Third Generation

6. Maria Francis ACKLEY attended School 1864-l865 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny , Pennsylvania¹⁰ She was born on 10 Apr 1850 in Pennsylvania.^1,2,3,4 On 18 Jun 1870 she was Teacher at Allegheny, Allegheny , Pennsylvania.⁴ She was living in 1900 in Allegheny, Allegheny , Pennsylvania.⁵ She died on 12 Mar 1938 in Saint Petersburg, Pinellas, Florida.¹ She was ill with Hodgkins Disease on 12 Mar 1938 in Saint Petersburg, Pinellas, Florida.¹ She appeared in the census 1850,1860,1870 & 1900 in Pennsylvania.

Maria Francis ACKLEY and Charles Taze RUSSELL were married on 13 Mar 1879 in Allegheny, Allegheny , Pennsylvania.^1,5,11 no children from this marriage
they were separated in 1897 and although a formal divorce was never pronounced Maria eventually became a bitter opponent of Russell. Part of Maria's marital problems derived from her husband's conflict with Emma over Joseph L.'s testament They were divorced about 1909.¹¹ Charles Taze RUSSELL¹¹ (son of Joseph Lytle RUSSELL and Living) was born on 16 Feb 1852 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny , Pennsylvania.¹¹ He died on 31 Oct 1916 in Pampa, Gray, Texas.^11,12 Died on a train He was buried in Allegheny, Allegheny , Pennsylvania.¹² Bethel family plot Biography of Russell, Charles Taze (16 Feb. 1852-31 Oct. 1916), founder of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, was born in Allegheny (now a part of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, the son of Joseph Lytle Russell, a haberdasher, and Ann Eliza Birney. He joined his father in business at age eleven and three years later withdrew from public school. He was raised in a pious Scotch-Irish Presbyterian home, but doubts about eternal punishment and biblical authority caused him first to join a more liberal Congregational church and then briefly to leave the church altogether. In 1869 an Adventist minister restored his faith in the Scriptures, and Russell began to study the Bible with a small group, which a few years later chose him as its pastor.
While he never joined an Adventist congregation, several Adventists shaped his theology. From George Storrs he learned that immortality was not intrinsic to human life but rather a conditional gift given only to the obedient. Accordingly Russell often emphasized that the damned did not suffer eternal torment, only simple annihilation. Russell also learned from Storrs that those who died without the opportunity to believe in Christ would be resurrected at the end of time and given a chance to believe and live in a paradise on earth forever.
Initially Russell was dubious of attempts to discern from the Bible the year of Christ's return; however, he found the intricate calculations of Nelson H. Barbour of Rochester, New York, persuasive. From 1876 to 1878 he provided financial backing for a magazine that he jointly edited with Barbour. Both Barbour and Russell adopted the view that the Bible promised the return of Christ's spiritual presence rather than his bodily reappearance. They believed this had begun in 1874 and that God's kingdom would come into full control over the earth in 1914. In 1879 Russell broke with Barbour, charging that Barbour had abandoned the teaching that Jesus had paid the ransom price for all humanity. That same year Russell began publishing Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence (from 1908 to 1930 the Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence and since 1939 the Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom), which he edited for the rest of his life.
As head of an independent movement, Russell continued to refine his theology. He rejected the doctrine of the Trinity and accepted Jehovah as the personal name of God. But the basic eschatology outlined by Barbour and a commitment to the authority of the Bible and the harmony of its different parts remained constant throughout his career.
While he always maintained a refined, middle-class appearance, Russell strongly condemned existing churches for becoming too worldly, too much like "social clubs." He believed true Christian teaching had become fragmented among different denominations that were more interested in supporting their costly buildings and maintaining their creeds than promoting the truth. He also saw the conflicts caused by industrialization and nationalism as evidence that the world was in decline and the millennium was near. Russell believed that Christians seeking to convert the world were misguided because God was not planning to save the world in the present age. Instead he was electing a special group of 144,000 who would form the church, the body of Christ. The rest of the world would not be saved until God's kingdom was established.
