[Apologetics] ONLY CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL FINANCIAL BIOGRAPHY AVAILABLE

[Anonymous]

ONLY CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL FINANCIAL BIOGRAPHY AVAILABLE

http://jwdivorces.bravehost.com/russell.html

EXCERPTS:


NINEVEH COACH & CAR COMPANY, INC.

In June 1914, at a time when Charles Taze Russell and his WatchTower
Society Staff were publicly preaching that the Second Advent was going
to occur in October 1914, NINEVEH COACH & CAR COMPANY, INC., was
founded in the small hamlet of Nineveh, New York, near Binghamton, New
York, with an initial capitalization of $15,000.00 -- 150 shares at
$100.00 par. The three "paper" incorporators were George B. Raymond,
who used the WatchTower Society's main address, and a local painter
and a local mechanic, who both were probably also local Russellites.
The corporation was initially listed as a manufacturer and dealer of
motors, engines, vehicles, boats, etc.

Interestingly, in December 1914, two vehicles owned by Charles Taze
Russell, which were valued at $11,000.00 ($260,000.00 in today's
money), were destroyed by fire at the local railyard. It is not known
if these were two uncompleted chassis coming in or two finished
vehicles going out, but the values would suggest that they were
finished product heading somewhere via rail. Would trucks for
Russell's Brooklyn operations need to be purchased through this
subsidiary, customized, or shipped by rail to Brooklyn? Could these
two vehicles have been customized for Russell's gold mining operation
in California, or even some other yet-to-be-identified venture?

In June 1915, at a time when Charles Taze Russell and his WatchTower
Society Staff were publicly preaching that the Second Advent was going
to occur in October 1915, capitalization was increased to $150,000.00
(outstanding shares increased to 1500), so as to expand the facilities
to manufacture "automobile bodies". The company did in fact
manufacture some funeral hearses, fire engines, and other motorized
vehicles. However, by 1916, at least one creditor had already sued
them in local court, and by 1919, the local mortgage holder on the
Nineveh location had already foreclosed and had already obtained a
court-ordered sale of the property. Interestingly, not long after
after the death of Charles Taze Russell in October 1916, George
Raymond moved to Texas -- reportedly a man of some wealth.


***

PASTOR RUSSELL'S SECRET GOLDMINE

Rumored to have privately claimed to have been led to it by GOD to
help finance his financially-struggling ministry, Charles Taze Russell
owned and operated a secret gold mining operation at Soda Springs,
near Baker, California, from around October 1914 until his death in
October 1916, or shortly thereafter. In 1917, a geologist working for
the U.S. Geological Survey, reported the site abandoned.

The January 1, 1915 WATCHTOWER magazine, which would have been printed
in early December 1914, with copy written in November 1914, or
earlier, included this "anticipatory" and "nervous" HEADING (emphasis
ours):
WHAT ABOUT THE MONEY SUPPLY?

But some may say, "Did we not read between the lines in the Society's
Annual Report that the financial streams were drying up? And have we
not heard that thirteen [PHOTO-DRAMAS OF CREATION] have been
withdrawn, ...

Our reply is that these things are so, but that we have a reason to
surmise that God intends to send us in His own way further financial
support, that His Message may go forth with great force throughout the
whole world! With this in view, we are having all the DRAMAS
overhauled and put into good order, anticipating that the funds to
operate them will be in our hands shortly. ...

(Amusingly, WATCHTOWER magazine readers should have understood that
Russell had DECEPTIVELY authored this blurp even before readers had
received the 1914 Annual Report, since the Annual Report had just been
published in the previous December 15, 1914 issue.)

