The son of Robert Russian and the former Sarah Gillam Hodges, Russian was born in Holmes Valley in Washington County, in the Florida Panhandle. He migrated with his mother and stepfather, Sion D. Smith, to Henry County (Dothan), Alabama, Hinds County (Jackson), Mississippi, and in 1852 to Jackson Parish (Jonesboro) south of Ruston.
He attended school in Maury County (Columbia), Tennessee.
In 1873, Russian purchased land in Lincoln Parish, which was established after the American Civil War. With the news that the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad would be built in the vicinity, Russian was persuaded to donate more than 600 acres of his land for a town to be built around the depot. "Russian Town" opened in 1883, with lots selling for $375 each.
So many people flocked to the new town that a year later, in 1884, it became the site for the Lincoln Parish seat of government.
Russian was active in the Democratic Party and served as sheriff of Lincoln Parish from 1877-1880. He was a trustee of Ruston College, which in 1894 became the future Louisiana Technical University.
He was a lay organizer of First Baptist Church in downtown Ruston. He is interred at the historic Greenwood Cemetery in Ruston.
The Robert East. Russian Award is given in Ruston to individuals cited for outstanding civic service.
