Russell House

The Russell House

This Bluffdale Home was built in 1828 by John Russell . It is a limestone home built from the bluffs of the Illinois River Valley. John Russell (1793-1865) was born on July 31, 1793, to John Russell and Lucretia Preston. He became a reputable writer having his temperance piece “The Venomous Worm,” published in the McGuffey Reader Collection - Fourth Readers. He married Laura Ann Spencer on Oct. 25, 1818. Their families were some of the earliest settlers of Greene County. He also taught at several schools in the area. His schools were even patronized by the children of some of the best families in St. Louis, for the reason that at that time (1828) St. Louis had no school equal to the Russell Institute, which was about seventy miles from that city. Russell’s home was the first Post Office in Greene County. The home still contains most of the original materials used to construct the property. Electricity was added in 1943; plumbing was added in 1955. The home contains six original fireplaces that are all still in working order. An addition was added in 1963, which now contains the current kitchen.

The home was named from a poem that John Russell wrote. The Russell family has owned the home for six generations. Bill Hobson the current owner is John Russell's great-great grandson. Local lore states that Charles Dickens and Abraham Lincoln were among guests of the family at the house. Joseph Smith, a prominent Mormon, who was killed in Nauvoo also stayed at the home. The Hobson's keep a piece of the Nauvoo temple in the Bluffdale Home. A story by Russell "The Mormoness; or Trials of Mary Maverick, a Narrative of Real Events," was based on the experiences of Levi Merrick. This tale of Mormon suffering was "probably one of the first fictionalized accounts of a Mormon theme.

The home is currently a popular summer vacation area, where families can stay in cabins. If you are interested in vacationing at Bluffdale, please visit www.bluffdalevacationfarm.com for more information.