In 1879 Russell married Maria Frances Ackley; they had no children. The following year he began to establish congregations among his readers in other cities modeled after the one in Pittsburgh. In 1884 he organized the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, which he headed until his death. Supporters of this society were known variously as Russellites, Millennial Dawnists, Bible Students, and after 1931 as Jehovah's Witnesses. In 1886 he published the first volume of Millennial Dawn, later retitled Studies in the Scriptures. By his death almost 5 million copies of this volume had been distributed. Russell traveled extensively to preach, journeying to Britain and Europe as well as throughout the United States and Canada. In 1909 he relocated the headquarters of the society from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to a more prominent location in Brooklyn, New York. In 1914 his sermons were syndicated in almost 2,000 newspapers, and his "Photo-Drama of Creation" presented his view of world history from the creation to the millennium to audiences of more than 9 million around the world.
Throughout his career Russell remained ambivalent about the centralization of his movement and his own authority. He directed each local congregation to elect its own leader and engage in its own study of the Bible. Russell claimed no special revelation. He believed that the Bible was the only authority and anyone could learn the truth by diligently studying it. Yet, he also believed that his own Studies in the Scriptures was simply the Bible topically arranged and that it was better to study them than the Scriptures themselves. He also assigned traveling preachers to encourage uniformity in belief and practice among the congregations.
Several public controversies marred Russell's career, most notably his divorce and his promotion of "Miracle Wheat." Maria Russell assisted her husband's work through both her writing and public speaking. Russell, however, appears to have showed little appreciation and to have had a more conservative vision of a woman's role. Furthermore, when they married they had agreed not to consummate their union. While Russell appears to have been comfortable with this, Maria Russell appears to have come to resent it. These differences resulted in their separation in 1897 and a bitter divorce trial in 1906. In 1911 Russell was again in court, this time suing the Brooklyn Daily Eagle for its lampooning of the Miracle Wheat marketed by Russell. He believed that this unusually productive strain of wheat was evidence that the earthly paradise would soon be restored. Russell lost both trials, and his public reputation suffered.
As 1914 approached, Russell became more guarded in his claims about what would happen in that year. Undaunted by the fact that he and his followers did not experience the rapture that year, he regarded the advent of World War I as confirmation of biblical prophecies and predicted that the final battle of Armageddon and the rapture of the church would take place in 1918. Despite his declining health, his followers were greatly shocked when he died while traveling between speaking engagements on a train in Pampa, Texas, and thus did not live to experience the rapture. It fell to Russell's successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford <../08/08-01306.html?from=../08/08-01302.html&from_nm=Russell%2C%20Charles%20Taze>, to guide the movement through this turbulent time and to strengthen and centralize the organization.
The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society survived Russell's death and became an enduring and controversial presence throughout the world. While it continued to respect his central role in organizing the society and to accept much of his teaching, its developing knowledge of religious truth led it to dismiss certain of his teachings as incorrect and to deemphasize his role. A much smaller group of Bible Students who broke with the larger society continued to revere his teachings and publish his works.




Bibliography
Jerry Bergman, Jehovah's Witnesses and Kindred Groups: A Historical Compendium and Bibliography (1984), provides the most complete list of Russell's writings. M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses (1985), provides a useful history of Russell's career. Melvin D. Curry, Jehovah's Witnesses: The Millenarian World of the Watch Tower (1992), connects Russell to industrial America and studies his millennial thought. The leadership of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society gives its view of Russell's career in Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (1993). There is an obituary in the New York Times, 1 Nov. 1916


SOURCE: Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom
Published by Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. 1993
More accurately C.T. Russell can be referred to as the 1st President of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Pennsylvania (Originally Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society & now called The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York) From 1910-1931 those who associated with WB&T were called International Bible Students Association. In 1931 they adopted the name Jehovah's Witnesses.

Of Joseph L. Russell the above mentioned source says:

"Joseph L. Russell, Charles' father was a member of the Allegheny Bible study class and a close associate of his son in the activities of the Watch Tower Society until his death in 1897"

In July 1879 C.T. Russell began publishing 'Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence" The name was changed 1 Jan 1909 to "The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence". And since 1939 it's been called "The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom"