Charles Russell was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1739, the son of James and Catharine (Graves) Russell. He graduated from Harvard in 1757 and married Elizabeth Vassall, the daughter of Henry Vassall and Penelope (Royall) Vassall. His daughter Penelope became the third wife of Theodore Sedgwick. Dr. Russell practiced medicine in Charlestown and Lincoln and studied abroad in London and Aberdeen. He was appointed register of the Vice-Admiralty Court in 1771. In 1775 he volunteered to care for the wounded after the Battle of Bunker Hill. A loyalist, he sought asylum in Antigua in 1774 and was proscribed by the act of October 16, 1778. He died in Antigua in 1780.