Russell, Charles Taze

Related Category: Protestant Christianity: Biographies

1852–1916, founder of the movement whose followers are known as Russellites, as Bible Students, and (since 1931) as Jehovah's Witnesses, b. Pittsburgh, Pa. There he predicted (1872) the second coming of Christ and the millennium. In 1878 he organized his followers as an independent church. His teachings were spread through the Watch Tower, which Russell began to publish in 1879. In 1909 he moved his headquarters to the Brooklyn Tabernacle, New York City. Russell was involved in scandals, which somewhat tarnished his reputation, but his sect, nonetheless, flourished. His writings are contained in a series of books under the title Millennial Dawn (6 vol., 1886–1904).