Samuel Wadsworth Russell

Samuel Russell was born in Middleton, Connecticut. He began his career working as apprentice in the merchant firms of Whittlesey & Alsop and Samuel Wetmore in Middletown, and from 1810 in the shipping company Hull, Griswold and Company in New York. He arrived in Canton in 1819 and founded his own company in 1824 dealing mostly in silks, tea and opium. Russel&Co. eventually became the largest and most important American trading house and opium dealer in China from 1842 to its closure in 1891. With capital acquired in opium trade, Russell established Russell Manufacturing Company in 1830. The company has manufactured and provided the armies with in both world wars. His mansion in Middletown was filled with the gifts from the Hong merchants.