John Edwards RUSSELL, Congress, MA (1834-1903)

RUSSELL John Edwards , a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Greenfield, Franklin County, Mass., January 20, 1834; was instructed by private tutors; returned to Massachusetts and became interested in mail transportation west of the Mississippi River and in steamship lines on the Pacific coast; engaged in agricultural pursuits; elected secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture in 1880; reelected five times; elected as a Democrat to the Fiftieth Congress (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1889); delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1892; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 1893 and 1894; member of the Deep Waterways Commission; died in Leicester, Worcester County, Mass., October 28, 1903; interment in Pine Grove Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present