William Russell and Old Jersey

 It was so ordered, however, that he should be free no more than thirty days after his glad homecoming in the Lady's Adventure. ~ Ralph Delahaye Paine

Captured again!

We wrote about William Russell, husband of our cousin Mary Richardson (5C6X) in our "William Russell, Prisoner of War" post. Shortly after being released from his confinement in England's Old Mill Prison, he was again captured by the British.

Ralph Paine tells the story best in his book The Ships and Sailors of Old Salem:

It makes the story of this humble sailor of the Revolution much more worth while to know that after three years of the most irksome captivity, he was no sooner at home with his "dear wife and family" than he was eager and ready to ship again under the Stars and Stripes. Ill-fated as was his superb devotion to his Country, he had suffered his misfortunes in Old Mill Prison with a steadfast courage. It was so ordered, however, that he should be free no more than thirty days after his glad homecoming in the Lady's Adventure. He must have reentered the American naval service a few days after reaching Boston, for we know that he was captured in a privateer on September 16th, by a British Man of War and taken into Halifax. On November 28th he was committed to the Jersey Prison ship in New York harbor. Here he found himself in a far worse plight than in Mill Prison with its genial routine of escape and its friendly relations with the Agent, the Guard, and the French and Spanish prisoners. All that is known of this final chapter in the case of William Russell, patriot, must be gleaned from a few letters to his wife and friends.

letters home

The first letter William wrote was to his wife Mary Richardson Russell which says in part:

My dear, I take My pen in hand with a akeing Heart to inform you of my miserable Condition. I'm now in the worst of place & must suffer if confin'd here the winter, for I'm short of Clothing and the provision is so scant that it is not enough to keep Soul and Body together. . .This is the awfullest place I ever saw, and I hope God will deliver me from it soon.

He also wrote to his mother-in-law, also Mary Richardson. Mary was the wife of our cousin Moses Richardson (4C7X) who was killed on April 19, 1775 in Cambridge during the British retreat from Concord. William's letter was addressed to "Mistress Mary Richardson, Light House Tavern, Cambridge."

Honoured Mama:

I present these Lines with my Duty to you hoping they'l find you with the family and all connected in perfect health. I was taken on the 16th Sept. and brought to New York, the 13th inst., and put out on board this ship the 18th. Indeed it is one of the worst places in the World, and the Prisoners are suffering; Sickly and dying daily, not having the common necessaries of life. I have seen Mr. Welsh who promised to assist me but have heard no more from him since the 18th inst. Mr. Chadwell has tried to get me exchanged but has not made out. He talks of taking Mr. Stone and me ashore and will assist us whilst confined. You will give my kind love to my Wife and family, likewise to my Brothers and Sisters, and desire (his wife's brother) Moses (5C6X) to write to me, and try to get me exchanged. My love to all relations and friends. May God preserve you in health and all with whom we are connected, is the earnest prayer of your Dutiful Son Wm. Russell.

In another letter to his wife Mary William wrote:

Dec 21 1782 Jersey Prison

. . .just to let you know I'm not unmindful of you, tho by the fate of War we are Separated for a while. I must desire you to ? my Brother Moses to try every means to get me from from this awful place. for I see no prospect of an Exchange for me without some person of rank is Stop'd for me. Moses May apply to John Hopkins. . . at Boston for direction. . .

In less than a month after his December letter, conditions had luckily improved for poor William:

Jan 17 1783 Jersey Prison Ship

My Dear my Situation is greatly alter'd. I'm left with a Gent. were I want for nothing, but live of the Best, good Tea. . .and fresh meat every day, in short I am used like a Gent. in every respect. . . Indeed my dear, I'm happy in getting from between decks out of the Horrid pit were nothing but Horror is to be seen. . .

Finally, on March 21, 1783, "the influence and persistency of his friends in Boston obtained for him a three months' parole." In the parole papers that William and his fellow parolee, Samuel Thompson were obliged to sign, they pledged,

. . .our Faith, and most sacredly promise upon our Parole of Honor, that we will not do, say, write, or cause to be done, said, or written, directly or indirectly, in any Respect whatever, any Thing to the Prejudice of His Majesty's Service; and that we will return to this Place unless Exchanged in the three Months from the Date hereof. . .

The paper Includes a note saying that "Bachus, a Negro boy, their servant is allowd to go with them."

