John M. Russell Fund

In 1778, a missionary preacher led the first service held in the Raccoon Presbyterian Church of Candor, a farming village in Washington County, Pa. Since then, three new churches have been built on the site of that first meeting house, the most recent constructed in 1872.

The adjoining cemetery attests to the long history of the church. Weathered markers cover the hillside, and church historians tell of six unmarked graves of early settlers who were killed by Native American tribes.

Attorney John M. Russell was born into these traditions of the Raccoon Presbyterian Church. His grandfather, John S. Russell, was an early member of the church, and his father, W.S. Russell, was a member of the church’s fourth pastorate.

Although Russell later moved to Pittsburgh, he remained close to the church in Candor. The John M. Russell fund was created to provide for the Church, so that “the preaching of the Gospel” at the Raccoon Presbyterian Church of Candor would continue well after his death in 1963. Russell, his father and his grandfather are all buried in the church’s adjacent cemetery.