Gordon J. Russell

Who was Gordon J. Russell?

Gordon James Russell was a U.S. Representative from Texas.

Born in Huntsville, Alabama, Russell attended the common schools, the Sam Bailey Institute, Griffin, Georgia, and Crawford High School, Dalton, Georgia. He graduated from the University of Georgia at Athens in 1877. During his time at the University, he was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society. He taught school in Dalton, Georgia. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1878 and commenced practice in Dalton. He moved to Texas in 1879 and later, in 1884, settled in Van Zandt County.

Russell was elected county judge in 1890 and at the end of one term relinquished the office to resume the practice of law in Willsport, Texas. He served as district attorney of the seventh judicial district 1892–1896. He served as judge of the seventh judicial district 1896–1904.

Russell was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Reese C. De Graffenreid. He was re-elected to the Fifty-eighth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from November 4, 1902, to June 14, 1910, when he resigned to become a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, which office he held until his death in Kerrville, Texas, September 14, 1919. He was interred in Oakwood Cemetery, Tyler, Texas.