Russell Torrance was born around 1810 in New York. He married a woman named Rhoda, and they had at least seven children: William, born around 1832; Ephraim, born around 1834; Isaac, born around 1837; Elizabeth, born around 1840; Adoniram, born around 1842; Jane, born around 1846; and Eleanor, born around 1848. They lived in Jay, New York, and Torrance worked as a laborer. By 1850, he owned $500 of real estate. A decade later, he was working as a farmer, and he owned $900 of real estate and $592 of personal property, and by 1870, he owned $300 of real estate and $1,500 of personal property. He died on January 11, 1873.