Nevada’s Russell family reuniting in Carson City

Members of a deeply rooted Nevada family will converge on Carson City the weekend of July 19-21 for a big family reunion and a chance to visit and share a storied history.

“Myself and my three brothers and my sister, we all grew up here in Carson City,” said Clark Russell, one of five children of late Nevada Gov. Charles Russell and brother to First Judicial District Court Judge James Todd Russell. “We’ve all gone our separate ways… This will be the first time that we’ve all been together with our respective spouses and respective grandkids in Carson City ever. We’ve never, all of us, been together back in Carson City at the same time.

“We have relatives coming in from New Hampshire. My sister is coming in from New York. My brother’s coming in from Texas, and we have nieces and nephews coming in from California and Arizona, all over the western states. We have nieces and nephews and grandkids who have never been to Carson City.”

When asked how many family members were expected, Jennifer Russell, daughter of Clark and a Carson City resident, estimated 50 to 55.

The modern-day Russell family descended from Nevada pioneers and individuals who helped shape the state. Charles Russell was born in Lovelock in 1903. He was a schoolteacher and newspaper editor before becoming a politician. He served two terms as governor in the 1950s and is credited with addressing organized crime in the gaming industry:

“At his second legislative session in 1953, Russell sought substantial new powers for the Nevada Tax Commission (then the gaming licensing board), a residency requirement for licensees and greater transparency. He got some of what he wanted, but not all,” reads an article by Dennis Myers in the Online Nevada Encyclopedia, a publication of Nevada Humanities. “The 1955 legislative session proved more responsive after a scandal involving Meyer Lansky's hidden investment in the Thunderbird Casino. Russell and the legislators did not call for a review of existing licensees to remove mobsters who were already licensed, so organized crime infiltration continued. But at Russell's suggestion, the legislature created the Gaming Control Board to investigate licensing applicants, thus creating the two-stage process that exists today.”

In 1939, Charles Russell married Marjorie Ann Guild, also a descendant of Nevada pioneers. Marjorie’s father, Clark Guild, was a lawyer, judge and founder of the Nevada State Museum.

Marjorie was born in Yerington in 1916. According to the Nevada Women’s History Project, Marjorie lost her mother at the age of 14. She went to school in California and became an accomplished pianist in college. When she returned to Nevada, she met and married the “dashing” Charles Russell, state assemblyman and future governor.

“During those years the (Governor’s) Mansion did not resemble the beautiful structure that exists today. The Mansion’s roof leaked. There was a lack of furniture and Marjorie found herself on a tight budget with no resources to purchase new furniture,” according to the Nevada Women’s History Project. “She had to resort to borrowing furniture from local churches in order to hold some state functions. Her official role was to entertain and attend the many state functions, be available for interviews, preside over teas and charities, and to travel throughout the state’s seventeen counties representing her office as First Lady of the State.

“In addition to those duties, she was also expected to keep the Governor’s Mansion open for public tours. All of this was in addition to her role of wife and mother to five young children in whose many activities she participated in or supervised.”

Marjorie’s children would grow up to make an impact on the Carson City community in different ways. Clark Russell, now 84, helped former Gov. Paul Laxalt in the early 1970s on a new venture: the Ormsby House. Russell managed the downtown property until 1985. He later developed Carson Station (now Max Casino) and Pinon Plaza (now Gold Dust West).

Fast forward decades as members of the Russell family plan to tour the Nevada State Museum and the Governor’s Mansion as part of their family reunion. The goal, according to Jennifer Russell, is to revisit their roots, their history and legacy in the state.

“We were always a pretty close-knit family,” she said.