Genealogy Story – Gertrude Russell Gustafson

Gertrude Louise Russell was born in 1880, the sixth child of Walter James Russell and his first wife, Lois Ann Cook. Her mother passed away in 1883 when she was only 2-1/2. Walter took his children and moved in with his parents, Silas and Hester, so that his mother could take care of the children. Just 2 years later, in 1886, Walter’s father, Silas, passed away. In 1887, Walter remarried to Cornelia Sutphin and they had four more children together. In 1895, Walter died at the age of 43 and then two years later, Cornelia died at the age of 38. Finally, in 1898, Hester also passed away. Thus, at age 18, Gertrude found herself having experienced the death of both of her parents and both of her grandparents.

That same year, Gertrude, needing to have some means of income, married Karl Victor Gustafson. He was 25 and had immigrated to the US a few years earlier from Sweden. The immediately settled down and began having children. Over the next few years, they had three children together – Elnora Henrietta (b. 1899), Albin Victor, named after his Swedish grandfather (b. 1900), and Pauline Gertrude, her middle name after her mother (b. 1901). Then in 1903, Gertrude passed away, followed just a month later by the death of Pauline.

Karl Victor was heart-broken. Only 29 and without the ability to care for his two other children, he put them in the Swedish Christian Orphanage in Cromwell. Elnora and Albin were only 4 and 3 years old respectively. Karl went to live in Avon where he lived as a servant in a house as well as being a bartender in a local hotel. Then in 1911, at the age of only 38, Karl also died.

The Swedish Christian Orphanage had been started in 1900 by the Swedish Evangelical Covenant Church (see their history here). By 1910, when the two Gustafson children were ages 10 and 9, there were 47 “inmates” between the ages of 5 and 14. Forty-four of them had Swedish parents, two were Finnish, and one was American. The majority had been born in Sweden, but others were from CT, MA, VT, RI, NY, and two had been born in Michigan. This institution is still in operation, now under the new name of Adelbrook.

[Adelbrook – then and now]

 

 

Elnora left the orphanage when she was old enough. She married in 1920, had two sons, then died in 1953 at the age of 54. Her two sons also died young – at age 30 and 23. While the younger son did not marry, the older son did and he and his wife had 2 children before he passed away. Unlike all the ancestors, these two children are still living at ages 79 and 77 respectively as this is being written.

Albin eventually graduated from the orphanage as well. He worked first as a bookkeeper, then later in a silk mill. He married at age 26, but then died a few years later at the age of 29. He and his wife had no children.

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 1^st 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.

 

Genealogy Story – The Russell Family in 1920

Walter James Russell (my great-great-grandfather) was born in Dutchess County, NY, in 1852. He was married twice (his first wife, Lois, dying at the age of 28), and had a total of 10 children, six with his first wife and four more with his second wife, Cornelia. Walter died in 1895 at the age of just 43 and Cornelia died just 2 years later at the age of 36. The next several years were somewhat disorganized with the older children getting married and having families and the youngest children in an orphanage. One, Gertrude, had passed away in 1903. But by 1920, all of the remaining children would have been adults. Thus, I thought it might be instructive to look at where all of them were when the 1920 census was taken and what the circumstances of their lives were by then. I’ll address them from oldest to youngest and include any remarks about their children who may have been old enough to be living by themselves (either married or unmarried) by then. All the surnames are Russell unless otherwise noted. I’ve given the exact address from the census and a current picture of each place where family members lived (if the building is still standing over 100 years later).

·       Louis, 49, had married in 1892. (I’ve told his story here and here, before.) He and his wife, Anna, had six children before she passed away at the age of 32 in 1903 (one of their children passed away a few years later). Louis remarried in 1910 to a woman, Helen, who had four children from two prior marriages (three still living). Prior to 1920, one of her other children also passed away, but between them they had seven living children in 1920. While both Louis and Helen had been living in New Milford, during the war Louis had begun working in Waterbury. He and Helen can be found there in the 1920 census. His two youngest daughters, Loretta and Pauline, are living them, as is Juanita Woodcock, Helen’s granddaughter through her deceased oldest daughter, Lola. Their other children are elsewhere:

[1318 E Main St, Waterbury, CT]

 

o   Erskine, 26, had married in New Milford, but he was now in Bridgeport with his wife, Vera, and their young daughter. Vera was also pregnant as my father was born to the family later in 1920. I’ve written more extensively about Erskine here.

