Andrew A. Russell

Biography

Andrew Russell’s working life combined farming, transport, and trade. Born at Townsend, in northern Massachusetts near the New Hampshire border, on April 6, 1816, he worked on his father’s farm before acquiring a forty-acre farm of his own. Crane’s Worcester County history describes him hauling goods, dealing in wood and timber, and investing in land.

His first wife, Elisabeth Willard, died in 1845. Their family had already lost a young son, Andrew; their daughter Lusanna survived. Andrew married Mary Eaton in 1845, beginning a second, much larger household.

About 1870, according to Crane, he bought a hundred-acre farm at West Fitchburg, also in northern Massachusetts. Later residences included nearby Westminster, Massachusetts, and Warwick, Rhode Island, where he managed a farm for Eben Tourgee. The account identifies Andrew as a Methodist and a Republican.

Andrew died in March 1887. His memorial places his burial at Evergreen Cemetery in Leominster, Massachusetts.

The family reconstruction names his parents as John Russell and Lydia Marble. His children with Mary Eaton included Mary Elizabeth, later known as Lizzie Chamberlain. Family records date his death to March 20, 1887.