Aunt Nellie and Mr. Russell

So, when we last left Aunt Nellie in 1940, she was working as a maid at 182 Marlborough Street. She was 47 years old.

182 Marlborough Street about 1942 from the website https://backbayhouses.org/182-marlborough/

Marlborough Street is in Boston's Back Bay which was a quagmire and health hazard in the early 1800s. The City decided to fill in this marshland to expand the size of the city. The process started about 1850. 

The backbayhouses.org website says:

182 Marlborough was designed by architect Samuel D. Kelley and built in 1880 by Samuel Stillings, a carpenter and builder, probably for speculative sale, one of two contiguous houses (180-182 Marlborough) ...

By the 1881-1882 winter season, 182 Marlborough was the home of retired wool merchant Charles Larkin, a widower.  He had lived at the Hotel Hamilton at 260 Clarendon in 1880.  By the 1882-1883 season, he was living at the Hotel Vendôme.

By 1882-1883 winter season, 182 Marlborough was the home of Mrs. Cordelia A. (Backus) Knowlton, the former wife of house carpenter Edmund A. Knowlton ... Cordelia Knowlton operated a lodging house at 182 Marlborough.  In 1880, she had lived and run a boarding house at 116 Boylston.

182 Marlborough (ca. 1942), photograph by Bainbridge Bunting, courtesy of The Gleason Partnership

She continued to live at 182 Marlborough in 1887, together with several lodgers ...

By 1888, 182 Marlborough was the home and medical office of Dr. John Orne Green, a physician specializing in diseases of the ear and a professor at Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Hasket Derby, an oculist and ophthalmologist, also maintained his office there ...  

"By the 1909-1910 winter season, 182 Marlborough was the home of Charles Theodore Russell and his wife, Louise (Rust) Russell.  They previously had lived at 16 Exeter.

Initially, they probably leased the house from Dr. Samuel Jason Mixter and his wife, Wilhelmine (Galloupe) Mixter, who lived at 180 Marlborough ...  Wilhelmine Mixter died in January of 1925, and Samuel Mixter died in January of 1926 and by 1928 Louise R. Russell is shown as the owner of 182 Marlborough.

180-182 Marlborough (2013)

The Russells also maintained a summer home in Falmouth.

Charles Russell was assistant treasurer of the Boston Wharf Company until 1914.  Thereafter he was a trustee and real estate dealer.

Louise Russell died in October of 1938.  Charles Russell continued to live at 182 Marlborough until his death in July of 1961.  The house was shown as vacant in the 1962 and 1963 City Directories."



So back to Aunt Nellie. Two years after Louise Russell's death, the 1940 U.S. Census for 182 Marlborough Street on April 5 lists C.T. Russell renting his house for $80 monthly. Charles is a 70 year old widower. I think it's interesting that Mr. Russell is renting his home after we just saw that his wife was the owner in 1938. 
The census reports that Mr. Russell was born in Massachusetts and completed 4 years of college. Retired is crossed out. The form indicates that Mr. Russell is unable to work, he was not working in 1939 so he did not earn any income. But he did receive income over $50. 

Caroline Olsen is the 60 year old "hired hand." She was born in Sweden and completed 4 years of school. She works as a maid and earned $900 last year.

Both lived in the same house 5 years ago.

So Aunt Nellie is in the 1940 Boston directory but not in the census - so maybe she did not start work here until after April when the census was taken? I couldn't find her in the 1940 census or in any passenger lists from Ireland - in case she had gone home for a visit.

According to the Fort Point Channel Landmark District Study Report, in 1836 the Boston Wharf Company (BWCo) was incorporated to build wharves for docking and warehousing. Like in other sections of 19th century Boston, the first step was to turn soggy marshes into usable land. (As we just saw in the Back Bay.) 

“The company filled in the land along the South Boston shoreline, laid out the streets and alleys, and constructed the buildings,’’ Erin Doherty, preservation planner for the district, said. “As nearly all of the buildings were designed by their staff architects, the district has a remarkable degree of uniformity.’’ 

Fort Point is Boston’s largest and most significant collection of late 19th and early 20th century industrial loft buildings, Doherty said. 

"The warehouses held mostly sugar and molasses until the late 19th century, due in part to the position of BWCo Director Elisha Atkins, who held stock in the Bay State Sugar Refinery ... 

"According to the Landmarks Commission, the area’s development lasted until the 1880s, when the Congress Street Bridge was built, opening up better access to Fort Point from downtown Boston and giving BWCo the opportunity to expand its markets."

