Dr. William Spencer Russell, who bears the distinction of being the oldest practicing physician in Wallingford, has there followed his profession continuously and successfully during the past thirty-five years. His birth occurred in Prospect, New Haven county, Connecticut, on the 7th of September, 1858, his parents being Henry and Sarah (Tyler) Russell. The father, who was also a native of Prospect, this state, followed farming throughout his active business career and passed away in 1865, at the comparatively early age of thirty-five years. He was a son of Lewis Russell, of Naugatuck. The paternal grandmother of Dr. William S. Russell was a daughter of Daniel Hitchcock, who fought in the Revolutionary war with the colonial forces. Mrs. Sarah (Tyler) Russell was a daughter of Spencer Tyler, of Prospect, whose wife was a sister of Franklin Furrell, Sr. The mother of our subject died in 1890, at the age of fifty-four years.

Dr. William S. Russell, the only child of his parents who grew to maturity, attended the public schools and also French's private school of New Haven. Having determined upon a professional career, he entered the medical department of Yale University, which institution conferred upon him the degree of M. D. in 1880. He then spent two years hospital work at New York and also pursued a post-graduate course in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of that city. After a period spent in the New Haven Hospital he began the private practice of his profession at Wallingford in 1882 and has there remained continuously to the present time, or for more than a third of a century. He has won a most gratifying and well deserved measure of success as a general practitioner and has kept abreast with the progress of the profession through his membership in the New Haven County Medical Society, the Connecticut State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.

On the 1st of June, 1882, at Auburn, New York, Dr. Russell was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Cooke Hall, a daughter of Edward C. Hall, of that place. She passed away on the 29th of December, 1912, leaving two children. Donald G., who received the decree of Ph. B. in 1909 and that of M. D. from Yale University in 1914, has been engaged in hospital work since his graduation. In 1916 he went to France with Dr. Joseph Flint, professor of surgery of Yale University, and enlisted in a French army corps, serving for the period of a year in a base hospital during the Champagne drive. Since October, 1917, he has been a member of the United States army in France, holding a lieutenant's commission. His sister. Elinor, is at home. On the 19th  of January, 1916, Dr. W. S. Russell was again married, his second union being with Miss Kate Backes, of Wallingford. Their residence is at No. 176 North Main street, where the Doctor also has his office.

Politically Dr. Russell is independent, with democratic tendencies. He served as a member of the state legislature in 1883-4 but has since declined all public honors, his professional duties claiming practically his entire time and attention. In 1916 he was urged to accept the nomination for state senator from this district. He belongs to the New Haven Country Club and the Wallingford Country Club, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the First Congregational church. His life in all relations has been consistent with the highest standards and he enjoys the regard and esteem of professional colleagues and contemporaries.