Charles Wells Russell


Charles Wells Russell was a prominent Virginia lawyer and politician. He supported the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, serving as one of Virginia's delegates to the Provisional Confederate Congress and then the First and Second Confederate Congresses, although his home area seceded from the Commonwealth and became West Virginia during that war.

Early and family life

Born in Tyler County, Virginia, which his grandfather helped found. He was educated at the Linsly Institute and then went to Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, graduating from Jefferson College. He read law under Z. Jacob in Wheeling and passed his bar exam.
Russell married Margaret M. Russell, and in 1850 they lived with iron manufacturer Henry Moon in Wheeling. They had at least sons Henry Moore Russell and Charles Wells Russell Jr..

Career

Russell became a prominent lawyer in Wheeling, which was then Virginia's second largest city. With U.S. Attorney General Reverdy Johnson and other Virginia lawyers including James Paull and Alexander H. H. Stuart, Russell defended the Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company in litigation brought by Edwin M. Stanton and Robert J. Walker following construction of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge across the Ohio River beginning in 1849. Although the company twice technically lost in the United States Supreme Court in the lawsuit brought by upriver rivals in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Russell's legislative advocacy also proved crucial. The first bridge to cross a major Western river was never demolished, and was even rebuilt after damage in an 1854 windstorm.
In 1850, Ohio County voters elected Russell to the Virginia House of Delegates. He was at first their only delegate but after The Virginia Constitution of 1851 increased representation for western counties, he served alongside Chester D. Hubbard and John M. Oldham. However, in 1853, Ohio County voters instead elected John C. Campbell and Thomas M. Gally.
Russell was an elector in the 1860 presidential election supporting Democratic candidate John C. Breckinridge. After Virginia's secession in mid-1861, West Virginia voters who refused to remain loyal to the Union, and then to the First Confederate Congress and the Second Confederate Congress, where he served from February 1862 until March 1865. His former co-counsel James Paull and co-delegate Chester D. Hubbard remained loyal to the Union and helped found West Virginia.

Death and legacy

Russell died in 1867 and was buried in Baltimore's Woodlawn cemetery. His son Charles Wells Russell became a U.S. Assistant Attorney General and U.S. Minister to Persia.