Oh my lord! Elisha Atkins!! The world or Boston is small indeed. The Atkins lived on Concord Avenue in Belmont - just outside Belmont Center. The Atkins' estate was up the hill on the right hand side - I'm not sure if it included property on the left hand side.  The Atkins owned sugar plantations in Cuba - when I worked at Sancta Maria Hospital in Cambridge, an old man would come to the cafeteria for lunch - he told me that he had worked in Cuba on the Atkins plantations. I thought he was a nice old man - seemed lonely so I talked to him. Later, I found out that Johnny Murphy's aunt Bridie Murphy used to work for the Atkins and the Claflins!! She used to live in on Concord Ave.!

New England Confectionary Co. from bridge, ca. 1898-1907 —Boston Public Library via Flickr Creative Commons

"At that time (when the Congrees Street Bridge was built) some manufacturers moved into buildings owned by BWCo, such as Chase & Co., which was the predecessor of New England Confectionery Company (NECCO)."

And this is another connection with my family!! My husband did landscaping at the NECCO company when he was foreman for Larry Antonellis' landscaping company. Larry's brother Dominic Antonellis had became president of NECCO in 1978.

So the Boston Wharf Company is the enterprise for which Charles Russell worked, and now Aunt Nellie is working for him. So who is he?

Charles T. Russell is a descendant of Samuel Hastings (born 1735 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts - died 1823 in Princeton, Massachusetts.) Samuel served as a lieutenant at the Battle of Lexington which was the start of the American Revolution. He was appointed captain in 1781 by Massachusetts Governor John Hancock. So we have another family with long roots in the Bay State.

Samuel's granddaughter, Persis Hastings (born November 27, 1793) married Honorable Charles Russell, merchant, on June 14, 1815 in Princeton.  This Charles Russell was born March 4, 1793 - his parents were John Russell of Princeton and Eunice of Stow.

In 1870, 77 year old Charles Russell is listed as a farmer with real estate worth $4,000 and a personal estate of $4870. Charles was a merchant in Princeton, clerk of the town and postmaster, representative eight years, four years a member of the Senate and four years a member of the Governor's Council. Not too shabby!

Charles and Persis Russell had a son, Charles Theodore Russell - born Nov 20, 1815 - graduated from Harvard - formed a law firm with his brother Thomas Hastings Russell with offices in the Brazer Building at 27 State Street for more than 50 years. 

This map shows the location of the Brazen Building at 27 State Street with the red icon near the top right. It also shows Fort Point Channel, the Congress Street and Summer Street Bridges and Necco Street mid to lower right. It also shows Commonwealth Avenue and Marlborough Street on the left.

The Brazen Building at 27 State Street behind the old State House.

Charles Theodore Russell married Sarah E Ballister of Dorchester on Monday June 1, 1840 in Dorchester - Reverend John AC Abbott of the Eliot Church in Roxbury performed the ceremony. I wonder how they met? Their son Joseph Ballister Russell was born 24 October 1852 in Boston - they were living at 17 Edinburgh St. in Boston. Charles is working as a lawyer.


By 1856 Charles Theodore Russell was a counsellor at 27 State Street - he had a house at Craigie and Brattle Streets in Cambridge which is just outside of Harvard Square. The intersection of the streets can be seen on the map below - just below the red icon for 69 Sparks street.

Charles T. Russell  was mentioned in 1853 at 69 Sparks Street in Cambridge - the red icon in the map above. This REALLY spiked my interest because Johnny Murphy's relatives - the family of butcher and developer Tim Burns  - lived at the other end of Sparks Street near Mount Auburn Street. 

The following is from Cambridge Buildings and Architects by Christopher Hall which I found on the Cambridge Historical Commission's website. It lists 69 Sparks Street under 2 Hillside Street.
2 Hillside Street is a 3 story house built in 1953 - the dot in front of the #2 means the house was still standing in 1999. The alternate address is 69 Sparks Street.
The notation shows that in 1853 the house was taxed to owner George Meacham. In 1858 I believe this means that Charles Theodore Russell was the owner. I'm not sure what the rest means - 65+bg w1 sparks. But in 1898 the architects J.R. and W.P. Richards made renovations to Charles' house including a bay window. In 1905 further renovations were made by W.P. Richards only now Mrs. Joseph B. Russell is the owner.

"•2 (Sparks st 69) house 3-st 1853

.....1852 house deed 610,130 70'sparks ws sBrewsterD (o) Meacham Geo. to (o) Davis Benj.G.

.....1853 house tax 58 RussellCT 65+bg w1 sparks : 69 (o) Meacham Geo.

.....1854 Walling map

.....1898 house altered & bay window permit 7347 sparks 69 (o) Russell Chas T (a) Richards J.R. & W.P.

