why did russel get a divorce , was it adultery ?

by looloo 19 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Leolaia

  lrkr....Well, I doubt it was the sole reason, but please notice what Russell himself says in the article posted above:

  "The attorneys for my wife are bluffing. They cannot levy on any property here in this state, nor can they levy on any property of mine anywhere, for I have no property. All that I had I transferred more than five years ago to the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. If the attorneys can find any property in my name anywhere, they are welcome to it."

  "If I were to die to-morrow, I think my former wife would soon follow me, for she could not live unless she had me to nag."
• 

  lrkr

  Thanks for that article Leolaia.

  I just finished The Four Presidents of the Watch Tower Society by Gruss. On page 17 he says:

  The author finds it more than coincidental that in the same year the divorce was finalized, Russell decided to move "Jehovah's work" to New York and to form a new corporation, later called the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., into which, no doubt, went all the joint assets of Charles and Maria Russell. His moving to New York State was an effort to avoid paying his wife the court-ordered paymetns of $100/month. "When the Pensylvania courts ordered Russell to pay alimony to his wife, he filed a plea that he had nothing with which to pay, as he had transferred all his property, evaluated at $317,000 to the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society."

  Sounds like someone pretty adept at "theocratic strategy". Not the kind, gentle icon that many have been taught to believe he was.
• 

  cognac

  They always had problems as he was arrogant and wanted to be head of the house while she wanted to be independent. She acused him of flurting with their adopted "daughter" ...that he would be alone with her in a locked room or she would sit on his lap...that he refered to her as his "little wife" .....when asked in court if she was directly accusing him of adultery she said no. The court transcript is on the net...very interesting.

  Anyone have a link?
• 

  Homerovah the Almighty

  It was never introduced into the courts that he had committed adultery , but as it been shown there was speculation by his wife that he was messing around

  with adopted daughter either than that there is no other evidence of where and how he was getting his Johnson off.

  One thing that can be certain he was a shrewd conniving businessman and he was quite confident of what he put to print would sell and grab peoples attention

  toward his literature and to himself.

  You can liken him to a turn of the century Jack Van Impe of his time.

  He wasn't the first man to corrupted by money and power and he certainly will not be the last
• 

  Leolaia

  lrkr....That's the key thing, those joint assets...notice that in the article above, Russell said that Maria should be satisfied with $40 a month. That is $912 in today's wages (adjusted for inflation), or $10,900 per year....not that much. Maria had rights to the assets, not only because of being his spouse, but also because of her work in the early WTB&TS, as a co-writer, associate editor, secretary-treasurer, etc.

  Is the Divorce transcript on the web? I have seen only select pages. I would love to see the whole thing.
• 

  Homerovah the Almighty

  It does seem that had he purposely transfered almost all of his personal assets over to the newly found Incorporation as an intensional effort to make himself appear money poor

  in dealing with his divorce thats probably also why he moved away into another State.
• 

  Leolaia

  Rose Ball was NOT an adopted daughter. She was already an adult when she came to Russell's household, her parents were alive and well for many years later, and she was 24 or 25 when the alleged improprieties occurred in 1894. Russell may have treated her like a daughter, but he had no official adopter status with her.

  Russell was misleading in interviews and in court about her age, and Rutherford flat-out lied about her being an orphan and only 10 years old (ruling out any alleged impropriety) when she came to Russell's household. The Society later continued with this lie, and it blew up in their face later when critics of the WTS began to claim that Russell was a child molestor. He was not. Public records show that Rose was born in 1869. The odd thing about Rutherford lying about Rose is that the same thing played out regarding his relationship with Bonnie Boyd. Bonnie had a similar professional relationship with Rutherford, she lied continually about her age in government-issued identification and once claimed to have been Rutherford's "adopted daughter". That makes me wonder if the lie about Rose Ball could have similarly originated with Rose herself, or whether it was of Rutherford's design in both cases.
• 

  Leolaia

  BTW, I think the date of the newspaper clipping above is 5/4/1909, not 5/1/1909, sorry about that.
• 

  Homerovah the Almighty

  Thanks for that clipping Leolaia thats was very interesting

  Good information too on what appears to be an intensional cover up of Russell"s relationship with Rose Ball .

  You can certainly see why it would be very important for him to keep a pure and wholesome image around himself as an effort to

  maintain his outward appearance. What a preacher commit adultery unheard of.
• 

  lrkr

  Many will tell you that the move from Pennsylvania to New York was divinly inspired- a move that was ordained so that the Society could grow in a location where it could ship overseas and thrive in the center of modern culture. Some Bethelites have a great little speech they give about how that area in Brooklyn was like holy land. (well...before they started selling it off)

  What a crock!!! It was just a slick divorce attorney's maneuver.

  I always wondered why there were 2 corporations. (...well before there were 20 like now.....)