The article mentions that Peter Russell, son of John Russell
lived about seven miles from the town of Hesperia. I thought I’d see what I can find out about
this family and this tragedy. Hesperia
is located right on the border of Oceana and Newaygo counties in Michigan. What makes this search interesting to me is
that I also have family located in both of these counties. I wonder if they knew the Russell family?
It was easy enough to locate the death record for Peter
Russell. He died on 25 May 1884 at the
age of 17 in Oceana County, Michigan.
The death record lists
his parents as John and Mariah Russell.
More importantly to our story, his cause of death is listed as “heart
disease”.
I found the family in the 1880 Federal census living in
Leavitt, Oceana County, Michigan. The
image below is clipped from Ancestry.com showing the family group.
Peter is enumerated as 12 years old in 1880. Doesn't it seem a little spooky knowing he
will be dead within four years? Reading
the article, it appears to me that he died from an aneurysm. You read about these things all the
time. Apparently healthy teenagers
participating in sporting events keel over in mid practice. I’m sure fright had nothing to do with
Peter’s death even though the “entire family are terrified in the extreme at
the sight of a bear”.
The article mentions two boys went into the woods, Peter was
17, so I wonder who the other brother was?
Fred would have been seven, so I wouldn’t think it would be him. It must have been Zane. John and Maria live on into the 20th
century. I have both of their death
certificates from Seeking Michigan. Combining the things I have found
creates the mini family sketch below.
We have Mariah Sands b. 25 Dec 1836 d. 11 Apr 1919 married
in 1855 (according to the 1900 census) to John Russell b. 29 Apr 1825 d. 15 Dec
1904. Mariah also lists she is the
mother of five children, four of whom are still living. So we can put together the household from
this information.
Mariah Sands ----- John Russell
1.
Charles Russell b. 1864
2.
Zane Russell b. 1866
3.
Peter Russell b. 1868
4.
Sarah Russell b. 1874
5.
Fred Russell b. 1877
I also came across a photo of Peter’s headstone at the
Goodrich cemetery in Oceana County, Michigan.
It must have been placed with great sorrow and love. There are headstones for Fred, Peter, and
Sarah called Sadie but evidently none for Mariah and John. If you click on the photo it takes you to the
GenWeb archive
site for Goodrich cemetery.
I was looking at the birth years for Mariah and John
Russell’s children and if Mariah hadn’t stated she was the mother of five
children, I would have been looking for more children. They were married circa 1855 and the first
child was born in 1864. There is also a
six year gap between Peter and Sarah.
These gaps are classic indicators that perhaps there may be “missing”
children born to this couple. It just
goes to show you that sometimes gaps do exist.
From what I can find online, Mariah and John Russell still
have descendants living in the area…
