Charles Taze Russell & His Secret Mission To S. California That Killed Him
by West70 49 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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Enigma One
Since William Randolf Hearst had a castle in California....perhaps the publishing magnant saw the WTBS as a possible competitor to his empire and promptly killed him off.
I'd like to see the conspiracy nuts spin this....would make for a better "made for TV" movie IMHO. -
stev
Thanks for posting this letter.
The information is lacking that enable us to trace the source of this story. The English translation is dated in the year 1984, which is 68 years after the death. The "Letter to Christians" is dated in the year 1983, which is 67 years after the death. The letter originates in Poland. It is not explained how if the murder in place in the United States in 1916, that this rumor originates in a foreign country of Poland. How did the story get there?
It is not explained the connection between Mr. Stanley and the original letter. It is not explained why Mr. Stanley would be interested in this story. The letter states fragments of his letter appear, but unfortunately there are no quotation marks, and the reader is not informed which parts come from Stanley and which the writer. The names of Mr. Stanley's parents, the source of this story, is not given. It is not told when his parents told him this story. It is not told how parents knew this information.
The body could be exhumed, but I hope before anyone goes to this trouble, that this letter could be checked out.
Steve
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Leolaia
That's why I wanted to see the letter again, to see if it makes specific claims about places and dates and persons that could be cross-checked. As others have pointed out, there are serious questions about its provenance and veracity, and the letter doesn't seem to offer much in terms of details or evidence that appears separately in published sources about Russell's final trip. It simply requires one to take the anonymous writer at his word, without giving any compelling reason to do so.
In response to the commentary by RR quoted by sf above, I should note that he, a devout pro-Russell Bible Student, was the one who posted the letter in this forum, and not "opposers of Russell". I don't think he vouched for its credibility tho.
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Leolaia
On a XJW forum, they love to exmaine the Watchtowers history and they come up with all sorts of idiotic notions about Pastor Russell and other Watchtower leaders. One of them was about Pastor Russell being poisoned.
If the forum being discussed is this one, I suppose it might be possible that there could have been an earlier thread before the one started by RR that came up with the notion that Russell was poisoned. I only encountered this notion in RR's thread, never having heard of it before. Anyone know of any discussion of this notion before RR started this thread on 11 September 2004? The notion seems to originate from the letter which he posted.
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stev
The quote above "Did CTR go mad?" is from the Bible Student forum, where there is a thread on this poisoning rumor: -
LDH
Anyone still has the document that RR posted last year that claimed that Russell was poisoned on that trip? I saw it briefly and then it disappeared.
I don't know why, maybe I'm just obtuse. I thought of Phar Lap when I read that sentence, LOL.
Lisa
Likes Horses Class
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stev
Most of the names of the "murder suspects" can be found in WT Dec. 1916 issue, that contains the C. T. Russell's memorial service, funeral service, and account of last days. Below is a list of the Editorial Committee found in the issue, and these appear among the "murder suspects". Johnson, Macmillan, Woodworth, and Sturgeon, whose names are "murder suspects", gave discourses that appeared in that Dec. 1916 issue. The name(s) "Czeslaw, Rasprzykoski" does not appear in that issue, but looks like a Polish name. "Morton Edgar" does not appear, but is the brother of John Edgar. "Bracia Edgar", I think means "Brother Edgar". There was no other prominent Edgar besides Morton and John.
One telling sign that the "murder suspect list" was not made by a contemporary or one intimated acquainted with the early BIble Students is the inclusion of the name John Edgar and Morton Edgar. The Edgars lived in the British Isles, not in Brooklyn, and John Edgar died in 1910. His name appeared among the names for the Editorial Committee, and this could be why his name appears in the "murder suspect list". But someone living at that time of Russell's death would not have included his name.
I place very little credence in this rumor.
Steve
::R5999 : page 358::
The names of the Editorial Committee are as follows:
WILLIAM E. PAGE,
WILLIAM E. VAN AMBURGH,
HENRY CLAY ROCKWELL,
E. W. BRENNEISEN,
F. H. ROBISON.The names of the five whom I suggest as possibly amongst the most suitable from which to fill vacancies in the Editorial Committee are as follows: A. E. Burgess, Robert Hirsh, Isaac Hoskins, Geo. H. Fisher (Scranton), J. F. Rutherford, Dr. John Edgar.
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Bangalore
Bttt.
Bangalore
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moshe
I need to go to Russell's Pyramid and find out if he was poisoned. I'll use a small core drill and drill into his casket at 2am , extract mummified tissue from the corpse and have it tested in the CSI labs for poisons. That is what I'll do, just as soon as I finish watching the Godfather movie trilogy.
Then I'm off to Rurtherford's grave to do the same to his casket- inquiring minds want to know if that casket has a body in it, or if it just full of California coconuts.