The Reverend Noadiah Russell (22 July 1659 – 3 December 1713) was a Congregationalist minister, a founder and trustee of

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, and one of the framers of the

Saybrook Platform The Saybrook Platform was a constitution for the Congregational church in Connecticut in the 18th century. Historical context Religious and civic leaders in Connecticut around 1700 were distressed by the colony-wide decline in personal religiou ...

Life

Russell was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, the son of William Russell, who emigrated from England in 1638, and his wife Sarah Davis. His father died in 1665. His will requested that his "son be devoted to God in the way of learning, being likely to prove a useful instrument in the good work of the ministry." Noadiah was graduated from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

in 1681, and became a teacher.He taught at Ipswich; some sources state he was a tutor at Harvard, but Sibley found no records of him holding that office. He was ordained at Middletown on 24 October 1688. Along with his cousin, Samuel Russell, he was one of the ten founders of Yale in 1701 and a trustee of Yale College from 1701 to 1713. Russell married Mary Hamlin, daughter of Captain Giles Hamlin and Hester Crow Hamlin, on 20 February 1689/90 at Middletown, Connecticut. They had nine children. Their eldest son Rev. William Russell, graduated from Yale in 1709, and his wife Mary Pierpont, daughter of another Yale founder, Rev. James Pierpont, were parents of another Reverend Noadiah Russell. Russell was pastor of the First Congregational Church in Middletown, Connecticut, for 25 years, until his death. He was succeeded as pastor by his son, William. Russell was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Middletown. Noadiah Russell was a progenitor of

William Huntington Russell William Huntington Russell (12 August 180919 May 1885) was an American businessman, educator, and politician. Notably, he was a co-founder of the Yale University secret society Skull and Bones, along with Alphonso Taft. Early life Russell was ...

Frank Henry Russell Frank Henry Russell (July 17, 1878 – August 4, 1947) was an American aviation pioneer and the first General Manager of the Wright Brothers Company at Dayton, Ohio. He went on to co-found the Burgess Company and the Manufacturers Aircraft Asso ...

, and Frank Ford Russell.

References

Yale University founders 1659 births 1713 deaths Harvard University alumni 17th-century Congregationalist ministers People from colonial Connecticut American people of English descent Religious leaders from New Haven, Connecticut 18th-century American Congregationalist ministers {{edu-bio-stub