Chatham County GaArchives Biographies.....Russell, Jr., Waring 1854 - living in 1913
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 13, 2004, 3:08 pm

Author: William Harden
p.586-588

   WARING RUSSELL, JR. One of the most highly esteemed and popular citizens of
Savannah, Waring Russell, Jr., has served continuously as clerk of the city
court for upwards of fifteen years, administering the affairs of his office so
ably and intelligently as to win the approbation of every member of the bar and
of all others with whom he is brought into business contact. A native of
Savannah, Georgia, his birth occurred December 2, 1854. He is of pioneer stock,
his ancestors having come to this country with General Oglethorpe in 1733, being
among the original settlers of Savannah, and subsequently identified with the
history of the Revolutionary war.

   His father, the late Judge Philip Moses Russell, was born December 17, 1815,
in Savannah, a son of Isaac and Perla (Sheftall) Russell. At the age of eighteen
years he began the study of law with his uncle, Hon. Mordecai Sheftall, at that
time a leading member of the Savannah bar, but afterwards for many years judge
of the court of common pleas and oyer and terminer of the city of Savannah, a
position to which he was elected by the state legislature. Here it may be well
to mention that the present city court of Savannah, with which some members of
the Sheftall or Russell families have been officially connected for more than a
century, was known before the Revolutionary war, and for some time after, as the
mayor's court. In 1820 the name was changed to the “Court of Common Pleas and
Oyer and Terminer,” and in 1856 was again changed, becoming the "City Court of
Savannah."

   In 1835 Judge Philip M. Eussell was appointed a director of the Savannah &
Altamaha Canal Company, a position which he retained until receiving his
appointment as deputy sheriff of Chatham county, and deputy United States
marshal under Col. William I. Davis, positions in which, by urbanity of
character and strict attention to and impartial discharge of his official
duties, he made many personal and political friends. On June 15, 1843, Judge
Russell was elected sheriff of the city of Savannah, and on April 9, 1844, was
elected justice of the peace in the first district, defeating the Democratic and
Whig opponents by a majority of twenty-five votes. While holding this office he
was appointed inspector of customs by the collector, Gen. Edward Harden.
Removing then to the second district, the judge was there elected justice of the
peace in January, 1846, receiving a large vote. On January 1, 1850, he was
elected clerk of the court of common pleas and oyer and terminer of the city of
Savannah, and in January, 1853, he was elected city marshal of Savannah, an
office which he filled acceptably for two years. In the year 1855 Judge Russell
acted as clerk of the United States circuit and district courts, and in January,
1856, was elected clerk of the city court of Savannah, and held the position
until the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861.

   In 1853, Judge Russell was made a member of the "Republican Blues," a
favorite volunteer company of the First Regiment of the Georgia Volunteers, in
which he maintained his membership as long as he lived. When, by the occupancy
of Fort Pulaski, the company entered into active service, Judge Russell was
detailed to look after the comfort of the families of his fellow-members in
service, and at the organization of the state forces, under Governor Brown's
administration, was commissioned as captain and commissary of subsistence, and
assigned to duty with Colonel Karkie's regiment, Gen. G. B. Harrison's brigade.

   In September, 1863, the judge became a candidate for the legislature, and was
elected the following month by a handsome majority of the votes cast, and two
years later was re-elected by the highest vote in the county. At the expiration
of his legislative term, Judge Russell, having become re-enfranchised under the
reconstruction acts, resumed his position as clerk of the court of the city of
Savannah, and continued in office several terms.

   In 1876, Judge Russell was again the Democratic candidate for representative
to the state legislature, receiving thirty-nine of the forty-two votes cast in
the county convention, and was elected, leading his ticket by seventy-two votes.
At the expiration of his term he had the honor of being re-elected to the
legislature by a majority of two hundred votes over the highest candidate on the
opposition ticket, and in 1886 was once more elected to the state legislature,
leading his opponent at the polls by two hundred and ninety-eight votes.

   Judge Russell served his people in various offices with conspicuous ability
and untiring energy. He was clerk of the city court of Savannah for nearly
thirty-five years, and was chief of the fire department for many terms. A stanch
and unflinching Democrat in politics, he always received the highest vote cast
for his ticket whenever he was the party's nominee for official positions. He
represented his party in numerous conventions, and was chairman of the committee
which notified Alexander H. Stephens of his nomination for governor. His death,
December 11, 1902, at the ripe old age of eighty-eight years, removed from the
community one of its best loved and most revered citizens.

   Judge Russell married first, September 15, 1834, Elizabeth C. Ferre, of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who died October 10, 1886. He married second, in
1889, Eliza P. Ancker, of Philadelphia, also. He was the father of eleven children.

   Waring Russell, Jr., the son of Judge Philip M. and Elizabeth (Ferre)
Russell, was brought up and educated in Savannah, attending first the public
schools, and later the private school taught by Prof. James F. Cann. On January
19, 1878, he was appointed deputy sheriff of the city court of Savannah by David
Bailey, Esq., sheriff of said court. An extract from the minutes of the city
court says that on July 20, 1880, the resignation of Waring Russell, Jr., as
deputy sheriff was accepted with deep regret—David Bailey, sheriff, and approved
with regret—William D. Harden, judge.

   Mr. Russell resigned the office of deputy sheriff to accept the position of
justice of the peace of the third Georgia district, to which he had been
elected, after a heated contest, in March, 1880. Through continuous re-election
he held the office until January, 1899, when he was elected clerk of the city
court of Savannah, a position which his father had previously held for
thirty-five years. On November 5, 1899, by legislative enactment, this office
was made elective by the people, instead of by the mayor and alderman as
formerly. At the ensuing election, in May, 1900, Mr. Russell was elected to this
office by the people, being the only successful candidate for official honors on
his ticket at that election. He has been continuously elected every two years
since, and in every election has led his ticket. A thoroughly competent and
efficient man in every respect, Mr. Russell has invariably had the unqualified
endorsement and support of practically every member of the bar at each election.
Universally popular in Savannah, he thoroughly understands political conditions,
and being plain spoken, open and frank, with never a thought of resorting to
political chicanery, it is said of Mr. Russell that he can have any public
office which he desires.

   Mr. Russell married, in Savannah, Miss Georgia A. Mendel, and they have three
children, namely: Thomas Sheftall Russell; Mrs. Frances M. Harper; and Mrs.
Georgia C. Smith. Thomas Sheftall Russell was educated in the public schools of
Savannah, and was graduated from the high school and Chatham Academy.
Subsequently studying law, he was admitted to the bar, but has never engaged in
the practice of his profession. For several years past he has been chief deputy
clerk of the city court, serving under his father, and giving universal
satisfaction in the position.


Additional Comments:
From:

A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA
BY
WILLIAM HARDEN

VOLUME I
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1913


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