J. F. Russell was born in Belle Plaine, Minn., January 6, 1858. He was educated in the common schools; taught school in Scott, Le Sueur and Sibley counties; read law in the office of O'Leary & Hagar at Henderson, Minn.; admitted to the bar in 1881; practiced law at Belle Plaine, Minn., from March 1883, until May, 1886, and was village attorney of Belle Plaine from April 1884, to May, 1886, when he resigned. In May, 1886, he removed to Henderson, Minn., where he formed a partnership with S. & O. Kipp, the firm being known as S. & O. Kipp & Russell. He was appointed village attorney of Henderson in 1886 and served until March, 1887, when he left Henderson and returned to Belle Plaine. He removed to Fairfax in 1890, where he has since been engaged in the practice of law. In 1898 he was elected village attorney. In 1884 he married Ellen Donovan, of Le Sueur county, and has two sons living.