Fresno County CA Archives Biographies.....Russell, Ezra M. January 16, 1841 - July 29, 1930
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Steve Harrison raleighwood@juno.com January 11, 2010, 2:27 pm

Source: History of Fresno County, California (1919)
Author: Unknown

“CAPTAIN EZRA M. RUSSELL. — An honored place among the pioneers of Fresno 
County is due Ezra M. Russell, who has been privileged to live through years 
marked by great growth, wonderful changes and marvelous development along all 
lines of industry in Fresno County. He is a native of the Empire State, having 
been born in Oswego County, N. Y., on January 16, 1841, a son of Jonathan W. 
and Elizabeth (Secner) Russell. Ezra's grandfather was an English sea captain 
who settled in New York State, and his maternal ancestors, the Secner family, 
were of Dutch origin. 

Jonathan W. Russell, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a brick 
mason by trade and in 1847, when Ezra was but a small boy, he removed from New 
York to Illinois where he resided until 1853, when he moved to Iowa. There he 
engaged in farming and also worked at his trade. In 1866, he sold out and 
started to cross the plains, but owing to the activities of the Indians he was 
compelled to abandon his venture and, having reached Denver, remained there for 
a short time, but subsequently returned to Iowa. He remained in Iowa until 
1872, when he migrated to California, locating near what is now Kingsburg, 
where he purchased land and followed farming and fruit-raising until his death. 
His wife also passed away in California. Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan W. Russell were 
the parents of ten children, Ezra M. being the fifth child. 

Ezra M. Russell was reared in Iowa, near Fredericksburg, Chickasaw County, and 
received his early education in the district school. From early manhood he has 
made his own way in the world, his success being the result of hard work and 
persevering efforts. In 1862, fired by the true spirit of patriotism, he 
volunteered his services in the defense of his country and in the month of 
January he enlisted in Company B, Thirteenth Regiment, United States Volunteer 
Infantry, being mustered in at Dubuque, Iowa, but was sent to Jefferson 
Barracks, Mo., for training. His company was assigned to the Army of the West 
and he fought valiantly under General Sherman, until he was severely wounded at 
the Battle of Vicksburg, where, on May 19, 1863, he received seven different 
wounds, in making the charge on the stockade, being seriously wounded in the 
left foot, which crippled him for life. On account of his disability he was 
honorably discharged in 1864, but in the spring of 1865, he assisted in 
organizing a company of which he was elected the captain. 

After returning to Iowa, Ezra M. Russell was united in marriage with Miss Sarah 
Jane Jones, a native of Lake County, Ill., where she was born on January 12, 
1845. Her father, Jonathan Jones, was a native of the state of New York, but 
who migrated westward and first settled in Illinois, afterwards he located in 
Iowa and it was in this state that he passed away. After his marriage, Mr. 
Russell, although badly crippled and for five years compelled to use crutches, 
did what work he could as a brick mason, having learned the trade in his 
younger days from his father. 

In 1873, the year after his father had located in California, Ezra made the 
trip to the Golden State and at first settled at Oakland, where he worked at 
his trade. While in Oakland he became acquainted with Leland Stanford, who told 
him about the new railroad and of the country around Kingsburg. Later, Ezra, 
with his family, moved to Fresno County, arriving in 1874. Soon after his 
arrival he took up a soldier's homestead claim of 160 acres of land near 
Kingsburg and has lived on this place ever since, making over forty years' 
continuous residence in Fresno County. He still retains sixty acres of the 
original ranch and also owns an eighty-acre ranch about a quarter of a mile 
south of his home. Many acres of his ranches are devoted to vines and fruit. 
His home is located two one-half miles west of Kingsburg, near the Franklin 
School. At the time he located here the railroad was finished only as far as 
Kingsburg, which had only two stores, and the Kings River was crossed on a 
temporary bridge; and Selma consisted of a section house where the Chinese 
laborers for the railway company lived. Mr. Russell says that, in taking a trip 
across the country to Fresno, you would not see a single home, but here and 
there you would see a sheep corral. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ezra M. Russell are the parents of eight children, seven of whom 
are living. One son, Adrian, when a boy of twelve years, was accidently killed 
by a saddle-horse. The seven children still living are : Alice, who is now Mrs. 
Enos Sylvia, residing in Selma, is the mother of three children: Rena, the wife 
of Elias Van Winkle, a rancher near Fresno, has one child, Newton; Nellie, who 
is the widow of Charles Brown, resides at Hanford; Benjamin at home with his 
father; Cassie the widow of O. N. Healton, who died November 14, 1918, has one 
child, Russell V., and now lives with her father; Clark, married Miss Lottie 
Grimshaw, from Hanford, and is operating a ranch near Selma, and they have 
three children, Ezra, Evalena, and Richard;  Chester, who is a rancher near 
Kingsburg, married Addie Mayfield and they are the parents of three children, 
Louise, Pauline and Clark, Jr. 

On December 27, 1917, Mr. Russell was bereft of the loving companionship of his 
estimable wife, who passed away at the age of seventy-three years. Mr. Russell 
is an honored member of Atlanta Post, No. 90, G. A. R., at Selma. Fraternally, 
he belongs to the Knights of Pythias. For nine years he was a director of the 
high school in his district. He is highly esteemed in the community where he 
has lived for so many years and is always willing to do his share in promoting 
the best interests of his section.” END

Additional Comments:
"History of Fresno County, California with Biographical Sketches" by Paul E. 
Vandor.  Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1919. Pages 700-702.


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