(I'm posting this because I have read older threads in which the JW's are referred to as Pastor Russell's disciples, his spiritual children, etc. Also, disparaging remarks about Russell here and there. No doubt this topic has been discussed already, but perhaps you would like to join me in another go)
The JW's are the work of JF Rutherford, in my considered opinion. Most of Russell's followers left the WTBTS behind before "Judge" Rutherford gave his disciples the name Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931. From Wikipedia, the Online "Encyclopedia" :
"Russell died in 1916, and in the following year, the movement was divided by schisms due to significant doctrinal changes. Those who rejected the changes in organization and doctrine became known as the Associated Bible Students, referring to themselves as simply "Bible Students" to this day. In 1918, a Bible Student convention was held independently of the Watchtower Society. At the second convention, a few months later, the Pastoral Bible Institute was founded and began publishing "The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom". The magazine continues to be published today. By 1928 nearly 75% of Bible Students had fled from the changes in place by Pastor Russell´s successor."The Bible Students still exist in various groups that are very friendly with each other and attend each others assemblies. Since the Bible Students still exist,very much in the same form they existed in Russell's time, in what sense can the JW''s be Russell's progeny? They're not. They're Rutherford's bastard sons and daughters, not Russells legitimate heirs. I had the pleasure of associating with Bible Students quite extensively in Michigan. I found them to be very much like Pastor Russell: warm, friendly, giving, gracious, pleasant, and devout. Not fanatical as many JW's are. (If you dont think its fanatical to let your child die because of something the WTBTS forbids, your thinking is ever so slightly off kilter) Generally speaking (GENERALLY speaking), Bible Students are the opposite, psychologically and behaviorally (as their psychology and behavior relates to their religion, not all facets of life) of Jehovah's Witnesses.
I was quite fed up with Christendom in general and the ministry in particular at one point and nearly joined the Bible Students. My wife was quite opposed, however, so I shelved that idea.
Charles Taze Russell was one of the good guys, in my view, but like myself and everyone else on this board he had his faults, failings, and peccadilloes. One can focus on those (Jellyfish! Miracle Wheat!) to the exclusion of the good, or one can focus on a man of great wealth who used his own money to support his religious convictions and endeavors. Unlike todays predatory televangelists who suck their gullible followers dry. Yes, I think of Russell as an early "televangelist" for surely that is what he would be were he alive today. His ministry was mainly (not exclusively) via the mass media of his day, not the down and dirty toil of the pastor of a congregation.
So please, don't focus bile and ire upon CT Russell. He didn't found "Jehovah's Witnesses" or the autocratic, harsh, merciless, megalomaniacal, and oppressive bORG that messed with our heads and messed up our lives. He would take one look at Rutherford's Monster and disown it, then search for his children, the Bible Students.