1Gurdon Wadsworth Russell, Edwin Stanley Welles, Samuel Hart, and J. R, Hutchinson, An Account of Some of the Descendants of John Russell, the Emigrant from Ipswich, England, who Came to Boston, New . . ., pp. 117-126 (1910).
"Rev. John Russell, son of John, was born in 1626. He graduated at Harvard College in 1645, and it is supposed that he remained at Cambridge, where he is reported "to have done some service" unril he was called to Wethersfield, Connecticut, "succeeding Mr. Smith in the ministry of 1650 as is supposed," though Judge Adams says, "that the records do not show the date."
He married (1) June 28, 1649, Mary Talcott, born in England, the only daughter and eldest child of the Worshipful John and Dorothy (Mott) Talcott, of Hartford.
. . .
On page 24, reverse end, of the volume entitled "Town Lands, Births, Marriages & Deaths, Town of Hartford, 1639-1764," it is stated that "Mr John Russell was maryed To Mary Tayllcott," June 28, 1649, and in the record of baptisms of the First Church of Christ, Hartford, it is stated that "John Rusell, son of Mr. John Rusell [was] bapt. Sept. 23," 1650. There is no record at Wethersfield. The occasion was, no doubt, the making of considerable merriment at the dwelling of the Worshipful grandfather. The son died at Hadley, Jan. 20, 1670. Of the mother's death there is no record to be found, but probably she died not long after confinement.
There was another son, Jonathan, born to Rev. John Russell in Wethersfield, according to Savage, Sept. 18, 1655, and the supposition has been that this was the son of a second wife, although there was no record of the death of the first. In the Talcott Genealogy it is stated that Mary (Talcott) Russell died sometime before 1655 , and the remarriage of Rev. John Russell is accepted, but no record of this has been discovered.
Thanks to the investigations of Mr. Frank Farnsworth Starr we now learn that John Russell was married to Rebecca Newberry of Windsor before 1652, and the evidence is curious, and is not from any public record. . . .
Henry Wolcott married Sarah Newberry, Nov. 8, 1641, Daniel Clark married Mary Newberry June 13, 1644, and John Russell married Rebecca Newberry. They might well call themselves brothers, and it also shows that in 1651 John Russell was married to Rebecca Newberry, and this, as far as can be learned, is the only record concerning the marriage. While the record stands for the year only, viz., 1651, yet it naturally stands for the time of gathering of the apples; This would have to be about the first or middle of October. . . .
THE CHILDREN OF REV. JOHN RUSSELL WERE:
BY MARY TALCOTT
I JOHN, bapt. Sept. 23, 1650, d. Jan. 20, 1670.
BY REBECCA NEWBERRY.
3 II JONATHAN, b. Sept. 18, 1655.
4 III SAMUEL, b. Nov. 4, 1660.
IV ELEAZER, b. Nov. 8, 1663.
A goldsmith in Boston, and according to his will was probably unmarried; bur. Jan. 2, 1691. See Judge Sewall's Diary.
V DANIEL, b. Feb. 8, 1666, d. Dec. 17, 1667.
Rev. John Russell married (3) Phebe Grigson, born Oct. 15, 1643, the daughter of Thomas Grigson of New haven, the second wife and widow of Rev. John Whiting of Hartford. After Mr. Russell's death, she resided with her son Joseph Whiting in New Haven, where she died September 19, 1730.
Rebecca Newberry was the daughter of Thomas Newberry of Windsor. She died November 21, 1688, aged 57 years. . . .
The Rev. John Russell died at Hadley, December 10, 1692, . . .".