.....1905 house altered permit 11109 sparks 69 (o) Russell Jos.B mrs (a) Richards W P

.....1936 •garage permit 37282 sparks 69 (o & b) Howard M B"

The 1870 Cambridge Census for Ward 1 - (again the Cambridge Directory lists the house at Sparks Street near Brattle Street) - has the following listing:
50 yo Charles T - lawyer - real estate $18K - personal wealth $4K
50 yo Sarah E - keeping house
23 yo Josie E - no occupation
21 yo Sarah L - no occupation
19 yo Charles T Jr - no occupation listed - college student is crossed out
18 yo Joseph B - stock clerk
14 yo Henry E - at school
12 yo William E - at school (this son would lead quite a life - graduate Harvard 1877 - then LLB from BU -  practiced law in Boston - mayor of Cambridge 1885-1888 - great speaker and debater - governor 1891, 2, 3 - elected at 34 - then retired from politics to practice law.)
42 yo Kate McCarthy - domestic servant - Ireland
20 yo Bridget Cremlin - domestic servant - Ireland

In 1875 Charles Theodore is a counsellor at 27 State Street in Boston where his son Charles Theodore, Jr. is a lawyer and both live at 69 Sparks Street in Cambridge.
Henry E. Russell is a clerk at 205 State Street and is boarding at 69 Sparks Street.
Joseph B. Russell is listed working at 18 T. Wharf in Boston - he was a stock clerk in 1870 - I wonder what he is doing now? He also is boarding at 69 Sparks Street.

69 Sparks Street, Cambridge

No history of Long Wharf is complete without mention of T 
Wharf, the T-shaped wharf attached to Long Wharfs northern 
face. It was constructed in the 18th century to take advantage 
of the deep water available midway down Long Wharf. 
T Wharf became the center of Boston's fishing industry during 
the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sometime after the 
decline of the fishing trade in Boston, T Wharf became a 
favored residential address for artists and the home of the very 
popular Blue Ship Tea Room until the wharfs disintegration in 
the 1960's. 

http://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/k930f8304

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

T Wharf, above, looks like a busy location - it must have been an exciting place to work for a 20 something!

In 1880 Joseph Ballister Russell marries Lillian Hillard Tenney on May 20 in Delaware - Right Reverend Alfred Lee performed the ceremony.

That same year - 1880 - the Cambridge census for 69 Sparks Street listed Joseph and Lillian living with Joseph's family.

The next year on Aug 23, 1881 CT Russell was born in Cambridge - parents are Joseph B & Lillian H - he is a shipper - he was born in Boston - Lillian was born in Kentucky.

By 1881 Joseph and Lillian Russell had their own home at 138 Brattle Street in Cambridge, but they didn't move far away - this house is at the corner of Brattle and Sparks Streets.

In 1897 the Cambridge Directory reports that Joseph B. Russell has an office at 114 State Street in Boston and is also president of Cambridge Safe Deposit and Trust Company - but he now he has a house in Belmont. So he was a successful merchant and now has gone into banking. And the Belmont Directory for 1896-97 lists Joseph B. Russell as a banker at 114 State Street in Boston with a house on Pleasant Street at the corner of Concord Avenue.  I know Pleasant Street in both Belmont and Arlington has some big beautiful houses - but this intersection is right behind the Belmont Police Department and Town Hall - I don't remember any older houses in this location. I did see this house below at 692 Pleasant Street but I'm not sure it is the right house. This picture is looking at the intersection with Concord Avenue - that brick building in the background is Belmont Town Hall. I know this area fairly well - my grandparents lived up the hill off Concord Ave in the early 1920s. There were no paved streets when the Russells lived here. And we just learned that the Atkins family live up the hill on Concord Ave.

The 1900 census for Cambridge lists Joseph B. Russell's house at 69 Sparks Street as closed. He must have inherited or bought it when his father Charles Theodore Russell or mother died. Johnny Murphy's Burns relatives live at 15 Sparks Street - closer to Mount Auburn Street.

The 1900 United States Census of Belmont lists the Russell family but provides no street name. 47 year old Joseph B. Russell is head of the family. He and his parents were born in Massachusetts. He is a treasurer. He has no mortgage on his home.
44 year old Lillian Russell was born in Kentucky. They have been married for 20 years and have 5 children.
Charles Theodore 2nd is 18 years old. 
Sarah is 17 years old.  
Joseph B., Jr. is 1. 
Daughter Junia is 12. 
Otis T. is 10. 

There is also Joseph Russell's older brother Charles Theodore living with them - he is a 49 year old lawyer.

