 Russell had arrived in Minnesota Territory in 1854 as a 14-year-old orphaned by a cholera outbreak that killed hundreds aboard their steamboat.He served as a scout during the Dakota War of 1862 and moved to Lake City in 1881, where he began publishing the "Graph-Sentinel" newspaper.Russell's residency was apparently brief because tax records show the house in the hands of Lyman and Melissa Buck as of 1882, The Bucks were partners in the Seely & Buck dry goods store, with Melissa continuing in the business after Lyman died in 1890.