William Russell (governor)
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William Eustis Russell (January 6, 1857 - July 16, 1896) was a U.S. political figure. He served as Democratic governor of Massachusetts between 1891 and 1894, becoming the youngest person ever elected Governor (age 34).
Russell was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard College in 1877, and received his law degree from the Boston University School of Law. He was Mayor of Cambridge 1884-1887, during which time he solicited a sizeable donation from philanthropist Frederick Hastings Rindge for Cambridge City Hall, a Manual Training School (now Cambridge Rindge and Latin School), and Cambridge's library. He also twice ran unsuccessfully for Governor, defeated by Oliver Ames and John Quincy Adams Brackett.
As Governor, Russell eliminated poll taxes in Massachusetts and began an inheritance tax. He advocated and signed a series of pro-labor laws and established the Trustees of Reservations to preserve open spaces. Russell's son, William Manning Russell, later also became Mayor of Cambridge and represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress in the 1930s.
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