Claim about Russell's wealth in the new DVD "Jehovah's Witnesses: Faith in Action"

by slimboyfat 10 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  slimboyfat

  I know the society have from time to time stated that Russell was a very successful businessman before he turned his hand to religion. The new DVD is more specific than I recall them having been before on this issue. It makes a point of saying that Charles Russell expanded the business and opened clothing stores independently of his father:

  Charles Russell enlarged the business, eventually operating a number of stores by himself. By age 25 he possessed over $300,000, the equivalent of $7,000,000 today.

  Is that true? I wonder what they base that on. I remember reading something in James Penton's Apocalypse Delayed that cast doubt on Russell's claimed business success. I think it called into question both the extent to which he expanded the business apart from his father, and the scale of the business. Does anyone have any more information about that?
• 

  designs

  Nothing new, that's the general story. Successful businessman turns preacher turns business-preacher.
• 

  slimboyfat

  I know but I am wondering what their source is for thia specific figure. Plus would $300,000 in the 1870s really only be worth $7,000,000 today?
• 

  UnDisfellowshipped

  This is all I could locate about Russell's business and how much he got from selling it:

  The Watchtower, January 1st, 1955, Page 46:

  Russell having spent the years 1877 and 1878 largely in preaching afield, zealously going from city to city, and also by this time having closed out most of his previously successful business interests, which had netted him more than a quarter of a million dollars

  ________________________

  Revelation Book (1988), Page 69:

  Taking the lead among these awakening Christians was Charles Taze Russell, who, in the early 1870’s, formed a Bible study class in Allegheny (now part of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, U.S.A. When he started his search for truth, Russell was in partnership with his father and on his way to becoming a millionaire. But he sold out his chain-store business interests and spent his fortune in helping to finance the publishing of God’s Kingdom in all the earth.

  _______________________

  The Watchtower, September 15th, 1975, Page 565:

  Consider, also, another example from sometime earlier, that of a man who was entering his twenties back in the 1870’s, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He was in business with his father, operating a chain of stores in men’s furnishings and was on his way to becoming a millionaire.

  _______________________
• 

  Titus

  It depends on the price of gold at that particular time.

  Check it somewhere.
• 

  Titus

  [edited by Titus]

  1879 - 20.67 $/ounce

  2007 - 699.00 $/ounce

  699.00/20.67=33.82

  300,000 $ x 33.82=10,145,137 $

  But I believe that the price from 2004 and 2005 is more realistic, so according to that price - YES it is close to 7 millions.
• 

  Titus

  http://www.measuringworth.org/datasets/gold/result.php

  The Price of Gold, 1257-2009

  Year	British Official Price (British pounds per fine ounce end of year)	U.S. Official Price (U.S. dollars per fine ounce end of year)	New York Market Price (U.S. dollars per fine ounce)	Gold/Silver Price Ratio (ounces of silver per ounce of gold)	London Market Price (British £ [1718-1949] or U.S. $ [1950-2009] per fine ounce)
  1879	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.39	£ 4.24
  1880	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.05	£ 4.24
  1881	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.25	£ 4.24
  1882	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.20	£ 4.24
  1883	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.64	£ 4.24
  1884	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.61	£ 4.24
  1885	4.25	20.67	20.67	19.41	£ 4.24
  1886	4.25	20.67	20.67	20.78	£ 4.24
  1887	4.25	20.67	20.67	21.10	£ 4.24
  1888	4.25	20.67	20.67	22.00	£ 4.24
  1889	4.25	20.67	20.67	22.10	£ 4.24
  1890	4.25	20.67	20.67	19.75	£ 4.24
  1891	4.25	20.67	20.67	20.92	£ 4.25
  1892	4.25	20.67	20.67	23.72	£ 4.25
  1893	4.25	20.67	20.67	26.49	£ 4.25
  1894	4.25	20.67	20.67	32.56	£ 4.24
  1895	4.25	20.67	20.67	31.60	£ 4.24
  1896	4.25	20.67	20.67	30.59	£ 4.25
  1897	4.25	20.67	20.67	34.20	£ 4.25
  1898	4.25	20.67	20.67	35.03	£ 4.25
  1899	4.25	20.67	20.67	34.36	£ 4.24
  1900	4.25	20.67	20.67	33.33	£ 4.25
  1901	4.25	20.67	20.67	34.68	£ 4.25
  1902	4.25	20.67	20.67	39.15	£ 4.24
  1903	4.25	20.67	20.67	38.10	£ 4.25
  1904	4.25	20.67	20.67	35.70	£ 4.25
  1905	4.25	20.67	20.67	33.87	£ 4.24
  1906	4.25	20.67	20.67	30.54	£ 4.25
  1907	4.25	20.67	20.67	31.24	£ 4.25
  1908	4.25	20.67	20.67	38.64	£ 4.25
  1909	4.25	20.67	20.67	39.74	£ 4.24
  1910	4.25	20.67	20.67	38.22	£ 4.24
  1911	4.25	20.67	20.67	38.33	£ 4.24
  1912	4.25	20.67	20.67	33.62	£ 4.24
  1913	4.25	20.67	20.67	34.19	£ 4.24
  1914	4.25	20.67	20.67	37.37	£ 4.24
  1915	4.25	20.67	20.67	40.48	£ 4.24
  1916	4.25	20.67	20.67	30.78	£ 4.24
  1917	4.25	20.67	20.67	24.61	£ 4.24
  1918	4.25	20.67	20.67	21.00	£ 4.24
  1919	4.25	20.67	20.67	18.44	£ 4.50
  1920	4.25	20.67	20.67	20.28	£ 5.65
  1921	4.25	20.67	20.67	32.76	£ 5.35
  1922	4.25	20.67	20.67	30.43	£ 4.67
  1923	4.25	20.67	20.67	31.69	£ 4.51
  1924	4.25	20.67	20.67	30.80	£ 4.69
  1925	4.25	20.67	20.67	29.78	£ 4.27
  1926	4.25	20.67	20.67	33.11	£ 4.25
  1927	4.25	20.67	20.67	36.47	£ 4.25
  1928	4.25	20.67	20.67	35.34	£ 4.25
  1929	4.25	20.67	20.67	38.78	£ 4.25
  1930	4.25	20.67	20.67	53.74	£ 4.25
  1931	4.25	20.67	20.67	71.25	£ 4.63
  1932	4.25	20.67	20.67	73.29	£ 5.90
  1933	4.25	20.67	24.44	69.83	£ 6.24
  1934	4.25	35.00	34.94	72.36	£ 6.88
  1935	4.25	35.00	35.00	54.19	£ 7.11
  1936	4.25	35.00	35.00	77.09	£ 7.01
  1937	4.25	35.00	35.00	77.44	£ 7.04
  1938	4.25	35.00	35.00	80.39	£ 7.13
  1939	4.25	35.00	35.00	88.84	£ 7.72
  1940	4.25	35.00	35.00	99.76	£ 8.40
  1941	4.25	35.00	35.00	99.73	£ 8.40
  1942	4.25	35.00	35.00	90.57	£ 8.40
  1943	4.25	35.00	35.00	77.67	£ 8.40
  1944	4.25	35.00	35.00	77.67	£ 8.40
  1945	4.25	35.00	35.00	67.40	£ 8.40
  1946		35.00	35.00	43.67	£ 8.40
  1947		35.00	35.00	48.73	£ 8.40
  1948		35.00	35.00	47.07	£ 8.40
  1949		35.00	35.00	48.61	£ 8.40
  1950		35.00	35.00	47.14	$ 34.71
  1951		35.00	35.00	39.12	$ 34.71
  1952		35.00	35.00	41.16	$ 34.71
  1953		35.00	35.00	41.04	$ 34.71
  1954		35.00	35.00	41.01	$ 34.96
  1955		35.00	35.00	39.24	$ 35.01
  1956		35.00	35.00	38.50	$ 35.00
  1957		35.00	35.00	38.50	$ 34.95
  1958		35.00	35.00	39.27	$ 35.10
  1959		35.00	35.00	38.34	$ 35.09
  1960		35.00	35.00	38.27	$ 35.28
  1961		35.00	35.00	37.82	$ 35.15
  1962		35.00	35.00	32.22	$ 35.10
  1963		35.00	35.00	27.34	$ 35.09
  1964		35.00	35.00	27.04	$ 35.09
  1965		35.00	35.00	27.04	$ 35.13
  1966		35.00	35.00	27.04	$ 35.17
  1967		35.00	35.00	22.56	$ 35.19
  1968		35.00	39.26	18.29	$ 38.69
  1969		35.00	41.51	23.16	$ 41.09
  1970		35.00	36.41	20.54	$ 35.94
  1971		35.00	41.25	26.66	$ 40.80
  1972		38.00	58.60	34.75	$ 58.16
  1973		42.22	97.81	38.21	$ 97.32
  1974		42.22	159.74	33.90	$ 159.26
  1975		42.22	161.49	36.51	$ 161.02
  1976		42.22	125.32	28.76	$ 124.84
  1977		42.22	148.31	32.05	$ 147.71
  1978		42.22	193.55	35.80	$ 193.22
  1979		42.22	307.50	27.69	$ 306.68
  1980		42.22	612.56	29.66	$ 612.56
  1981		42.22	459.64	43.65	$ 460.03
  1982		42.22	375.91	47.24	$ 375.67
  1983		42.22	424.00	37.03	$ 424.35
  1984		42.22	360.66	44.26	$ 360.48
  1985		42.22	317.66	51.68	$ 317.28
  1986		42.22	368.24	67.25	$ 367.51
  1987		42.22	447.95	63.84	$ 446.47
  1988		42.22	438.31	66.95	$ 437.05
  1989		42.22	382.58	69.49	$ 381.43
  1990		42.22	384.93	79.78	$ 383.47
  1991		42.22	363.29	89.83	$ 362.18
  1992		42.22	344.97	87.47	$ 343.73
  1993		42.22	360.91	83.85	$ 359.77
  1994		42.22	385.42	72.79	$ 384.01
  1995		42.22	385.50	74.78	$ 384.16
  1996		42.22	389.09	74.89	$ 387.69
  1997		42.22	332.39	67.91	$ 331.10
  1998		42.22	295.24	53.24	$ 294.16
  1999		42.22	279.91	53.26	$ 278.64
  2000		42.22	280.10	55.96	$ 279.03
  2001		42.22	272.22	61.95	$ 271.04
  2002		42.22	311.33	67.32	$ 309.68
  2003		42.22	364.80	74.22	$ 363.32
  2004		42.22	410.52	61.30	$ 409.17
  2005		42.22	446.00	60.70	$ 444.45
  2006		42.22	606.00	52.14	$ 603.77
  2007		42.22	699.00	52.19	$ 695.39
  2008		42.22	768.00*	56.73	$ 871.96
  2009		42.22	950.00	70.98	$ 972.35
  Note: British official price is only available till 1945.
  Note: Current London Market data is only available till 2008.
  Note: The New York gold price for 2008 has an asterisk by it because the USGS originally stated the 2008 price of gold as $900 an ounce; but this was just an estimate. Subsequently, the price was changed to $768. We do not know which of these prices, if either, is the correct price. The 2009 price, of $950, is also an estimate, and is subject to change. We expect a clarification by July 2010.

