James McPherson Russell (November 10, 1786 – November 14, 1870) was a Whig member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Biography

James M. Russell (father of

Samuel Lyon Russell Samuel Lyon Russell (July 30, 1816 – September 27, 1891) was a Whig member of the United States of America (U.S.) House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Formative years Born in Bedford, Pennsylvania on July 30, 1816, Samuel L. Russell was ...

) was born in

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

. He moved with his parents to a farm near

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town. Gettysburg is home to th ...

. He attended the classical academy of James Ross in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He studied law, was admitted to the bar of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, in 1807 and to the

Bedford County, Pennsylvania Bedford County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,577. The county seat is Bedford. History In 1750 Robert MacRay, a Scots-Irish immigrant, opened the first trading post in Raystown (w ...

, bar in 1808 and commenced practice in Bedford. He was the first burgess of Bedford Borough in the years 1818 and 1819 and a member of the State constitutional convention in 1837. Russell was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry Black. His opponent, according to the ''Daily Atlas'', was "Mr. Philson of Somerset". He was not a candidate for renomination in

1842 Events January–March * January ** Michael Alexander takes office, as the first appointee to the Anglican-German Bishopric in Jerusalem. ** American medical student William E. Clarke of Berkshire Medical College becomes the first pe ...

. He resumed the practice of law, and served as trustee of the Bedford Academy and secretary of the Chambersburg & Bedford Turnpike Company. He died in Bedford in 1870. Interment in Bedford Cemetery.

References

The Political Graveyard

Sources

External links

* 1786 births 1870 deaths Pennsylvania lawyers Politicians from York, Pennsylvania Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American lawyers {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub