Elizabeth Henry Campbell Russell

Career

In 1788 Russell moved to Saltville with William, where they carried on the manufacture of salt. The Russells converted to Methodism in 1788. After William's death in 1793, Russell spent the remainder of her life fostering Methodism in southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee. Francis Asbury and various Circuit Riders stopped regularly at her home. She is credited with bringing Methodism to western Virginia and northeastern Tennessee. In 1812 she moved to Chilhowie, Virginia, to be nearer the Great Road. She died on March 18, 1825, and is buried in the Aspenvale Cemetery in Seven Mile Ford, Virginia. The Elizabeth Cemetery in Saltville, Virginia is named after her.

Madame Russell is probably more eminent in the Methodist pioneer history of America than any other woman. In Saltville, in 1824, a Methodist church, Elizabeth Church, was dedicated in her name. In 1898 construction was begun on a new Methodist church, located a few feet from the then still standing Russell home. That church, Madam Russell Memorial United Methodist Church, stands today as a monument to Mrs. Russell, the region's earliest religious leader, and to the pioneer Methodist Movement in the Holston Territory of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. In present day Saltville, there now stands a beautiful stone building named 'Madam Russell Methodist Church.' Nearby is a replica of the original log cabin where the Russell's had lived. This is owned by the church. The stone doorstep of the church is said to have been the hearth in the Russell cabin.

— Madam Russell by Gladys Stallard