 In 1659 Russell led the dissenting Connecticut that founded the town of Hadley on the east bank at a bend of the Connecticut River.Beginning in 1664, he sheltered the regicides Edward Whalley and William Goffe in his home.He secreted the two wanted men under the roof of his home for more than a decade at great peril to himself and his family, as King Charles II had numerous men searching the colonies for Whalley and Goffe.