Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/813

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

Bachelor of Laws was conferred in 1883, and that of Master of Laws in 1884. He en- tered the Department of Justice, Washing- ton, District of Columbia, in 1886, and ar- gued many French spoliation cases. He was the legal adviser of the Dockery Joint Congressional Commission, 1893-95; in general legal practice, including supreme court work, 1895-1901 ; special assistant at- torne3^-general, in charge of insular and ter- ritorial affairs, 1902 to December 19, 1905 ; assistant attorney-general of the United States, 1905-10; appointed envoy extra- ordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Persia, December 21, 1909. He investigated and reported on the reconcentrado starva- tion and military situation in Cuba, Decem- ber and January, 1897-98; was legal adviser to the P. R. Evacuation Commission, Au- gust-October, 1898 ; argued the Maine ex- plosion cases, and the Spanish claims com- mission, 1901 ; was sent by Attorney-Gen- eral Knox to Paris in 1902, to investigate the Panama Canal title ; sent to Paris, March, 1904, to eft'ect the transfer of the title and property of the Panama Canal to the LTnited States and forty million dollars in gold to France, arranged for with J. Pier- pont Morgan in Paris ; in May, 1904, he was sent to Panama as legal adviser of the United States government, of the canal zone ; he revisited Cuba to prepare the case of the Countess O'Reilly versus General John R. Brooke, concerning her Havana slaughter house monopoly ; he was sent to investigate peonage slavery in the southern states in October, 1906. As an author Mr. Russell won fame by his play "Cuba Libre," which made its appearance in 1897, and "Days of the Seasons," which appeared in 1909. Mr. Russell married (first) Lucy Floyd, daughter of Alfred D. and Virginia (McLaurn) Mosby, and sister of Colonel Mosby, who won fame during the Civil war; he married (second) October i, 1885, Lelia James, a sister of his first wife. Wil- liam H. Mosby, another brother of Mrs. Russell, was also prominent in the Confed- erate army during the Civil war. Children : John Mosby, of further mention, and Lucv Virginia, born in Washington, District of Columbia, June 30, 1889, is unmarried.

John Mosby Russell, son of Hon. Charles Wells and Lucy Floyd (Mosby) Russell, was born in Washington. District of Co- lumbia, November 25, 1884. The public

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schools of his native city furnished his ele- mentary education, and from them he went to the Randolph-Macon Academy, the Rock- hill College, where he spent four years, and the Georgetown University, in Washing- ton, District of Columbia. In 1902 he ma- triculated at the University of Virginia, where he took an elective course, and was graduated from this institution in the class of 1906. He studied law in the state of West \'irginia, was engaged in practice there for a short time, then in 1907, came to New York City, with which place he has been legally identified since that time, being ad- mitted to the New York bar in 1908. He is rapidly forging his way to the front ranks of his profession, and appears to have in- herited in large measure the legal ability which has distinguished his father. In poli- tical matters he gives his support to the Democratic party, and he is a member of a number of organizations of varied char- acter and scope, among them being the fol- lowing named : The New York County Law Association, Southern Society of New York, Sons of Confederate \'eterans, and the Athletic Club of New York. The re- ligious affiliations of Mr. Russell are with the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Russell has well equipped offices for the practice of his profession at No. in Broadway, New York City, and, while he has been estab- lished here comparatively few years, he has already gained a very satisfactory amount of patronage.

Whitmell Pugh Tunstall. Whitmell Pugh Tunstall, of Pittsylvania county, Vir- ginia, lawyer, orator and distinguished gentleman, was a native of Belle Grove, that county, and died and was buried there. He came of a long line of distinguished an- cestors, was a son of Colonel William Tun- stall and his wife, Sarah Winifred Pugh, a grandson of Colonel William and Betsey ( Barker) Tunstall, descended from Sir Owen Glendowe (see Barker). He was also descended from Colonel William Scott Pugh, whose father was Colonel Thomas Pugh, Sr., and whose mother was Mary (Scott) Pugh. He was also descended from Colonel John and Martha (Whitmell) Hill, the last named a daughter of Colonel Thomas and Elizabeth (Bryan) Whitmell.

Whitmell P. Tunstall was for many years a member of the Virginia legislature, and