No gold -- or at least no significant amount of gold -- was ever
mined. Multiple reports indicate that Russell lost anywhere from
$30,000.00 to $50,000.00 (about $700,000.00 to $1,200,000.00 in
today's money) at a time when Russell was in critical need of
additional finances -- not less. Five or more 15' x 60' wooden
buildings were constructed at Soda Springs to service the miners
working in the nearby hills. The concrete foundations of some of those
buildings still exist, as does physical evidence of the miner's
religious preoccupation. Most of the laborers reportedly were
"Germans", and it is believed that some or all may have been brought
to Soda Springs from Germany -- possibly due to the start of World War
1. Some German miners settled in the San Bernardino area after
Russell's mining operations were abandoned, and one talked about his
experience decades later.

THE BROOKLYN EAGLE
September 25, 1914

J. [F.] Rutherford Strongly Pro-German.
(Interview done after Judge Rutherford Disembarked from Mauretania.)

Some pro-German sentiment was expressed by the homecoming
Brooklynites, especially by Joseph [F.] Rutherford of 10 Orange
Street. Mr. Rutherford was told that dispatches about the war were
meager, and he replied that it was not surprising.

"London is coloring these dispatches," he said, "and I am certain that
Germany has done a great deal more than reports have credited her
with. By the way, have any returning Americans protested at their
treatment by the Germans?"

When he was told that the majority expressed pleasure at their
treatment, he said that reports in England were otherwise.

"I was in Hamburg when war broke out and I don't believe I ever would
have got out of the station there if it hadn't been for German
courtesy. A man in a car there told me to come with him, and that
alone got me out. The German sentiment is not military, as has been
reported, but is peace-loving. There has been so much intrigue, and I
was in a position to know about it, in England that I suspect and
believe that the breaking of the neutrality of Belgium was only an
English pretext".


This secret gold mine, along with Russell's "movie business", and
possibly other Dubbs-connected investments in California, were likely
the reason that Russell sent Judge Rutherford to live and work in
California in mid 1915 -- to secretly keep an eye on all of Russell's
West Coast business operations, while also performing "Pilgrim" visits
for the WatchTower Society. However, by Summer 1916, rumors of
Russell's secret gold mine were leaking beyond Russell's inner circle
to the rank-n-file, whom Russell did not want to learn about such.
Russell included this "NOTICE" in the September 1, 1916 issue of his
WATCHTOWER magazine in an attempt to throw off the bloodhounds:

"THIS ONE THING" THE SOCIETY DOES


Brethren write us from time to time respecting inventions, patents,
mining claims, etc., desiring that THE WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT
SOCIETY should join with them in the development of these -- kindly
offering the principal portion of all the profits.

We greatly appreciate these kind offers, the generous hearts behind
them, and the love for the Truth and its service thus manifested. But
we are obliged to refuse all such offers, because the Society engages
in no kind of business for profit. It confines its business
transactions to financiering the Pilgrim Work, publishing the
SCRIPTURE STUDIES, etc., and supplying them at cost or below cost;
publishing THE WATCH TOWER, publishing the BIBLE STUDENTS MONTHLY,
etc., and in the presentation, and formerly in the showing, of the
PHOTO-DRAMA OF CREATION.

The Society engages in no kind of mining or patent business or
speculations. The money under its control comes from the Lord's
consecrated people, and often represents hard-earned funds and
self-sacrificing economy; it is used strictly and only for the
forwarding of the Truth according to the best judgment of the
executive officers.

This does not mean any unwillingness to counsel with any of the
brethren in respect to their earthly affairs and interests. We are
glad to give such advice as we may be able to give on every matter,
temporal or spiritual, involving the interests of the Lord's
consecrated saints.

Again, no gold -- or at least no significant amount of gold -- was
mined during the two failed mining seasons of 1914-15 and 1915-16. By
mid 1916, the question was, Would Pastor Russell throw good money
after bad, and order the financing of a third mining season from Fall
1916 until Summer 1917? In September 1916, a series of WatchTower
Conventions had been conveniently scheduled for the West Coast, which
Russell's main followers from across the United States followed stop
to stop via train caravan. It was during the California portion of
this WatchTower Convention tour that Charles Taze Russell, Judge
Rutherford, and the balance of Russell's "true inner circle" quietly
slipped off from the main crowd, traveled to Soda Springs, and
conferenced as to whether to finance a third mining season. Russell's
inner circle was deeply split on the issue, and while Russell
apparently was willing to give the gold mining operation a third
season, those against it were slowly wearing Russell down.

We are not certain where either Pastor Russell or Judge Rutherford
stood on the gold mine issue by mid-October 1916. Pastor Russell had
no more returned to WatchTower HQ in late September before he planned
another trip back to the gold mine in late October. At the same time
that Russell departed Brooklyn on October 16, 1916, Russell had
ordered Judge Rutherford to return to Brooklyn from California. In
fact, Rutherford was at WatchTower HQ on Saturday, October 28, when
Russell and Menta Sturgeon were conducting unknown business at Soda
Springs.
"All day Saturday, under severe pain, in great weakness, with
obstructions piling up before him every moment, he struggled with
business propositions like a giant. ... Friends had disappointed him,
and he wondered if the Lord were not against him in some things. --
Menta Sturgeon.
In one way or another, the stress and strain of this latest failure in
a chain of failures was more than Charles Taze Russell could bear.
This is not just our speculation, it was the speculation of some of
Russell's closest followers at Watch Tower HQ after Russell's death
only three days after conducting business at the gold mine -- on
Tuesday, October 31, 1916.

Judge Rutherford left WatchTower HQ on Sunday to attend a Pilgrim
meeting at Oakland, Maryland on Monday. Rutherford left Maryland on
Tuesday to travel to Ohio, where he conducted business for the
WatchTower Society on Wednesday. It may very well have been this
business transaction which Rutherford years later boasted of saving
the Society $11,000.00. Rutherford probably had already learned of
Russell's death via media reports on Wednesday morning by the time
that he received A. H. MacMillan's infamous telegram that, "The Old
Man is dead." Rutherford made it back to Brooklyn by Friday, where he
immediately began to plot and scheme his takeover of the now
leaderless WatchTower Society. (For Jehovah's Witnesses and other
readers who have NO CLUE about the REAL history of the WatchTower
Society and its principal characters, Joe Rutherford had an extensive
background in rural Missouri Democrat Party politics that apparently
extended back to his formative years. Rutherford had intensely
participated in not only primary and general elections, but also
intra-party politics and elections. Just off the top of our heads, we
recall that in Rutherford's adult years that he had been County
Chairman of at least one Presidential campaign and of at least one
Gubernatorial campaign. Years of firsthand involvement in dirty,
crooked intra-party politics, including rigging county and state
conventions and political platforms, had prepared Rutherford perfectly
for pushing out the passive half-wits whom Charles Taze Russell had
kept on the WatchTower Society's Board of Directors and in WatchTower
Society management positions. JW Readers once again should understand
that the WatchTower Society's version of this scandal as published in
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES: PROCLAIMERS OF GOD'S KINGDOM is yet another
"whitewash" of what actually occurred.)

***

Charles Taze Russell and the WatchTower Society were in deep business
distress after the "busted" October 1914 prophecy failure, and
particularly after the "busted" October 1915 prophecy failure. Even
Russell himself probably assumed that his decades-old "religion
business" was all but finished. The "milk cows" were "dry", and the
"sheep" had been completely "fleeced". Seeing no further use for many
of the deadweights who surrounded him at Brooklyn Bethel, Russell
began dismissing all but absolutely necessay staff from Watch Tower
Society Headquarters -- even though the dismissed "volunteers" were
receiving nothing but room, board, and a $10.00 / $11.00 monthly
allowance. Even Russell's closest co-conspirator henchmen were
hustling around looking for their next job.

