i'm proud to be a freemason. i always hated the connection made between charles taze russell and the masons. i was looking at different masonic sites and came across an interesting article about men people assumed were masons, but weren't. i was delighted to see russells name on there. i need to do more research, but, i'm really hoping this is true. here's what the author said.
Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Jehovah's Witness faith, was a Mason. Some have charged that his tombstone appears as a keystone (a symbol used in Royal Arch Masonry), that there appears on the stone a crown and cross and that the stone is in the shape of a pyramid. (Those who make the claim do so for their own ends ignoring the fact that the cross and crown have long been symbols of Christianity, that the pyramid is often used in one-dimension view to represent the Trinity etc.) A review of Russell's personal life would have likely found him unwelcome within a Lodge. A current author says of him "Russell's faults as a writer were perhaps the least of his shortcomings. Accusations of sexual and financial improprieties, for example, dogged him throughout his adult life. Russell's notorious difficulties with his long-suffering wife Maria, aired during a series of sensational libel, separation, and alimony suits near the turn of the century, became a particular source of embarrassment for both the pastor and his flock. (Russell's stature couldn't have been enhanced when a Pennsylvania judge concluded that his "continual arrogant domination" of his wife was enough to "render the life of any sensitive Christian woman a burden and make her life intolerable." 4 This notwithstanding, Pastor Russell did, upon occasion, make reference to Masons.
Oh, and did we mention?: the "tombstone" that's so often referred to is actually a monument erected to Russell by the Watchtower Society which has regularly criticized Freemasonry. Pastor Russell's actual gravestone (shown above) is a couple of dozen yards away.
this article had nothing to do with witnesses except that. i thought it was interesting. on a side note, the author spoke highly of everyone but russell. i thought that was funny.