William M. Russell, p. 1201

WILLIAM M. RUSSELL, a prosperous farmer of Chartiers township, is a son of Andrew Russell, whose father was a native of Scotland, and came to eastern Pennsylvania, afterward moving to Washington county, where he died. Andrew Russell was born in 1777, in Cecil township, this county, and in 1782 came to a farm in Chartiers township, where he grew to manhood and was married to Ann McClellan. They passed their lives in their native county. In politics Andrew Russell was a Whig, and an active worker in the party. He died in 1861, and was followed to the grave by his widow February 17, 1868. They were formerly both members of the Associate Reformed Church, and afterwards united with the U.P. Church at Canonsburg. They were the parents of eleven children.

William M. Russell was born October 10, 1825, in Chartiers township, Washington county, being the youngest child in his father's family. He was reared on the home farm, and educated in the subscription schools of the county. In 1855 he was married to Margaret Jane Thompson, a native of Mt. Pleasant township, this county, and a daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Wilson) Thompson, natives of Ireland, of Scotch descent. They immigrated to America in an early day, settling in Mt. Pleasant township, where Joseph Thompson passed the rest of his life in agricultural pursuits. He was actively interested in political questions, and in religion was connected with the U.P. Church of Hickory, this county. His wife, who was a member of the Associate Reformed Church, died in 1847, and in 1861 he was laid by her side. After his marriage William M. Russell opened a book and drug store at Canonsburg, this county, keeping a full line of school and college text-books. In 1862 he moved to a farm in Mt. Pleasant township, this county, and in 1881 settled on the farm in Chartiers township which he now occupies, comprising 135 acres of good land. Mr. and Mrs. Russell have had ten children, but four of whom are now living, namely: L.A. (living in Chartiers township), William Frank (an operator at Bridgeville, Allegheny Co., Penn.), Mamie Bell Agnes ( married to James M. Paxton) and Robert Lee ( studying for the ministry at New Wilmington College). In politics Mr. Russell is a Republican, and has served as supervisor and member of the school board. His wife died January 19, 1892. She was a member of the U.P. Church at Hickory, in which her husband was an elder, now being a member of the United Presbyterian Church at Houstonville.

Text taken from page 1201 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).

Transcribed March 1997 by Jack McNatt of Valrico, FL as part of the Beers Project.
Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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