All of this is related to readers to preface a SHOCKING FACT. Readers
should further understand that this FACT does not negate anything
related thus far about the financial distress of either the WatchTower
Society, nor of Charles Taze Russell himself, personally. Rather,
readers should attempt to reconcile the following seeming
"contradiction" with everything else related on this webpage -- even
the possibility that Russell may have committed suicide due to the
financial distress of both himself and his empire. One last
preliminary fact. Since 1898, and up until the year 2011, Russell and
his followers have repeatedly made much of the fact that Russell
supposedly had gradually donated all of his personal assets to the
WatchTower Society, and that Russell died nearly penniless. What the
WatchTower Society and Russellites never explain is that once Russell
attained "Prophet" status, the elderly Russell had little need for the
assets which he donated to an organization over which he also was the
"dictator". As for disposable "cash", even Russell boasted of
incidents where followers shoved cash and checks into his pockets.
NOW, for the SHOCKING FACT. Charles Taze Russell had a small "private"
safe in the "parlor" of his private quarters at WatchTower Society
Headquarters. What do you suppose was found in that private safe after
Russell's death? $96,000.00 in cash. Let's put that in context. In
today's money, that is equivalent to $2,091,000.00 in CASH (Halfhill).
Quite a nice "petty cash" fund for a 64 year old man in 1916. What do
you suppose today's Jehovah's Witnesses would think and say if Benny
Hinn spent all of 2013 proclaiming financial distress, and even
slashed his staff and operations, and then CNN announced that Benny
Hinn had just died, and $2,091,000.00 in cash was found in his private
safe?

Was Charles Taze Russell just another "P.T. Barnum", or was he even
something worse than that, or was Russell an innocent Prophet raised
up by GOD? You be the judge.

EPILOGUE:  Does anyone know to where Judge Rutherford traveled soon
after Russell's funeral, and what kind of deal was undoubtedly cut to
make certain that everything went smoothly with "Don Corleone's"
family -- which it did, completely and absolutely. Does anyone really
believe that a "payoff" did not occur? From where did the "payoff"
come?

In fact, after traveling to the funeral of Charles Taze Russell in
Pittsburgh, it was reported that Maria Russell then traveled to NYC to
hire an attorney to pursue any interests that she might have in assets
in New York state which had belonged to Charles Taze Russell, the
WatchTower Society, or the other legal entities that Russell used to
hide assets from her. It is possible that Maria did the same thing
before leaving Pittsburgh regarding any remaining assets in that
state.

Up until now, nearly all who have studied this period of Watch Tower
Society history have scratched their heads as to how someone with the
personality of a rock managed to take over a religious movement
founded by a bigger-than-life, charismatic CULT FIGURE???  EASY!!!
Never forget the adage to, "FOLLOW THE MONEY". Rutherford was the
"consigliere".  Rutherford not only knew where most "all the bodies
were buried", but more importantly, Rutherford knew where most all the
"SKIM" had been stashed. Russell and Rutherford had kept most of that
information from as many other insiders as possible. Russell died
before crowning a successor. Rutherford only needed certain "captains"
for a coup to succeed. With whom did Clayton Woodworth side? With whom
did William Van Amburgh side? With whom did the weasel A. H. McMillan
side? What happened to the "captains" like George Raymond, who had
been given reign to run their own "crews", and who were now satisfied
to take their "cut" and "retire" from the business? What happened to
the more "moral", more "religious", and naive "captains" like Alfred
Ritchie, who had never been let in on any more details/specifics than
absolutely necessary, but whose "suspicions" now posed a danger. The
floundering ship did not have room for everyone. Some had to go.


****************

Readers interested in more recent "questionable" WATCHTOWER SOCIETY
business dealings should read the 2006 HENWOOD v. GEORGIA-PACIFIC ET
AL  court case summary, which reveals some extremely interesting
"goings-on" in connection with possible OVER-PAYMENTS for purchases of
bulk paper by the WatchTower Society from the late 1970s until 2000.

This same webpage also contains several secret court cases in which
Judge Rutherford committed THEFT and/or FRAUD -- one of which was
committed while Rutherford was President of the WatchTower Society.
The victim was a District Overseer whom Rutherford disfellowshipped
when he demanded his money (in excess of $125,000.00) from Rutherford