Russell Bartlett

Russell Bartlett was born in Redding, Fairfield Co, CT on 3 Jun 1754, the eldest child of the Rev. Nathaniel & Eunice (Russell) Bartlett. Before the Revolution, Russell served a hatting apprenticeship in Danbury, CT. At the outbreak of the war, on 09 May 1775, Russell Bartlett enlisted in Danbury, CT as a fifer in what became the 6th Company of the 5th Regiment of the Connecticut Line under the command of Captain Noble Benedict, and was honorably discharged on December 11th of the same year, when the company was disbanded. (He was regular army - not colonial militia). Returning to civilian life, Russell married Rachel Taylor in Danbury, CT on 28 Feb 1776, daughter of Capt. Daniel Jr. & Elizabeth (Boughton) Taylor of Danbury. To their union were born 8 known children – to wit: Clare & Flora in Redding, Fairfield Co, CT - Daniel, Russell Jr, Townsend, Eunice & Hiram in Sharon, Litchfield Co, CT – and Elizabeth in Cooperstown, Otsego Co, NY. On 26 Apr 1777, Russell was taken prisoner during the British raid on Danbury when he joined the local defenders at Redding as the British troops passed through in route to Danbury. He spent the summer of 1777 as a POW in Van Cortlandt's "Sugar House", in New York City. The date of his release from prison is unknown, but he arrived home prior to 01 Feb 1778 when he and his wife were admitted into membership in the Redding Congregational Church, in his hometown of Redding, CT. Upon his return to Redding following his imprisonment, Russell continued to contribute to the war effort and to serve the local community. On 22 June 1778, he was elected Constable of Redding. On 09 Aug 1779, he was appointed one of a committee to procure clothing for the Continental Army, and on 28 Nov 1780, he was appointed to receive beef and pork collected for the army. In 1781, Russell & Rachel Bartlett moved from Redding to Sharon, Litchfield, CT, where several of their children were born. Russell was the only Bartlett shown in Litchfield Co, CT in the US Census of 1790. Russell & Rachel moved onward to Cooperstown, Otsego, NY in 1792 - and finally to a farm in Hartwick Twp, Otsego, NY in 1812, where they died - Russell in 1828 and Rachel 1835. Russell was a hatter by trade, and a member of the Masonic Order. The "Otsego (Freemasonic) Lodge" was founded in Cooperstown in 1795 by six men: Rowland Cotton, Richard Edwards, James Fitch, Benjamin Gilbert, Elihu Phinney- the first Master, and Russell Bartlett- the first Secretary. It is believed that all six had been inducted into lodges elsewhere prior to their arrival in Cooperstown. Otsego Lodge, the timber frame Freemasonic Hall which constructed in 1797, still stands on its original site at the corner of Lake & Pioneer Streets (donated by Judge Cooper), and all of the original lodge minutes taken during Russell's tenure as Secretary still exist in his own hand, going back to the very first meeting. Russell also served for a time as Cooperstown Town Clerk, in the late 1790s. Russell & Rachel's youngest daughter Elizabeth married Samuel Cooper, brother of the renowned novelist James Fenimore Cooper, in 1812. That same year, Russell & Rachel Bartlett purchased a a farm in Hartwick Twp - the eastern half of Lot # 25 - in Otsego Co, NY just south of Cooperstown, where they lived out the remainder of their lives. They are buried in Christ Church Cemetery in Cooperstown, just outside the Cooper family enclosure.