  Citation

  Lawrence H. Officer, "The Price of Gold, 1257-2009," MeasuringWorth, 2010. URL: http://www.measuringworth.org/gold/

  Please read our Note on Data Revisions.

  Copyright Notice

  Copyright © 2010 MeasuringWorth. All rights reserved. This work may be copied for non-profit educational uses if proper credit is given. For other permission, please contact [email protected].

  </form>
• 

  slimboyfat

  Thanks UnDisfellowshipped and Titus.

  I found the comment in Apocalypse Delayed (page 338) where Penton discusses Russell's wealth:

  According to Richard Rawe, of Soap Lake, Washington, who has investigated Russell's business activities closely, many of the claims regarding his great business talents are somewhat exaggerated. For example, in The Laodicean Messenger his biographer says on page 6 that the store business 'soon enriched him, and before he was well past the year of his majority, he was well worth a quater million dollars.' Rawe argues that Russell's wealth came somewhat later after he inherited $6,000 (which he used for capital investment) from an uncle. Nevertheless Russell was an extremely able entrepreneur who used his early, rather modest wealth to accumulate a significant fortune.
  Russell admitted in 1907 that he had a 'cash valuation of $60,000 in 1879 which included two clothing stores in Allegheny and three in Pittsburgh.' In fact he was probably worth much more. In a letter to J. H. Brown, sent about 1898, he had written: 'You knew me in a business way over 20 years ago, when you sold me merchandise. You probably knew at that time that I had a rating in commercial agencies about $150,000 - that I had the largest gents furnishing store in Pittsburgh, besides several smaller branches.' Transcript of record in the case of Russell v. Russell on appeal in the Pennsylvania Superior Court (April 1907), 23, 42, 43.

  Mixed signals from Penton there. I wonder if Richard Rawe published his research.
• 

  KnowlegeSeeker_UK

  The impression i got when I was young was that he threw all his money at the watchtower society and lived as a bethelite worked making bibles and books for the world.... Bollocks... his money didnt dissapear it just became another business. People forget the literature was NOT free. He was smart ! What is the biggest selling item in the world..... the bible... "hmmm how do I's go about copyrighting my own !"
• 

  steve2

  Not everything the Watchtower claims turns out to be false. In the 1960s, my maternal grandfather told me that "Brother Russell" had earned more than a quarter million US dollars by the time he was 25. My grandfather said this is a really admiring way - which I thought was strange when he himself was so poor. He always spoke so well of Russell; by contrast, he could barely hide his contempt for Rutherford.