William Greenwood Russell Partial Biography
His actual date of birth some say is 20 June 1812, but there is no documentation. However, he
was baptized 1 August 1813 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England as recorded in the Register of
Baptisms in the parish of Liverpool in the county of Lancaster. His father William Greenwood
was a Liverpool Harbor Pilot, and his mother was Ann James.
We do not know exactly when William left home. A family story is told that he stowed away
aboard a ship bound for the Americas when he was nine years of age - 1821/22. It is told that the
ship was captained by a Russell. William is said to have returned to Liverpool more than a year
later and because the family had moved, he could not locate them. He returned to his ship and
began a life at sea with this Captain Russell and added the surname Russell. He went by the
name William Greenwood Russell for the remainder of his life.
Indications are that William Greenwood Russell never fully explained his history to his family in
America. But it is said that he did tell them his father was William, a harbor pilot and his mother
was Ann James and there is documented evidence this couple had a son William of the same age
as William Greenwood Russell. Science has proved this to be a fact which follows further
below.
Records show that William's family did change residences during this time period, but it was
within a radius of several miles and William's father was still serving as a harbor pilot and did so
up until his death in 1839. Therefore, if this story is true, William should have been able to find
his family upon returning to Liverpool. There is a William who attested to William
Greenwood's Will in 1839, but this was probably his grandson not our William.
The next record we find of our William Greenwood Russell is on March 20th, 1845 when he
appeared in Court in Cleveland, Ohio and became a naturalized citizen of the United States. This
record states that he had lived in the United States for the previous five years. Therefore,
William is documented as having lived in America since at least 1840.
On February 11, 1840 Eliza Ann Russell was born in Cleveland, Cuyahogo, Ohio to mother
Louisa Jones and father William Greenwood Russell. We do not know when this marriage took
place, but it was probably in 1839. We know little about this first wife, Louisa Jones. We do
know from Louisa's obituary in the Cleveland Herald of 24 February 1847 that she died the 22nd
of the same month during child birth, was the wife of Wm. G. Russell and was 38 years of age.
She was buried in the Erie Street Cemetery. Today, this cemetery is directly across the street
from the Cleveland Indians baseball complex.
Another family story is told that William was at sea at the time of her death. While at sea he
meet Elizabeth Vickery who was returning to New York from England. And during this voyage
he hired her to return to Cleveland with him to keep house for he and Louisa. This story is not
accurate on several accounts.
William was a Captain of several schooners on the Great Lakes, and they seldom sailed from
there out into the Atlantic ocean. They had to get to the St. Lawrence river via small canals to do
so and the size of the schooners William sailed at the time were small and highly unlikely to
adventure across the sea to Europe. Two other reasons are of greater probability for him not
having taken a voyage to England at that time. First, at some time in November much of the
Great Lakes becomes frozen. Secondly, there is a documented account that William and his
schooner the Harwich went ashore in a strong storm at the end of November 1946 near
Barcelona, New York (Buffalo Daily Courier). The newspaper account states the Harwich was
taken to Buffalo for repairs which would have lasted until winter had really set in and the
schooner may well have remained in Buffalo until the spring of 1847. More than likely,
Elizabeth Vickery, whose family resided in Buffalo, had been hired by William during one of his
many port calls and Elizabeth was with Louisa when she died. William could not have been
sailing on the Great Lakes at the end of November and then in December of the same year make
a trip to England and back to return sometime during January of 1847.
There is more to add to this story but little space.
Russell surname - In a newspaper account, 21 May 1846 two schooners arrived in Buffalo, New
York. One was the Ohio captained by our William Greenwood Russell, the other schooner was
the Navigator Captained by David Russell. They had arrived from the port of Cleveland. Both
left Buffalo the 25th, together, but the Ohio departed for Cleveland and the Navigator for Erie.
This David Russell may be the source of our surname Russell.
In 2012 DNA testing was conducted on myself, Heber Craig Russell and James Greenwood of
Pennsylvania. James is the 2nd great grandson of George Francis Greenwood, William's brother.
We matched and the scientific analysis stated we shared a Grandfather back one to six
generations. This proves our William Greenwood Russell was born William Greenwood, the son
of William Greenwood and Ann James and that Russell was an assumed surname. Our heritage
past William Greenwood Russell is Greenwood.
William and Elizabeth joined the Mormon Church in Buffalo, NY during April of 1851. They
arrived in Utah with the Isaac Bullock Company in 1852.

By: Heber Craig Russell