Watch Tower Charter,
Corporate Entities
and Amendments
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The Writings of Maria Russell
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This e-document, The Writings of Maria Russell, which you can download for yourself, contains nearly 1150 pages written by the wife of Pastor Charles Taze Russell, who, along with him, was the founder of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. First in the e-document, is an eleven-page enlightening introduction that discusses why this woman was given no recognition at all by her husband and also by the organization they founded, for her contributions as co-founder of what would one day become one of the most prominent American religions, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and as author of Watch Tower literature that sold in the millions of copies.
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To introduce the reader to her acumen as a writer, one equal to that of her husband, eleven Zion’s Watch Tower articles written by Mrs. Russell, including her first and her last to appear in that publication are part of the e-document; Also included is Mrs. Russell’s ninety-six page poem, The Wonderful Story, a book bound in leatherette published in 1890 by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society which sold for twenty-five cents. In addition, there are scans of Mrs. Russell’s two books she published in 1906, nearly nine years after she separated from her husband, titled, This Gospel of the Kingdom and The Twain One.
However, the most important part of this e-document is a scan of Maria Russell’s hand-written 600-page unpublished manuscript (and a recently typed copy), which contains her theological beliefs.
She intended the material to become a new book titled, The Eternal Purpose. This exposition, plus a chart outlining the “Great Week of the Development of God’s Eternal Purpose,” written clearly in a slanting handwriting style called Spencerian, were her last writing projects. Mrs. Russell’s theological viewpoint makes for excellent comparative study.
From all accounts, the Russells were a happy couple until the early 1890s. Mrs. Russell left her husband in November 1897 and they divorced in 1906. After the divorce Pastor Russell publicly distorted the facts regarding the cause of the breakup of his marriage. He denied all charges and explained that his wife left him because of revenge because he refused to permit her to take control of their religious journal to spread her women’s rights ideas. He publicly doubted his wife’s writing ability. Mrs. Russell asserted that she did at least half of the writing for each one of the first four volumes of the Millennial Dawn series of books; yet, her participation has been denied. Moreover, the legal corporation she co-founded published over 50,000 pages of material which directors have given credit solely to Pastor Russell as author of.
With ninety signed articles and many more unsigned ones in Zion’s Watch Tower, it is indeed strange Maria Russell’s husband would criticize his wife’s writing talent. Over one hundred years later, this uniquely American religion continues the same legacy of defamation of the character of Maria Russell. This project is a fulfillment of my goal to give Mrs. Russell deserved equal billing.
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Barbara Anderson
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