William F. Russell

He went to Pittsburgh as a teenager and was a printer there. By about age 20 he was publisher of the Token, the paper of the IOOF, and had a bookstore in Pittsburgh. He went to Minnesota and was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1858.

On 6 May 1861, by then age 32 and giving his residence as Chicago, he enlisted for war service and on 6 June mustered as a Private in the Sturges Rifles, an independent infantry company equipped with Sharps rifles by wealthy Chicago businessman Solomon Sturges. He returned to Minnesota later that year and recruited a new company of sharpshooters.

On 18 November 1861 he was discharged from the Rifles to accept the commission of Captain of that company - the 2nd Company, Minnesota Sharpshooters. They were initially attached to the First United States Sharpshooters as Company L, and fought with them at Hanover Court House, VA on 27 May 1862, but were reassigned to the First Minnesota Infantry, also as Company L, on 22 May (order received 30 May), and joined them on 2 June.

He commanded his Company, attached to the First Minnesota Infantry on the Maryland Campaign.

He resigned his commission due to ill health on 20 February 1863.

He moved to Austin, NV in 1864 and by 1870 was a news dealer in Hamilton, White Pine County. He went on to Santa Barbara, CA in 1873 and took over the Santa Barbara Index in October 1874. He was owner and editor until his death at home in Santa Barbara at about age 47, his demise possibly accelerated by drink. His widow Virginia, previously a prominent advocate for temperance, continued to write for the paper afterward.

His service basics from Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars 1 and the State of Illinois.2 Personal details from family genealogists, the US Census of 1870, Jesse D. Mason's History of Santa Barbara County, California (1883) and his obituary in the Ventura Signal of 31 March 1877. His gravesite is on Findagrave. Thanks to Jim Smith for the nudge to look into Captain Russell.

He married Virginia Forward (c. 1844-) in April 1862 in Ramsey County, MN.

c. 1829; Westmoreland County, PA

03/31/1877; Santa Barbara, CA; burial in Montecito Cemetery, Montecito, CA