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John Russell was a man of courage and conviction who lived in very interesting times. Born in England in 1626, he immigrated to New England with his father and was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts by 1636. In 1645 he was in the fourth graduating class at Harvard. Prior to that year only thirteen men had graduated from that now famous institution.
In 1650 John Russell succeeded Reverend Henry Smith in the ministry at Wethersfield, Connecticut. Seven years later, while he was still the minister of Wethersfield, he was asked by the General Court in Connecticut along with three other men "to meet the elders, who should be delegated from the other colonies, at Boston, the next June; and to assist in debating the questions proposed by the General Court of Connecticut, or any of the other courts, and report the determination of the council."
While in this capacity he became involved in a major controversy in the Hartford church over issues of membership, discipline, and baptism. Reverend Samuel Stone and the church at Hartford sought to discipline John Webster, the Governor, William Goodwin, a ruling elder, and John Cullick and Andrew Bacon, principal men in the town. Stone and the majority of the Hartford church were inclined to Presbyterianism while those being disciplined leaned toward Congregationalism. The Congregationalists eventually decided to join John Russell's church in Wethersfield but were prevented from doing so by the General Court until further efforts at reconciliation had been made. The General Court and ecclesiastic councils made several efforts at reconciliation, but all were unsuccessful. Eventually, owing to John Russell's role in the Hartford dispute, the church in Wethersfield also became embroiled in controversy..
Finally, on April 18, 1659
John Russell and most of his congregation signed an agreement
to remove themselves from the jurisdiction of Connecticut and
start a new town under Massachusetts authority. The agreement
was also signed by a party associated with John Webster and several
members of the congregation in Windsor. By 1660 most of this group
had moved up the Connecticut River and started the town of Hadley,
Massachusetts.
If John Russell thought his life would now be simple, he was very wrong. In 1660, just as Hadley was being settled, the monarchy in England was restored, and Charles II ascended the thrown. The new king's father, Charles I had been beheaded during the English Civil War and Charles II was determined to find the "regicide" judges who had condemned him to the scaffold. Among those judges were John Dixwell, William Goffe, and Edward Whalley who fled to New England. Tradition has it that after some time on the run, Goffe and Whalley settled in the house of John Russell where they remained hidden most of the time until their deaths, a period totaling fifteen to sixteen years. Dixwell also allegedly went to Hadley in 1664 and stayed for several years before moving to New Haven.
A story is told that Goffe, a high ranking military officer under Cromwell, spied Indians approaching Hadley during King Philips war and suddenly emerged to warn the town. Supposedly he organized the people and drove off the Indians before disappearing into hiding again. As a result he is referred to as "the angel of Hadley". There is also a story that two bodies, presumed to be Whalley and Goffe were found buried in John Russell's cellar. The bones were in an advanced state of decay and crumbled when removed from the grave.
Sylvester Judd who published
The History of Hadley, Massachusetts in 1905 reports these stories
as fact. However, George Sheldon, who wrote an introduction to
the republished history in 1976, takes a skeptical view. The fact
that the skeletons crumbled, he says, suggests that they were
too old to be Goffe's and Whalley's. And he cites a number of
circumstantial reasons why the "angel of Hadley" story
is probably just a myth. In fact he finds there is very little
evidence that Goffe and Whalley even stayed with John Russell.
This is not too surprising given that for security reasons their
presence in Hadley had to have been a secret shared by very few.
The one piece of hard evidence that is not refuted is a collection
of letters written by John Goffe's wife which was found in John
Russell's effects after his death. Both Goffe and his wife used
assumed names in the correspondence, but the letters are believed
to be authentic. As Sheldon concedes, why would John Russell have
held onto these letters if Goffe stayed somewhere else, for having
the letters in his possession would have put John Russell in great
personal danger.
It is very doubtful that Goffe and Whalley were hidden in John Russell's house during the time period in King Philips War when Hadley was made headquarters for the forces sent to the Connecticut River Valley. The soldiers were presumably billeted in private homes making it almost impossible that the regicides could have been concealed.
