John Russell (1731-1775) was the third of six children born to John and Elizabeth (Crane) Russell of Whethersfield, Connecticut. Trained as a tailor, John, Jr. recorded in his account book that he first came to Deerfield in 1756. He married Hannah Sheldon two years later and the couple moved to Newington, Connecticut, before returning to Deerfield by 1762. (George Sheldon, History of Deerfield (Deerfield, MA: PVMA, Vol. II, 1896), p. 275.) In additional to carrying on an extensive tailoring business from his home and shop in the village, Russell was licensed to sell liquor and other goods. He was a Lieutenant in Deerfield's militia company on the eve of the American Revolution in 1775 and died in the same year, aged 44.
John Russell was not an enslaver, but numerous enslaved and free African Americans appear in his accounts over a 13-year period, from 1762 until Russell's death in 1775.
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