Biography of Andrew S. Russell - Monroe Co. WV


The History of West Virginia, Old and New 
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., 
Chicago and New York, Volume III, 
pg. 620 


ANDREW S. RUSSELL. The mercantile interests of Alder- 
son, one of the thriving communities of Monroe County, 
are well and worthily represented by Andrew S. Russell. 
Mr. Russell belongs to that class of men who have worked 
their own way to position without the aid of outside in- 
fluences, and, starting his career as a lad in a humble 
position in the mines, has become through hard work, in- 
telligently directed, the owner of a flourishing general 
merchandise store and a popular moving picture theatre.
Mr. Russell was born at Bethel, Pennsylvania, February 
5, 1873, and is a son of James Russell. His father, a 
native of Scotland, grew up in his native land, where he 
became a mine boss and was united in marriage with 
Jeannette Simpson. Following the close of the war between 
the states James Russell immigrated to the United States, 
with the expectation of establishing a home in this country 
if he found conditions suitable. After mining for a time 
in Pennsylvania he returned to Scotland and brought back 
with him his wife and two children, Elizabeth and John. 
From Pennsylvania the family moved to the present site of 
Hansford, Kanawha County, West Virginia, about 1878, Mr. 
Russell being there the pioneer in opening the coal mines, 
but after a short time moved to Ansted in Fayette County, 
also assisting to open the mines in that locality. Still later 
he went to Hawk's Nest, nearby, and there died in 1894, 
being survived by his widow, who passed away June 8, 1922. 
Mr. Russell was a man of medium stature, was cannily 
thrifty, after the Scotch fashion, and was universally ac- 
counted one of the beet mining men who ever came to 
West Virginia. He had worked in every department of 
the mining industry, and knew its workings from the inside 
to the very end of coal production. In his later years he 
gave up mining and followed mercantile pursuits at Hawk's 
Nest, and gained the reputation of being a capable and 
fair-dealing business man. He was a Protestant in religion 
and a republican in his political allegiance. At his death 
he left six sons and five daughters, and there were three 
other children who had died before his passing.
Andrew S. Russell had only very limited educational ad- 
vantages in his youth, and when yet a boy became self- 
supporting by finding employment in the mines at Stone 
Cliff. For some four or five years he continued mining, 
but when his father died he succeeded the elder man in 
the management of the mercantile establishment at Hawk's 
Nest, where he carried on the business in a successful manner 
and made it a paying venture. He continued at that place 
for some twenty years, and then, in 1914, came to Alderson, 
where at first he embarked in the moving picture business 
He still conducts a family theatre, which enjoys an ex- 
cellent patronage and at which he presents a clean, moral 
and high-class entertainment. Later Mr. Russell engaged in 
merchandising, and this he has also continued to the present 
with a gratifying degree of success. His reputation is that 
ot a capable business man of good judgment and integrity 
and he is held in confidence by the people of his adopted 
community.
In 1903, at Hawk's Nest, Mr. Russell was united in 
marriage with Miss Essie Grisinger, a daughter of J. C. 
Grisinger, one of the old mining men of West Virginia, 
and to this union there have been born five children: 
Glenna May, Drema Lile, Andrew, James (named after 
his paternal and maternal grandfathers) and Finley. In 
politics Mr. Russell is a republican, but he has not taken 
part in political matters nor sought public office. He takes 
an interest, however, in civic matters that affect the welfare 
of Alderson and its people, and always supports worthy 
enterprises and movements.



Submitted by Valerie Crook <vfcrook@earthlink.net> 

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