The Tupelo journal., 1905-04-21
SOUTHERN CAPTAINS
OF INDUSTRY. !
Life and Character of Col. (. 1.
Russell,

vice-president and general counsel OF
the Mobile & Ohio railroad, is the
son OF George d. Russell and Emily
Stovall and was born in Franklin
county. Ala, on the 10Th day OF Au-
gust, 1916, and lived in that and Law
renee county. Ala, until the winter OF
1928, when his father moved his
family to Pontotoc county, Miss, Il
settled about one mile from he pres
emit site of Tupelo, which city had not
then been founded. His parents were
descended from a long line of sturdy
ancestry, which included many pio-
neers of the northern counties of the
State of Alabama. They were reared
under the primitive conditions that
prevailed in that region during their
youth time. On both of his parental
lines his ancestors We're OF strong
stock. stalwart of frame and physical
constitution, of marked intellectual
and moral force and of finely tenn
pered and indomitable courage and
will. They were fitted by nature TO
meet the e~Xigencies and trials OF the
environments which surrounded them
in the settling of a new country. Ihey
were prominent in this work, n
many of them, on either side, became
leaders in the affairs of both church
and state in Alabama and Mississippi.
The city of Russellville, the county
site of Franklin county, was named
for the Russell family, as was also
Russells Valley, in which it is STU
ated. The various families which
sprang from the intermarriage OF the
RussellS and Stovalls were generally
people of moderate means, with some
exceptions, in which their descend
ants have become wealthy. In these
are included Col. C. G. Harris, lawyer
and banker, of Decatur, Ala, and Jack
Harris. a leading wholesale merchant
of Nashville, Tenn, who are cousins
OF Col. Russell.
A Preachers Son.
Col. Russell's father was a Baptist
minister of fine character and reputa-
ton and was also a school teacher and
farmer. His family was a large one,
and it required the exercise OF all his
talents and energies and the constant
use of his time to maintain it in the
position of responsibility which it
held in society. He was a man of fair
education and great pride, and strove
Win Gil VI Il oD11GS ~ S'o 1'N
ennOble his children. In the exercise
of p~aternal authority he placed ex-
ample above precept, and, in his life
and dealings with his fellow man, was
s%crupulously honorable. AS a father
he exacted implicit obedience to his
commandes, and in this way taught
his children valuable lessons. which
have served him we'll in their lives.
T --.e- 100. .-~1J. I41n-,nfA nf do
mestic habits, and gave her hearty
second to all his efforts to promote
the welfare of their family.
In writing this sketch of Ed. u
sell, as he is Familiarity known, | must
begin with his career when he was at
an early age. His fathers movements
placed him on a farm near Verona,
Miss, when he was only 8 years old
At this early day he worked in the
fields with his brothers, and it is said
of him that even then he displayed
the qualities of diligence and applica-
tiOn which have marked his career
from the day when he first piled the
hoe down a corn row until the pres
ent time, when thousands OF men and
millions of dollars are under his con-
troll. He worked steadily in the field
during crop time and went to school
when the crops were laid by until
January. 1862. On the farm he did
all kinds of work that farmers boys
usually do. He hoed cotton, ploWed
corn, drove up the COWS and kept
off the calves, fed the hogs and went
to mill, cut wood and made fires, I'M
der the eye of a father who did not
know what it was to shirk a duty and
tried hard to raise his boys that they
would never believe it possible to fall
from grace, and taught them the doc
trine of the final perseverance OF the
saints. During this period Rev. Alb
salon Stovall, a brother of his moth
er, was.a frequent visitor to his faith
er's home. He was a distinguished
Baptist minister of great popularity
and of high intellectual requirements,
but rather brusque of manner and
speech. Father Russell entertained
for him the most profound veneration
and esteem, as did everybody who
knew him. 1t is said that our sub
ject, by heredity and association, ac-
uuired in marked degree the forensic
qualities of his famous uncle, who was
long since gathered to his fathers.
Willie NSG q IVY oui ooCJSSS oU'S
promise of developing into an orator
of fine powers. The debating socie-
ty' of that day was an adjunct OF
every school. 1t was fostered and
encouraged by both teachers and pa
irons and drew large crowds to the
scholrooms on Friday afternoons
when it met. 1t is said that Ed. Rus
sell was the best debater" in the
school. He did lot care which side
he was on and was abashed.
When it came his time to speak he
always rose with perfect composure
and ratified off his arguments" indif-
ferent as to which side he was on.
He could talk as well for the negative
as he could for the affirmative, and
vice versa, a happy faculty which his
large legal practice before the highest
courts of the country for a third OF a
century has rather strengthened.
Wears the Gray.
In 1862, when 16 years old,
Col. Russell enlisted in Company "E,"
Cant T. C. Ashcraft, Forty-frst Mis-
sissippi Regiment of Infantry. His
record as a soldier was as good as
any Confederate hero made. His reg
iment was first in Bragg's army and
then in Johnson's, and participated in
all the ~sanguinary battles fought by
these great generals from PerryVllle
until Lees surrender. He was con-
~spicuous for his dashing courage and
attracted the notice OF Col. w. r.
Tucker, who made him color bearer
of his regiment, which honorable and
MOST he held during the re-