William H. Russell - Palmyra, MO - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

County of grave: Marion County
Location of grave: 3740 Highway BB, Greenwood Cemetery, Palmyra

Text on Monument/Grave Stone:

THE PONY EXPRESS

HONOUR TO
WILLIAM H. RUSSELL
January 31, 1812 -- -- -- September 10, 1872

He was a member of the firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell, founders, owners and operators of the Pony Express.

This marks his grave.

PONY RIDERS OATH
I do hereby swear before the Great Living God, that during my engagement, and while I am an employee of Russell, Majors and Waddell, I will under no circumstances, use profane language, that I will drink no intoxicating liquors, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employee of the firm, and that in every respect I will conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct my acts as to win the confidence of my employers, so help me God.

ERECTED BY W.H. RUSSELL MEMORIAL COMMITTEE
SEPTEMBER 1968

J.T. HAYDEN     D.H. SOSEY    H.C. JACOBS
W.J. FROHN    R.F. DAVIS    C.F. POAGE
H.L. GILBERT

---

"William Russell was the company's front man, or salesmen, hustling contracts. He had learned frontier merchandising from the ground up during his teenage years when he was employed as a clerk. At the age of 26, he opened a store, Allen, Russell, and Company. Later, he opened another store, Bullard and Russell that was successful enough to allow him to purchase property. In 1847, he seized the opportunity to join with another company and send a wagon train to Santa Fe. This venture blossomed into the freighting business.

"Russell was high-spirited, adventurous, and somewhat reckless. Yet he was one of the most respected businessmen in Missouri. His career had earned him the title of "Napoleon of the West" and afforded him the ability to live in high style. He built a 20-room mansion, complete with a formal garden, stable and coach house. Dinner at the Russell home was a formal affair. Russell himself always appeared splendidly attired in an elegant black suit.

"The after years of Russell, Majors, and Waddell were clouded by disappointment, hardship, and obscurity.

"Russell's efforts to recoup his shattered fortunes in Colorado resulted in total failure. On April 1, 1865, he assigned his assets to James P. Rogers and Charles Benjamin Russell, his son, for the benefit of creditors. Having done this he went back to New York where for a time he engaged in the brokerage business in partnership with Thomas P. Akers. Unfortunately this was not a success either.

"Eventually he was reduced to doing anything he could find. His old haunts knew him no more. Bankers and financiers who once fawned upon him, were now too busy to even grant him an interview, and his name, once a symbol for financial wizardry, was forgotten. When in due time his health failed he was taken to the home of his daughter, Mrs. Webster M. Samuel in St. Louis. His last home was with his son, John W. in Palmyra, Missouri, where he died September 10, 1872, in his sixtieth year. He is buried in Palmyra in the Greenwood Cemetery. His gravesite notes his involvement with the Pony Express. ~ text and photos at this xphomestation

Description: "William Hepburn Russell (1812–1872) is often credited along with Alexander Majors and William B. Waddell as the founders, owners, and operators of the Pony Express. His public life is one of numerous business ventures, some successful and some failed. While Russell, described as a good-looking man, lived the majority of his life on the edge on the western frontier, he was always more at home in the upper-class settings of the East coast" "Russell teamed with Waddell and Alexander Majors on December 28, 1854 to form the corporation of Russell, Majors, and Waddell. Acting as the firm's representative in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York, he lobbied for contracts with the War Department as well as financing from banks and other, less reputable sources. This partnership later formed the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company on November 19, 1859, with the hope of receiving a mail contract. Under charter from the Kansas legislature, the Pony Express(as the C.O.C. & P.P.E Company came to be known) began operations on April 3, 1860. This business venture would prove to be a failure, losing upwards of $1,000 a day. By October 1861, the Pony Express was out of business due to the completion of the telegraph lines and the unwillingness of the national government to provide further funding. Russell became mixed up in a scandal involving Secretary of War John Buchanan Floyd and Godard Bailey, a clerk for the Department of Interior. After requesting and being denied funding for the Levenworth & Pike’s Peak Express Company (forerunner to the C.O.C. & P.P.E.C) from Floyd in 1858, Russell requested aid from Bailey. Through a series of illegal transactions, the money was obtained from the Indian Trust Fund. However, on December 1, 1860, Bailey confessed to Floyd and was arrested and brought to trial along with Russell. Although the verdict was largely covered up by the start of the American Civil War, Russell and the Company had lost face" "Deep in debt and without his previous social connections, Russell attempted to regain his fortunes in a Colorado gold mining venture that resulted in failure. His assets were sold in April 1865 to pay off creditors. He went to a brokerage partnership with Thomas P. Akers in New York, a venture that also failed. Due to failing health he returned to Missouri to live first with his daughter in St. Louis and then with his son in Palmyra where he died September 10, 1872, at age 60" ~ Wikipedia Date of birth: 01/31/1812 Date of death: 09/10/1872 Area of notoriety: Historical Figure Marker Type: Monument Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: dawn to dusk Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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