By the spring of 1676 the Indians were attacking outlying towns of the Bay Colony, and Hadley was right on the frontier. Anticipating trouble, the town voted on February 19, 1676 to fortify the meeting house. John Russell wrote to the Bay a letter foreboding ill from the Indians,
| "We must look to feel their utmost rage. My desire is we may be willing to do or suffer, to live or die, remain in or be driven out as the Lord our God would have us." |
Then on May 15, 1676 he wrote letter the Council at Connecticut which including the following account of events unfolding near Hadley:
| This morning about sunrise came into Hatfield one Thomas Reede a soldier who was taken captive when Deacon Goodman was slain. He relates that they are now planting at Deerfield and have been so these three or four days or more, saith further that they dwell at the Falls on both sides the river, are a considerable number, yet most of them old men and women. He cannot judge that there are on both sides of the river above 60 or 70 fighting-men. They are secure and scornful, boasting of great things they have done and will do. There is [captive?] Thomas Eames his daughter and child hardly used; one or two belonging to Medfield and I think two children belonging to Lancaster. The night before last they came down to Hatfield upper meadow, and have driven away many horses and cattle to the number of fourscore and upwards as they judge. Many of these this man saw in Deerfield meadow, and found the bars put up to keep them in. This being the state of things, we think the Lord calls us to make some trial what may be done against them suddenly without further delay; and therefore the concurring resolution of men here seems to be to go out against them tomorrow night, so as to be with them, the Lord assisting, before break of day. We need guidance and help from heaven. We humbly beg your prayers, advice and help if it may be. And therewith committing you to the guidance and blessing of the most High. |
The Indians referenced in the
letter were attacked two days later in a battle referred to as
the Falls Fight, and though there was considerable bloodshed on
both sides, the colonists got the upper hand and the fighting
in the Connecticut Valley was at an end.
When great events were not unfolding, the people of Hadley and John Russell went about their daily lives, caring for their families, and building a town out of the wilderness.
It was considered the duty of Puritan parents to teach their children to read the Bible. In 1647 a law was passed in Massachusetts requiring that every town with fifty or more families must have a school which would teach reading and writing. Every town with more than 100 families was required to have a "grammar school" that could prepare some of its students for college.
Hadley was not large enough that is was required to have a grammar school. However, when Edward Hopkins, a wealthy Connecticut merchant, died he left a substantial estate to be used for educational purposes. The money was divided between New Haven, Hartford, Hadley, and Harvard. Thomas Goodwin was put in charge of the Hadley part of the estate and a grammar school was established in 1664. Goodwin and the town named 5 additional trustees-for-life to manage the school which was appropriately called the Hopkins School. John Russell was one of those trustees.
About 1671, Goodwin, with the consent of the trustees, used some of the Hopkins money to build a grist mill on the Mill River, south of the school property. After that mill was burned by Indians in 1677 the town needed a grist mill, and the majority of the trustees were persuaded to sell the school's rights to the grist mill land to Robert Boltwood for him a build a new mill. John Russell strongly opposed relinguishing the schools rights and on March 30, 1680 took the matter to the County Court at Northampton. The legal fight went on for several years, but ultimately it was ruled that Boltwood should be repaid for what he had expended and that the mill should belong to the school.
Russell's action was opposed by the majority of the town and alienated some of his friends who thought it inexpedient to maintain a grammar school after much of the Hopkins bequest had been expended. But John Russell persevered. As Judd indicates:
| "The Grammar School was a favorite object with Mr. Russell and he probably looked forward to a more elevated literary institution. His efforts for the school were constant and untiring." |
The Hadley Academy, as it is
now called, exists to this day, now as a public school. As to
John Russell's wish for something more elevated, that wish would
be left to his son Samuel to fulfill, as he took part in founding
of the Collegiate School of Connecticut, known today as Yale University.
John Langdon Sibley. Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University in Cambridge Massachusetts, Vol. I, 1642-1658, Cambridge, 1873.
Sylvester Judd. The History of Hadley, Massachusetts. Originally printed in 1905, reprinted in 1976 with an introduction by George Sheldon.
