Who or what is it?

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 4:14 am

Trivia.........or perhaps more.

In Porter's book there is a photo of a guy named C. C. RUSSELL

Does anyone know who this fellow is?

Don't look in Porter's book. His picture is there but I can not find reference to him or do I remember reading anything about a C. C Russell.

diana · Post by **diana** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 3:03 pm

C.C. Russell does seem to be a mystery man. His picture appears a couple of pages prior to the testimony of Alice Russell, is there some connection there? -- if so, what would it be?

Although Hoffman is not the be-all/ end-all of sources, this is what he has to say about Mr. Russell in Yesterday in Old Fall River:

" A photograph labeled 'C/C/ Russell' appears in Edwin S. Porter's 1893 book about the Borden murders, The Fall River Tragedy. He is not mentioned in the text of that work. Neither is he listed in the Fall River City Directory. His name does not appear in any Fall River, New Bedford or New York City newspaper and no other book on the Borden crimes mentions him. Both his significance in the Borden case and the reason Porter chose to put Russell's picture in his book elude this author." (Hoffman,311)

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:21 pm

I've searched my sources longtime in vain for the elusive C. C. Russell. The closest I came to was the sitting Governor, William Eustis Russell (1891-1894) and thats only because they bear the same last name. They also don't resemble each other.

The mystery man may remain a mystery.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:21 am

I seem to recall something about this being a mistake?
That the picture was mislabeled, or that the person was included accidentally, with no connection to the case.

Does anyone recall that?
Maybe the FRHS knows more?

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:02 pm

Yes, thanks people for the input.....saves me loads of time looking. If you haven't found it, chances are I would never have turned anything up.

He looks quite young in the photo.

Porter makes the mistake in his book of calling Alice Russell with a middle initial of C. (In one or two places, I think)
For a moment I though he may have been related to her......Charles C Russell.(?) But, that was a mistake also, for as you know her middle initial was M.

Perhaps Porter planned not to use him when the book was edited, but forgot to remove his image. Who knows, right?

Thanks for the input.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:03 pm

Yes, thanks people for the input.....saves me loads of time looking. If you haven't found it, chances are I would never have turned anything up.

He looks quite young in the photo.

Porter makes the mistake in his book of calling Alice Russell with a middle initial of C. (In one or two places, I think)
For a moment I though he may have been related to her......Charles C Russell.(?) But, that was a mistake also, for as you know her middle initial was M.

Perhaps Porter planned not to use him when the book was edited, but forgot to remove his image. Who knows, right?

Thanks for the input.

nbcatlover · Post by **nbcatlover** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 9:01 pm

Do you think the above photo is a younger version of this man, Charles Claudius Russell?

http://www.cumberland.org/hfcpc/minister/RusselCC.htm

Perhaps it was just pulled from a newspaper's photo archive when someone said "add Russell's photo."

1bigsteve · Post by **1bigsteve** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:52 pm

I have never heard of a C. C. Russel in this case.

-1bigsteve (o:

stuartwsa · Post by **stuartwsa** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 6:39 pm

Speaking of photos, are there any photos of Edwin Porter that we know of?

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 9:54 pm

Yes, stuartwsa.

I have never seen one.............but.

You may have just hit the nail on the.........well, you bent it anyway.

Would it not be funny if C. C. Russell was Edwin Porter and he placed his photo in the book as a pun?

I'm sure if that was true, the story would have come out and been discussed by his contemporaries.

It's a thought, though

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:22 am

I don't know of any photo of Porter but there is this drawing (from Rebello, p219) which appeared in the Boston Post:

Doesn't look like our C.C. Russell is him.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:27 am

Yes, It appears that I came up with another Russell, one that was at Lizzie's trial.

Charles E Russell was a reporter for the New York Herald and reported on the Borden Case.

He's pretty renowned, so if you google him he's all over.

He's a pulitzer prize winner and ran for mayor, governor, and the senate in New York, and was one of the founders of the NAACP.

Russell was Lizzie's age.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:37 am

I found C. C. Russell

It should read C. E. Russell

If you compare the photo below to C. C. Russell in my post above, I am sure that you will find that there is no doubt that it is C. E. Russell

So the guy in Porter book is Charles Edward Russell a reporter for the New York Herald.

patsy · Post by **patsy** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:06 am

Wow, good find! Looks very much like him and makes sense that it is him, although the ear seems a little different to me.

I did find some C. Russells on the census but trying to sort it out didn't work at all. Porter's book has his picture in chapter XXIV which covers the 4th day. I wonder if there is any significance to his picture being inserted in that section.

nbcatlover · Post by **nbcatlover** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:33 am

I wonder if Porter had included some comment about Russell which got edited out of the book (with the picture remainining)?

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 2:20 pm

Yes, it is significant to note that Porter does not mention any of the Reporters which were at the trial as: fellow reporters.

He does speak about a handful of reporters, but only the ones which had something to do with the case or had significant relevance with it. Such as in the Reagan and Tricky incident. Others Porter mentions were indirectly involved in the case. These included McHenry, Manning, Caldwell, Stevens, etc.

It is important to note that there were upwards of 50 reporters at the Borden trial. Porter does not mention any of them, not one, in connection with reporting the proceedings of the trial, or being present. He also make no mention of Newspapers or other papers or magazines.

It appears that Porter ignores the press at the trial altogether.

Thus, the picture of C. E. Russell is all that more confusing, that it was included.

As nbcatlover notes; there was probably lots of information included that was edited out. This could have included all information about the reporters at the trial. C. E. Russell was probably not edited out in error.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 4:08 am

C. E. Russell...

Bob Gutowski · Post by **Bob Gutowski** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 11:30 am

I LOVED this thread! You guys at your best!

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