1665

Noadiah Russell; William Russell

Death of William Russell — Father's Deathbed Instruction

• Description: William Russell dies in 1665, leaving Noadiah fatherless at approximately six years of age. His will contains a directive that shapes the entire subsequent record of his son's life — one of the few personal primary source fragments that survive in direct connection to Noadiah Russell's formation. The father's instruction is 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. The phrasing is characteristic of the Puritan theology of vocation: the child's aptitude is read as a providential indicator of God's purpose, and the father's dying wish is that the boy be given to the ministerial calling his gifts appear to indicate. Noadiah Russell fulfils this instruction precisely.
• Source: World Biographical Encyclopedia, Noadiah Russell — https://prabook.com/web/noadiah.russell/1942057; PeoplePill, Noadiah Russell — https://peoplepill.com/people/noadiah-russell/
• Quote: "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.'" — World Biographical Encyclopedia, Noadiah Russell