California Biographies Source: History of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties, California by: C M Gidney - Santa Barbara. Benjamin Brooks - San Luis Obispo. Edwin M Sheridan - Ventura Volumes II - Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, ILL., 1917 This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm GEORGE W. RUSSELL. There are many interesting data pertaining to the personal career and family history of this well known citizen and representative business man of Santa Barbara, where he conducts a substantial and successful real estate and insurance business. Though Mr. Russell was born in Macomb County, Michigan, on the 24th of July, 1851, he has been a resident of California since he was a child of about three years, his father having been one of the sterling pioneers of this state and he himself having been reared under the conditions and influences of the pioneer days. His memory constitutes an indissoluble link between the primitive period of civic and industrial development and the latter days of opulent prosperity in California, and his reminiscences of the past are most graphic and interesting, as his life has been one of full and varied experience. Alpheus W. Russell, father of him whose name initiates this review, was born at Brattleboro, Vermont, on the 22d of February, 1826, and on the I4th of February, 1878, he met a tragic death, as he was killed by a runaway team of horses attached to a loaded truck. He was one of the gallant band of historic "Forty-niners" in California and was successful in his early operations in the gold fields. In 1850 he returned to the East, and while there he married Miss Rachael Maria Adams Williams. Mr. Russell returned to California after remaining a comparatively brief period in the East, and each of his trips to and from the Pacific coast was made by way of the Isthmus of Panama. When, in 1854, his young wife set forth to join him in California, she too crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and she endured much hardship on the long and weary journey, as conveniences of travel were notable specially for their absence, besides which she had the care of her infant son, George W., of this sketch. On her way from the Isthmus to her destination it became necessary for her to sleep in an open boat, and as the result of the exposure this brave and noble young woman died shortly after her arrival in California. In crossing the Isthmus she was compelled to pay $200 for the dejected donkey which gave her transportation over the trail and which she abandoned upon reaching the Pacific coast side of the Isthmus. Alpheus W. Russell went to a mining claim on Bear Creek, between Grass Valley and Nevada City, and there he was successful in his gold mining. Besides developing his claim he also conducted a pioneer hotel at the mining camp. After the death of his wife he placed their son George W. in a boarding school conducted by one of his friends. He then prepared to return to the East, but he lost the tickets which he had purchased and which provided for his transportation on the ill fated steamer Golden Gate. He was thus unable, fortunately as it turned out, to take passage on this vessel, which was wrecked at sea and all trace of which was lost after it left port. After selling his mines Mr. Russell founded the Sonoma Democrat, and after presiding as editor and publisher of this pioneer newspaper for one year he sold the plant and business to James Budd. He then engaged in the general merchandise business at Santa Rosa, where he continued operations from 1858 to 1861. He joined in the latter year the memorable rush of gold seekers who were making their way into the new fields in Nevada. There he acquired considerable stock of distinct value, the development of these mining interests making him a wealthy man. Later he became foreman of an extensive ore mill at Mineral Rapids, and shortly afterward, in the spring of 1862, a continued and torrential rain so swelled the river as to cause the turbulent stream to sweep away the mill, the surrounding grounds and all the houses of the village except the one in which Mr. Russell, his son and a few other men were marooned. Under these perilous conditions John Black, a notorious gambler, swam the rapids and held in his mouth one end of a piece of twine, the other end being retained by his companions and by means of this slender and fragile cord a rope being extended over the rapids and made possible the rescuing of the stranded persons by means of a raft, the house in which they had found refuge having been swept away shortly after their departure. After this disaster the miners, by a virtually unanimous vote, elected Mr. Russell recorder of Lyon County, Nevada, and of this office he continued the incumbent seven years. On the 7th of October, 1867, with goodly financial resources, Mr. Russell came to Santa Barbara County and turned his attention to farming. Lack of experience in this field of industrial enterprise brought to him financial disaster, and under these depressing conditions he engaged in the trucking business. In this connection he brought to Santa Barbara the first short-turn truck, and he continued his operations in this enterprise until he met his death by the runaway of his team, as previously noted. He served three or more terms as a member of the city council of Santa Barbara and his civic loyalty was such that he never consented to accept a cent of salary for this service. He was long affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and his wife had been a member of its adjunct organization, the Order of the Eastern Star. Alpheus W. Russell was a man of sterling character, of strong individuality and resolute purpose. He lived up to the full tension of the early days in California and his name merits high place on the roll of the honored pioneers of this great commonwealth. George W. Russell, the immediate subject of this review, gained his early education in the pioneer schools of California, and in his youth he had the distinction of presiding over the operation of the first mowing machine and the first horse hay-rake brought into Santa Barbara County. Thereafter he was employed in the printing office of J. A. Johnson, who published the Santa Barbara Press, which was later sold to General Otis, a prominent figure in California journalism. In the office of the Press, Mr. Russell held the position of pressman for sixteen years, “1872-87,” and in the long intervening period he has continued his active association with civic and business affairs in Santa Barbara, where he now is the head of a prosperous and representative real estate and insurance agency. Mr. Russell gives stanch allegiance to the republican party, though he has manifested no special ambition for political activity, and as a government weather observer he is special correspondent for the United States weather bureau at Los Angeles. By the hour, Mr. Russell can draw upon his fund of interesting reminiscences concerning conditions, scenes and events of the pioneer days in California, and he has related with relish, as indicating the devotion of early church-goers in Santa Barbara County that some of the number had to swim a stream in order to reach the church. Horses were scarce and in ferrying the stream one horse usually carried two persons, the animal being utilized for numerous trips across the stream. The church to which reference is made had as its pastor Rev. E. M. Betts, a Congregational clergyman, and practically all community news and information was disseminated from the unpretentious little church. After the close of the religious services the minister would make such announcements as these: "Brother Ben will grind wheat on Tuesday;" "Brother Jones is out of store tea, and if any brother has a surplus Brother Jones would like to trade for the same." Swapping wheat for beef and other supplies was the common custom, mail was supposed to be received every ten days, but the interval was often one of thirty days; the pioneers raised their own meat, ground their own flour, made out of beans and peas a substitute for tea and coffee, and used honey for sweetening. The first coal-oil lamp brought into Santa Barbara was introduced by the father of the subject of this sketch and proved an article commanding much curiosity and wonderment, while the consensus of opinion was that the bright light would injure the eyes. As a young man Mr. Russell wedded Miss Ella Pierce, and they have no children. Mrs. Russell is a daughter of the late Isaac B. Pierce, who came from Indiana to California in the early days and who became a prominent and influential citizen of Santa Barbara, where he served for a number of terms as a member of the city council.