William Huntington Russell (12 August 180919 May 1885) was an American businessman, educator, and politician. Notably, he was a co-founder of the Yale University secret society Skull and Bones, along with Alphonso Taft. Early life Russell was born in Middletown, Connecticut on 12 August 1809. He was the eighth of thirteen children born to Mary (née Huntington) Russell (1769–1857) and Matthew Talcott Russell (1761–1828), a Justice of the Peace who served as the State's Attorney for Middlesex County and the treasurer of Middletown. Among his siblings were sisters Mary Huntington Russell and Harriet Russell (the wife of George Larned). He was a descendant of several old New England families, including those of Huntington, Pierpont, Hooker, Willett, Bingham, and Russell. His ancestor, Rev. Noadiah Russell, was a founder and original trustee of Yale College. William's older cousin, Samuel Russell, founded the successful merchant trading firm Russell & Co. in 1823, but William was never associated with this firm. Russell was a cadet at Alden Partridge's American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy (later Norwich University) from 1826 until graduation in 1828, where he was taught under strict military discipline. In 1828, William's father died. Despite being under severe financial restraints, he entered Yale College, graduating in 1833. Career Russell had planned on entering the ministry, but his financial problems forced him to obtain an immediate income through teaching. Therefore, from September 1833 to May 1835, he taught in Princeton, New Jersey before entering a tutorship at Yale. In September 1836, he opened a private prep school for boys in a small dwelling house. The school would become known as the New Haven Collegiate and Commercial Institute. To begin with, the school was only attended by a small number of boys, but by the time of Russell's death the school had become well known and had graduated around 4,000 boys. While running the Institute, Russell returned to Yale where was graduated from the Yale School of Medicine in 1838 with a M.D. degree. In about 1840, Russell introduced a very thorough military drill and discipline into his school. He foresaw a Civil War in the future, and wanted to make sure his boys were prepared to fight for the Union. His students were so well schooled in military affairs that on the outbreak of the Civil War some were enlisted as drill instructors. He also served on the Board of Visitors appointed by