Charles Wells Russell

Background

Charles Russell was born on July 19, 1818, in Sisterville, Tyler County, Virginia, United States. He was the son of the Irish immigrants Joshua and Catherine Wells Russell. Little is known about his early life.

Education

Charles attended Linsly Institute (present-day Linsly School), Wheeling, Virginia, later the University of Virginia, and Jefferson College (present-day Washington & Jefferson College) in Pennsylvania from 1837 to 1839.

Career

Charles Russell taught school in Richmond, Virginia, before beginning a law practice in Wheeling.

From 1850 to 1853 he served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the Ohio County district.

In 1851, he wrote a book about the monopolistic practices of the Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company, a work that enhanced his political career.

During the Civil War, he represented Wheeling in the provisional and both permanent Confederate Houses. After Virginia's secession in mid-1861, West Virginia voters, who refused to remain loyal to the Union, elected Russell to the Provisional Confederate Congress where he served from July 1861 until February 1862, and then to the First Confederate Congress and the Second Confederate Congress, where he served from February 1862 until March 1865. He served ably on the Judiciary, Naval Affairs, and Conference Committees.

After the war, he traveled to Canada. In 1866, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he practiced law and wrote two novels, "Roebuck," and "The Fall of Damascus."

Achievements

• Charles Wells Russell is known for his support of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He served as one of Virginia's delegates to the Provisional Confederate Congress and then the First and Second Confederate Congresses.
  
  He is the author who wrote two novels, "Roebuck," and "The Fall of Damascus."

Works

More photos

• book

  • Roebuck: A Novel 1866

Politics

Charles supported the Davis administration, concentrated on saving West Virginia for the Confederacy, and, in 1863, advocated the strengthening of the conscript law and restricting overseer exemptions.

Views

After West Virginia was lost to the Confederacy, Russell believed that a force of ten thousand troops could bring it back. Russell also believed that the Confederacy had lost its chance to get additional border state support when it refused Maryland a seat in the Congress.

Connections

Rusell had three sons by his marriage to Margaret Moore. His son Charles Wells Russell became the United States Assistant Attorney General and United States Minister to Persia.

Father:

Joshua Russell

Mother:

Catherine Wells Russell

Wife:

Margaret Moore Russell

Son:

Henry Moore Russell

1851-1915

Son:

Charles Wells Russell Jr.

References

• Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy
  1977