The Russells have 5 servants. Their butler is 25 year old Eugene Bishop who was born in Maryland. Their other servants are all from Ireland - a coachman, chambermaid, cook. But the most interesting to me is Julia Burns - she is 37 years old - born in Ireland in May 1863 - she immigrated in 1870 - has been here for 30 years - she is the Russells' laundress. And I think this is my husband's great-great-aunt from Gortdromagh, Sneem, Co. Kerry!!! I hadn't been able to find her in any records, but I knew that she was working near Cambridge from Aunt Helen. Her uncle, Tim Burns, lives at the other end of Sparks Street. She emigrated from Ireland to his house in 1880.

Apparently, Joseph kept both houses - the one in Belmont and the one in Cambridge - his family, including his brother, stayed at either house. 

The Brookline street directory for 1905 lists Joseph B. Russell of Belmont as a member of the Brookline Country Club.  He applied for a U.S. passport in March 1904 and stated that he is a merchant and plans to go abroad temporarily - he planned to return to the United States within 2 years.

Charles Theodore Russell, 24, married Louise Rust, 26, on March 14, 1906 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is the first marriage for both. Charles was born in Cambridge and is living there at 69 Sparks Street; Louise was born in Eau Claire in Wisconsin but is living at 154 Bay State Road, Boston. Charles' parents are Joseph B Russell and Lillian H. Tenney. Louise's parents are William A. Rust and Nora Drummond. Prescott Evarts was the clergyman who married them - he resided at 19 Follen Street in Cambridge - the rectory for the Episcopal Christ Church in Harvard Square.

Episcopal Christ Church - By User:Magicpiano - Own work, GFDL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22922223

1906 -1908 the young Russells are living at 69 Sparks Street in Cambridge with Charles' father, Joseph B. Russell, who is treasurer at the Boston Wharf Company and owns the house at 69 Sparks Street. So Joseph took over as treasurer from his father.

In 1908 a baby boy is born at 154 Bay State Road, to Charles T. and Louise Russell of 16 Exeter Street in Boston. Charles is a manager, but it does not say where. A few days later, it looks like a baby girl is born to Louise's brother Paul at the same address 154 Bay State Road.

1909 - Charles T. Russell is working at 259 Summer Street in Boston and is living at 16 Exeter Street in Boston.

259 Summer Street is in the red building on the left - looking toward Summer Street bridge.

18 Exeter Street is the red brick building - 16 would be to the left on the corner of 196 Marlborough Street behind the tree. So the Russells were living fairly close to the house where they would soon move.

In 1910 Charles and Louise Russell are at 182 Marlboro Street. We know that they have recently moved in. They have been married for 4 years, and they have 2 sons - 3 year old Charles, Jr. and 6 month old Henry.  They have 2 nurses, a waitress, a cook, and a laundress - the "waitress" is 81 years old! 

In 1915 Charles' father, Joseph B. Russell, applied for another passport - he had been traveling for over 20 years.  This application included a picture as well as the description. Joseph was 62 years old at the time. He was 5'61/2" tall; he had a medium forehead with gray eyes and a straight nose. He had a medium mouth but a strong chin - his brown hair was turning gray. His complexion was rather dark in his oval face. I included this because I don't have a picture of Mr. Russell but perhaps he looked like his father.

In 1920 the Russells are renting 182 Marlboro Street.  37 year old Irish native Mary Carrol is the cook; 30 year old Alfreda Nelson is the Swedish chambermaid; and 27 year old Dorothy Lane is the governess - she is from Massachusetts. 

According to the 1930 census, 48 year old Charles Russell is the head of the family. The house is worth $45, 000. Charles is a Trustee.  Of what? the Boston Wharf Company? 

Louise R. Russell is 50 years old and was born in Wisconsin. 

There are 4 children. 23 year old Charles T. Russell, Jr. is a clerk in a bank. The other children - 21 year old Henry D., 19 year old Joseph B., and 17 year old Louise - all attend school.

There are also 3 servants working for the Russells. Nellie Mahoney is the 45 year old cook from the Irish Free State - she is widowed. 45 year old Annie Doddy is the chambermaid - she is single and is also from Ireland. Faye Troop is the 23 year old Canadian nurse - the children are almost as old as she is! So is she a nurse for Mrs. Russell? We just saw that she dies in October 1938.

So, let's check out Falmouth for the Russells. The 1926 and 1929 street directories of Falmouth list Charles T. and Louise Russell of Boston having a summer residence in Falmouth off Jones road. Also listed is their son Charles T. Russell, Jr. of Boston - a summer resident of Falmouth who is boarding at Charles T. Russell's.

So we know a little about Mr. Russell - how long did Aunt Nellie work for him? More to come.