Russell Errett

Russell Errett
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 22nd district
In office March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1883
Preceded by	James Herron Hopkins
Succeeded by	James Herron Hopkins
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
In office 1867
Personal details
Born	November 10, 1817 New York City, New York
Died	April 7, 1891 (aged 73) Carnegie, Pennsylvania
Political party	Republican

Russell Errett (November 10, 1817 – April 7, 1891) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Biography

Russell Errett was born in New York City. In 1829 he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and became engaged in newspaper work. Among the papers he edited were the Pittsburgh Daily Sun, a small penny journal; the Washington Patriot, an anti-slavery weekly of Washington, Pennsylvania; and the Pittsburgh Gazette.^[1] He was elected comptroller of Pittsburgh in 1860. He served as clerk of the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1860, 1861, and 1872 to 1876. During the American Civil War, Errett was appointed additional paymaster in the United States Army in 1861 and served until mustered out in 1866. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1867. He was appointed assessor of internal revenue in 1869, and served until 1873. He conducted the Pittsburgh Commercial newspaper from 1873 to 1876.^[2]

Errett was elected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, and Forty-seventh Congresses. He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings during the Forty-seventh Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882. He was appointed by President Chester A. Arthur as United States pension agent at Pittsburgh in 1883 and served in this capacity until May 1887, He died in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, in 1891. Interment in Chartiers Cemetery.

Russell and his younger brother, Isaac, first generation Americans on both paternal and maternal sides, were friends of Presidents James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. They were also acquainted with Abraham Lincoln. The Errett brothers were both prolific writers on theology. Russell, along with his brother, founded the Christian Standard and through their editorial and writing skills compiled one of the largest American doctrinal commentaries on Christian beliefs of the period, embodying much of what is known as the American Restoration Movement. The publisher who today uses the name Christian Standard is not affiliated with the Errett family and has not received their endorsement.

References

1. Thomas, Clarke M. (2005). Front-Page Pittsburgh: Two Hundred Years of the Post-Gazette. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 0-8229-4248-8.
2. Griswold, Ada Tyng (1911). Annotated Catalogue of Newspaper Files in the Library of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (Second ed.). p. 258.

• United States Congress. "Russell Errett (id: E000207)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-02-14
• The Political Graveyard