[754 Norman St, Bridgeport, CT]

 

o   Linus, 22, was a victim of mustard gas in WWII. He returned to the US on a hospital ship and in 1920 was in the first of a series of mental institutions where he spent the remainder of his life – the Connecticut State Hospital for the Mentally Insane in Middletown, CT. You can read more about him here.

[Connecticut State Hospital, Middletown, CT]

 

o   William, 20, was placed with a family who lived on a farm outside of New Milford when his mother passed away. He chose to remain there when Louis remarried. He married two years after the 1920 census and remained in New Milford for the rest of his life.

 

o   Eva [Pulver] Peet, 27, was living with her husband and two children in Waterbury, just a few miles from her mother, Helen, and stepfather, Louis. They would eventually move back to New Milford. I’ve shared other information about her before.

[927 W Main St, Waterbury, CT]

o   Marguerite [Waldron] Lewis, 22, was living in New Milford with her husband and their 8-month-old son. The family was living with her husband’s parents.

[Grove St, New Milford, CT]

·       Mary, 48, cannot be found. It is unknown what happened to her.

 

·       Martha Jane [Russell] Bradley, 45, was living in Greenwich with her husband, Erskine, and 5 of their 7 children. Also living with them was her brother James (see below).

[129 E Elm St, Greenwich, CT]

 

o   Alfred, 24, had been married for nearly 3 years. He and his wife and one son were living in New Milford.

[Grove St, New Milford CT]

o   Adrian, 20, was living and working at the YMCA in Greenwich. However, he was preparing to go abroad to Japan the following year where he would be working with the YMCA there as a missionary for 3 years.

[YMCA, Greenwich, CT]

 

·       Charlotte [Russell] Hoyt, 43, was living in Milford with her oldest son. Her husband had died the previous year in a work-related accident.

[76 Oak Ave, Milford, CT]

o   Charles Hoyt, 28, was living in Norwalk with his wife and son.

[59 Lexington Ave, Norwalk, CT]

 

o   Josephine [Hoyt] Wheeler had married, then divorced her husband, but she had died in 1919. It is not known where her young daughter was living in 1920, but in 1930 she was living with her grandparents in Fairfield.

 

o   Hazel [Hoyt] Hosford, 19, recently married, was living in Stratford with her husband and 2-month-old son.

[1455 Broad St, Stratford, CT]

 

·       George, 42, was living on a farm in Washington, CT, with his wife, Florence, and 2 of their 3 children.

[Hollow Rd, Washington, CT]

o   Andrew, 19, was living in Washington, DC, as a chauffeur with a family. He would marry the daughter of that family 3 years later.

[1200 I St NE, Washington DC]

 

·       Earl, 29, was living with his wife, Ethel, and mother-in-law in Bridgeport. They remained there the rest of their lives and were childless.

[483 Noble Ave, Bridgeport, CT]

 

·       Silas, 28, was still serving in the military (coastal artillery) in 1920. He was stationed at Fort Banks, MA, just to the east of Boston’s Logan Airport. Following his discharge in 1925, he returned to CT where he lived in Darien in the Fitch Home for Veterans.

[Bldg 45, Fort Banks, Winthrop, MA]

 

·       James, 26, had served in WWI. Following his discharge, he was living temporarily in Greenwich with his older half-sister Martha (see above). He was engaged and would marry the following month. His fiancée, May/Mary, 27, was also living in Greenwich with her uncle and aunt, even though her parents were only a few miles away (also in Greenwich). James and Mary would go on to have 3 children before he passed away just 7 years later. I’ve shared before about an encounter between May and James’ brother, Louis. So, it appears that there were regular visits between the family members in this part of CT and those living elsewhere (Louis was living in Waterbury at the time).

[129 E Elm St, Greenwich, CT]

·       Edith, 24, was not listed in the 1920 census. She was working as a “child nurse” for a family in the Forest Hills (Queens) section of NYC and had left earlier that year to accompany the mother and young son on a voyage to India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). You can read more about her here.

 

Except for Silas (who was in the military in MA), Edith (who was on a ship to India), and Andrew (who was in Washington, DC), all the rest of the family was in western CT – in Waterbury, Milford, New Milford, and the various towns along the SE coast of the state. And there was continued contact between all the siblings and the cousins.

In the years since then, the family, 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 tree as documented above.