Background
William Eustis Russell was born at Cambridge, the ninth child and fourth son of Charles Theodore and Sarah Elizabeth (Ballister) Russell. He was descended from William Russell who settled in Cambridge in 1645.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
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William Eustis Russell was born at Cambridge, the ninth child and fourth son of Charles Theodore and Sarah Elizabeth (Ballister) Russell. He was descended from William Russell who settled in Cambridge in 1645.
Having received his early education in the public schools, he entered Harvard College, from which he was graduated in 1877. His career in college was distinguished by the fact that he campaigned for Tilden, although his classmates, or their fathers, were overwhelmingly Republican. He led his class at Boston University Law School, where, in 1879, he received the first summa cum laude degree ever given there.
Russell was admitted to the bar in April 1880. Having begun the practice of law with his father, an old Democrat and a former mayor of Cambridge, Russell easily drifted into politics. At twenty-four, he was elected to the common council without his knowledge, defeating the regular nominee by one vote in a "sticker" campaign.
In 1882 and 1883 he was elected to the board of aldermen. Four times (1884 - 87) he was chosen mayor on a non-partisan ticket, enforcing during his incumbency the "pay-as-you-go" policy in municipal finances. Cambridge voted for local prohibition while he was mayor, and although opposed to this policy, Russell strenuously enforced the decision of the electorate. A street-car strike added to his difficulties.
In 1886 he declined the Democratic nomination to Congress from the fifth district. When only thirty-one, he received the first of his five Democratic nominations for governor. Defeated in 1888 and 1889, he was elected in 1890, 1891, and 1892. His terms were notable, not so much for what he performed, as for what he prevented; for during all three years his hands were tied by a Republican legislature and council. All his vetoes were sustained, however, although he vainly urged personal responsibility as against commission government. Remaining startlingly youthful in appearance, Russell won friends and adherents by his tact, adaptability, memory for names and faces, and peculiar charm of manner. To these qualities were added firmness in decision, extraordinary energy in the search for facts, and a directness of statement that appealed to the most varied types of audiences. Though devoid of the usual arts of the political orator, he was adept in politics and a dangerous opponent on the stump. He was a tireless and intelligent foe of protection, with the unusual power of making a tariff speech interesting. He was the first governor to campaign through the small towns and to stay over night in the annual state troop encampments.
Russell had retired from politics to the practice of law in 1894. In June 1896, at the personal request of Cleveland, he accepted election as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Chicago, where, with William C. Whitney and other leading gold Democrats, he conducted a vigorous, though unsuccessful fight against free silver. Returning to Cambridge exhausted with the struggle and the heat, he set out, July 13, for B. F. Dutton's fishing camp at St. Adelaide, on the Little Pabos, in the Province of Quebec. The morning after his arrival he was found dead in his cabin, with a book by his side. Rumors that he died from sleeping medicine were utterly without foundation. President Cleveland attended his funeral at Cambridge.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
On June 3, 1885, at Cambridge, Russell had married Margaret Manning Swan. He had three children.
