Samuel Russell

Samuel Russell (August 25, 1789 – May 5, 1862), was an American entrepreneur and trader, and founder of Russell & Company, the largest and most important American trading house in China from 1824 to its closing in 1891.

Early life Russell was born on August 25, 1789, in Middletown, Connecticut. He was a son of Capt. John Russell and Abigail (née Warner) Russell. He was a cousin of William Huntington Russell, a co-founder of the Skull and Bones Secret Society at Yale University.

At the age of 12, Russell was orphaned and did not receive any significant inheritance, and did not attend college. Instead, he began his career as apprentice clerk for a maritime trade merchant, Whittlesley & Alsop, in Middletown. It is there that Russell began learning his skills as a trader. Mary died on September 4, 1819, aged 23, while he was in China and the children were cared for by her sister Frances Ann Osborne (1789–1862).

When Samuel returned from China, he and Frances were married on October 26, 1825, and had one child, Samuel Wadsworth Russell.

Russell died on May 5, 1862, in Middletown, Connecticut.