Kentucky: A History of the State, Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin, 5th ed., 1887, Franklin Co. CAPT. JOHN W. RUSSELL, a native of Rockbridge County, Va., was born in 1794 and was a son of James and Margaret (Wilson) Russell, natives of Pennsylvania, and of Welsh and Scotch descent. John W. Russell, when a child, was brought to Kentucky by his father and educated in the night schools of Louisville and in the common schools. Before he was sixteen years of age he went into the war of 1812; was at the battle of Fort Meigs, under Capt. Peter Dudley, of Frankfort, and after the war ran a steamboat on the Ohio and Mississippi, continuing on the river about twenty-five years. During one trip, in 1832, on the way to New Orleans, he lost sixty-three passengers by cholera. His father, James, was a man of considerable means, but lost it all by giving security. This threw John W. upon his own resources, and he went to Louisville and learned the art of engineering. He was appointed by President Harrison to clear the snags from the Western rivers and reappointed by Tyler to this position, which he kept for eight years. In 1846 Capt. Russell was prevailed upon to become a candidate for the State Senate from the district then composed of Franklin and Shelby, and was elected, his term of service being marked by the strong sense and practical judgment which characterized him through life. He then retired to his farm three miles from Frankfort, where he had 1,000 acres of land, and owned fifty slaves when the war broke out. He married, December 17, 1840, Miss Ann Maria Julian, of Franklin County, daughter of Charles Jane (Moore) Julian, natives of Virginia. Charles Julian was of French Huguenot origin; his wife of Irish descent and a cousin of the poet Moore. The children born to Capt. and Mrs. Russell are Mrs. Cordelia Gaines, of Louisville; Miss Maggie; Mrs. Mary B. Day; John Crittenden Russell, lawyer of Louisville, and Ann M. Maus, whose husband is in the United States Army. Mr. Russell's death occurred August 17, 1869. His life was so full of thrilling adventure, and by his philanthropy and prompt action he was able to rescue so many lives, that his life history would seem more like a romance than a biography. Russell Wilson Dudley Julian Moore Gaines Day Maus = Louisville-Jefferson-KY Rockbridge-VA PA http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/franklin/russell.jw.txt