William Russell (Virginia)

William Russell (1735 – January 14, 1793) was an army officer and a prominent settler of the southwestern region of the Virginia Colony. He led an early attempt to settle the "Kentuckee Territory" (then part of Virginia). He was a justice of Fincastle County, Virginia. Russell aided in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. During the American Revolutionary War he fought in the Battle of Point Pleasant (1774) and the Battle of Yorktown (1781). While a representative in the Virginia House of Delegates, Russell was noted for his stance opposing the 1785 State of Franklin petition for admittance into the United States.

William Russell was educated at the College of William & Mary. Russell's first wife was Tabitha Adams, who died in 1776. His second wife, Elizabeth Henry —a sister of Patrick Henry —survived him by more than thirty years. Elizabeth was important in the early history of the Methodist Church in America. Many descendants of Russell lived in Russell and Scott Counties in Virginia.

Russell led an early attempt to settle the area that would become Kentucky —then part of Fincastle County, Virginia —in September 1773. The party of frontiersmen was ambushed by Native Americans and Russell's eldest son, along with the eldest son of Daniel Boone, was killed. After the battle, the party became discouraged and turned back.

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