 and by then Walter was already married and beyond the age where it applied to him.

  
Louis Russell (1871-1946) was the first of my Russell ancestors to be something other than a farmer his entire life. Since he was born after the passage of a compulsory education law in Connecticut, he attended school as required, but only through grade 8 (which was typical for the times). In the 1900 census he was still listed as a farm laborer in Cornwall, CT, but shortly after that, and with a growing family to support, he moved to New Milford and began working, initially as a millwright for the New England Lime and Cement Company, then for the Tucker Electrical Construction Company (*3). Although he only had an 8th grade education, because of this training he listed himself as either an “electrician” or an “engineer” for the remainder of his life. With the change in requirements for training for both of those professions since then, he would not qualify as one these days, but back then this was appropriate. He would be classified as a “blue-collar worker” by today’s standards.

Erskine Russell (1895-1970), like his father, only had an 8th grade education which he received in the public schools in New Milford. Following his marriage in 1914 – at the age of only 19, and about the time his father moved from New Milford to Waterbury – he moved to Bridgeport where there was work available during WWI. In 1924, when he and my grandmother first separated, he moved to Waterbury to live with his father and step-mother and his father got him a job in the power plant at Scovill where he worked under his father. He remained there until 1946 when his father died, then left the company and worked as a night watchman for Pinkerton.

Vernon Russell (1920-2012) was the first of the line of Russells to get a high school education. He graduated from Leavenworth High School in Waterbury – Leavenworth being the equivalent of a vo-tech in today’s educational system. He then worked as a draftsman and later as a tool designer. Since he worked in an office setting, he would be classified as a “white-collar worker” by today’s standards.

Alan Russell (1948-), in line with increasing educational opportunities following WWII, not only went through high school, but then university, eventually getting a PhD. In addition to working in industry, he also taught at the university level. It took over 200 years, but the Russell family went from illiterate to literate, from no formal education to a university education, and from a farm worker to a blue-collar worker to a white-collar worker to a professional.


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