Two days later, William wrote to Mary with the glad tidings but included the sad notice of of his decision not to return home immediately:

March 23, 1783, New Haven CT

My Dear, I'm by the Blessings of God now in the Land of Freedom and Independency for which I've fought, Bled & Suffered and much as any (Without exception) in the Continent. But the greatest of my concern has (as ever) been for you and our little ones. . .Our circumstances are such that for me to come home with my fingers in my mouth would be of little consolation to those who have been without my help for almost four years. Therefore I think it my duty to try what I can do, and hope by the assistance of Capt. Adams to obtain a small Adventure and try my luck at a Merchant Voyage, and if Fortune smiles, expect to see you in a short time. I recover my health slowly, and hope that Salt water will do what the Physician could not effect. I am grieved at not hearing from you. Though out of sight, and the enjoyment of liberty might make you forgetful, I'm not so.

Two months later, William gave Mary a more substantial explanation for his decision to return to privateering.

May 16 1783 Nova Scotia

I doubt not you thought it strange I did not come home when Paroled from New York, but the fever left me so low I could not stand the fatigues of so long a journey, and at the same time was destitute of money to support me one the road. Capt. Daniel Adams gave me a kind offer to go with him (to Nova Scotia) and laid me in a Venture which don't at present seem to succeed so well as I would wish.

a brief sojourn home

When William finally returned home, it seems his hard life on the ocean and years of imprisonment, particularly in the Old Jersey, had taken their toll. Ralph Paine expounds on his condition:

During the summer of 1783, William Russell returned to Cambridge, broken in health, with a scanty reward from his trading venture. He tried to gather together enough pupils to form a small school in his living quarters at the "Light House Tavern," Cambridge. This endeavor was short-lived, for he was fast wasting with consumption. He died in the spring following his return from the sea whereon he had suffered greatly for his Country. He was no more than thirty-five years old when his untimely end came, but his life was exceedingly worth while even though it was his lot rather to endure than to achieve. Nor could he have desired any more worthy obituary, nor wished to preach a more inspiring doctrine to later generations of free-born Americans than was voiced in these words sent to his wife from Old Mill Prison, England, one hundred and twenty-six years ago:

"I think many in the Yard will enter into the King's service. And I should myself, was it not that (by so doing) must sell my Country, and that which is much more dearer to me, yourself and my children, but I rely wholly on God, knowing He will deliver me in His own good time."

William died on 4 Mar 1784. His mother-in law died in 1812 at the age of 81. Our cousin Mary, who had lived her entire life in the Light House Tavern, the home where she was born, followed two years later at age 61.

William's son and namesake, William, Jr. (6C5X) followed in his father's footsteps in more ways than one. William, Jr. was enamored of the sea and spent years in the merchant marine business. On June 13, 1813, during the War of 1812, he was captured by the British while in command of a schooner bound for France. William, Jr. was taken to England and confined for a short time in Mill Prison, the very place his father had spent almost three years of his life. After being processed at Mill, William, Jr. was transferred to Ashburton Prison.

When the war ended, William again went into the merchant service. He died on the African coast in 1821 at age 48.

William's legacy

William's diary, which Ralph Paine called "by far the most complete and entertaining account of the experience of the Revolutionary privateersmen who suffered capture that has been preserved" eventually came into the hands of his grandson, James Kimball (7C4X). James, born in 1808, made it part of his later life's work to make the public aware of his grandfather's deeds. According to Donna Segar, chair of the history department at Salem State University:

Around the time of the Centennial, James Kimball, a former Salem shoemaker and county commissioner, clearly devoted himself to the chronicling of the Revolutionary activities of his grandfather, giving public talks at both the Salem Lyceum and the Essex Institute and publishing several papers in the Historical Collections of the latter, and ultimately the annotated prison diary. The Essex Institute gave him a genealogical and historical forum, and created a far more lively public discourse of Salem’s past and the American past than seems possible now.

One of James' talks was recorded in the Bulletin of the Essex Institute:

Today, William's diary is housed in the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. His letters are housed in the American Revolution Institute, part of the Society of Cincinnati.

More recently, William was included in the International Boston Tea Party Participant Grave Marker Project. The goal of the project was to "locate the final resting places of the Boston Tea Party participants and place a commemorative marker at their graves. . ." On June 22, 2022, a plaque like the one shown below was placed at William's gravesite in Salem.