The Cogswells in America - citizen hylbom blog

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JOHN DENISON RUSS, M. D.
John Denison Russ, the only child o£ Dr. Paiker and Elizabeth (Cogswell) Riiss, was
born Sept. I, iSoi, in Chebacco Parish, Ipswich, -Mass. His father was a practising physician
and an accomplished classical educator.
His grandmother, Elizabeth (Wise) Cogswell, was the granddaughter of Rev. John Wise,
the first ordained minister of Chebacco Parish. Tpswich. He was the minister who was tried
and imprisoned in Boston, Aug., 16S7, for publicly advising his parishioners to resist the col-
lection of a tax imposed by Gov. Sir Edmund Andros. Two years later Andros was arrested
and sent ignominiously back to England.
The mother of Elizabeth (Wise) Cogswell was daughter of Col. John and Mary (Lever-
ett) Denison. Col. John Denison was son of Rev. John and Elizabeth (.Saltonstall) Denison,
and the great-grandson of both (lov. Thomas Dudley and .Sir Richard Saltonstall. His wife,
.Mary (Leverett) Denison, was the daughter of Hon. John Leverett, F. R. S., President of
Harvard College, and great-granddaughter of Sir John Leverett, Governor of Massachusetts,
1673-9. John Denison Russ, in fitting for college, was a classmate of Hon. Rufus Choatc
under Dr. Abbott, of Exeter, N. H. He gr.iduated from Yale College in 1S23; was called by
his college mates "Duke of Essex." He i>nrsned his medical studies at IJowdoin College and
other medical schools in Baltimore, Boston, and New Haven, and received his medical degree
from Vale College in 1S25. He spent a year in Europe, in the hospitals of Paris, London,
Edinburgh, and Dublin, and on his return commenced jnactice in New York City. Possessing
an anijile estate, he gratified his philanthropy by rendering wide medical service without
charge. His .sympathy for human suffering became a religious passion.
Dr. Russ, in 1S27, took an active part in aid of the Greeks, in their desperate struggle for
libertv against the Turks. He took charge of the brig "Statesman " from Boston, freighted
with medical and other store.s, and proceeded to Greece as an almoner to the suffering
l)atriots. He remained in Greece three years, devoting himself to this work. So serviceable
was Dr. Russ to the Greeks that the Turks placed a price on his head of twenty thousand
piaster^. On his return to America he visited Sicily, Italy, Malta, and France. He brought
the first intelligence of the French Revolution of that year to this country. He recommenced
practice in Xew York City. His residence for some time was a cottage near the site of the
Clarendon Hotel. He never .sent a bill to any patient for service. He became interested in
the instruction of the blind. An institution for the blind was incorporated, 1S39, in Massachusetts,
and one in Xew York in the spring of 1S31. But as yet no blind person had been
taught on this continent, and no one could be obtained who knew how to give them instruc-
tion. And when the humane design was about to be relinquished, Dr. Russ offered his service,
having obtained some idea of such instruction in Europe. He commenced, March 15, 1S32, to
instruct three blind boys from the almshouse in Xew 'S'ork; May ig there were six under his
instruction, which was the first attempt of the kind in America. Dr. Russ was invited to go to
Boston and organize the institution for the lilind in that city, but declined, and Dr. Howe was
appointed. He was the first to introduce maps with raised surface for the blind. In the
autnnni of 1832 he exhibited to the public, in City Hotel, his methods of instructing the blind,
and made another exhibition at Rev. Dr. McMurray's church on Market Street. June 5,
1S33. To him is due the honor of establishing the Institution for the lilind in Xew York.
Dr. Russ assisted, 1843, in the organization of the Xew York Prison .Association. He
wrote a verv popular jjajier on prison discipline, which was mentioned by CJeorge .Sumner, Esq.,
brother uf Hon. Charles Sumner, at the First Prison Congress in Italy, as the ablest work on
that subject since Livingston's famous " Penal Code."
Dr. Russ was interested in the gradual emancipation of the slaves, and wrote a leUer to
lion. Henry Clay, then I'resident of the Colonization Society, stating his pl.in. He was
elected, 1S4S, a member of the Board of Education of the city of Xew York, and was largely
instrumental in the establishment of the Xew York Juvenile .\sylum, of which he was the
efficient superintendent for seven years, until he resigned in 1S5S. He assisted in founding
several other charitable institntion> in New York. In 1.S50. with ihc co.upcraiion of his wife