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
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