To Benjamin Franklin from Jonathan Williams, 17 November 1764
From Jonathan Williams
ALS: American Philosophical Society
Boston, Novr the 17: 1764
Honoured Sir
Mr. Charles Russel8 the Bearer hereof applies to me for a few Lines to Make him known to you. He is Son of the Honourable James Russel Esquire of Charlestown. Comes home to perfect His practice as a Physican, in one of the Hospotals, and being a Gentleman of good Character here I Beg Leave to recommend Him to your Civilities as a Stranger in the City of London in Doing Which you Will Oblige your Dutifull Nephew and Humble servant
Jona Williams
8. Charles Russell (1738–1780), A.B., Harvard, 1757, took his medical degree at Marischal College, Aberdeen, in 1765. Returning to America, he practiced at Lincoln, Mass. In 1768 he married Elizabeth Vassall. A Loyalist whose property was confiscated by the Massachusetts Legislature, he settled in Antigua in 1775. Russell’s father, James (1715–1798), was a respected public officeholder and judge who was appointed a mandamus councilor by Hutchinson, but refused to take the oath of office. The Charlestown bridge was built through his efforts. New Eng. Hist. and Geneal. Reg., XVII (1863), 125–6; E. A. Jones, The Loyalists of Massachusetts (London, 1930), p. 253; Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of the Loyalists of the American Revolution (Boston, 1864), II, 246–7.