Franklin Joseph Rutherford

Joseph Franklin Rutherford (November 8th 1869 - January 8th 1942) was the second president of the Témoins of Jéhovah.

Biography

Born from a family of farmers of the county of Morgan in the Missouri, it was high in the religion Baptist. He studied the right against the opinion of his father, became clerk to finish his studies, spent two years starting from 1890 under the supervision of judge E.L. Edwards, became the official clerk of the 14th legal district of Missouri then was allowed with the bar of Boonville the May 5th 1892, in the Missouri. It was named judge replacing with the same 14th district judicaire Missouri where it exerted indeed the role of Judge during two weeks and had to judge a business, for this reason it was made call thereafter the Juge Rutherford .

Before knowing the Student Bible, it was seems it active in policy.

It is in 1894 that it returned in contact with the movement of the Étudiants of the Bible, nevertheless it was made baptize in 1906, year when it published its first book " The safety of the man according to the point of view of a man of loi" , little time after he became the legal adviser of the movement. it served in this role at the time of the businesses adverse Charles Russell with his Maria wife in 1908 for their separation, and in the business of the miraculous Blé .

In 1915, it published a dythirambic defense of Pasteur Russell, called a great battle in the ecclesiastical skies, panegeric of Russell in the role of David against Goliath, representing all its religious opponents, extended to the totality of the ecclesiastical authorities of the whole world! If Russell accepted this gift, he did not want nevertheless to be associated with the project while agreeing to inform the readers of them of the Tower of guard so that they order it.

Rutherford left Béthel this year to take again its activity of lawyer with Monrovia close to Los Angeles for a store chain. With this occasion, he asked a strong financial compensation for 1500 $ of the time for Russell which accepted it, this request lets imply that it is thus Russell which would have to require of Rutherford to leave Béthel. It is because of this request, and of the distances from Russell on the book of Rutherford that certain opponents evoked at the time, the cold who would have existed between Russell and Rutherford, the last years of life of Pasteur.Néanmoins this opinion deserves to be moderate by the fact that Russell did not ask for the radiation of Rutherford of the directors of the Company, nor someone else did not seek to be his testamentary agent. Moreover, Rutherford always takes part as speaker in the assemblies, it is one of the speakers at the sides of Russell the July 15th 1915 at the assembly of Springfield, Massachusetts and he is the president of the assembly of Los Angeles of the 2 to the September 10th 1916. One can nevertheless wonder whether it is not little of responsibilities for a director for the Company, moreover starting from 1913, Russell did not have any more the majority of the actions of the company Watchtower and could not starting from this date act with its own way with the directors as he admitted doing it in a Turn of duty of 1890. The enigma thus remains whole, one can nevertheless affirm that Rutherford was not seen by Russell like its most probable successor.

The election of Rutherford to the presidency

The very same day of died of Russell, Alexandre H. Macmillan then to manage general in the abscence of Russell in Béthel of Brooklyn, intercepted a telegram of Menta Sturgeon, then private secretary of Russell, sent to his wife announcing the death of Pasteur. he will immediately inform of it Rutherford then at an assembly with Oakland in Marynland which decided to leave in the urgency for Béthel because he was the testamentary agent of Pasteur Russell.

Two days after, the council of the directors will elect in the place of Russell, A.N Pierson and will name an executive committee of three directors in charge of the interim: AD INTERIM Ritchie, W.E. Van Amburgh and J.F. Rutherford. This committee itself will be supervised by the committee of the directors as a whole.

Very quickly the dynamism and the knowledge of the law of Rutherford designate it as possible candidate with the presidency although according to an interview in Brooklyn Daily Eagle de Macmillan, it is the Ritchie vice-president who is the favorite. The Company Watchtower was at the time a company of edition whose nomination of the leaders were allocated to the shareholders. To a vote, any person be was entitled giving 10$. Each additional donation of 10$ gave right an additional vote. It is the January 6th 1917, which Rutherford finally only candidate, is elected by the shareholders as president, Pierson as vice-president and Van Amburgh as secretary and treasurer. A fact among good of other watch that Rutherford knew that it was going to be elected president: before even this election, its biography was sent to the distant newspapers one week before the election, so that it appears during the day of the advertisement of its election.

Before this Rutherford election care to prohibit at the committee of the 5 " had taken; sœurs" to vote. This committee was charged by Russell with managing the rights to vote which it had of sound living and represented, before its death, nearly 1/5 of the rights to vote. Thereafter, it is Rutherford which will use these rights to vote, against the will of Russell which had not provided that they are used by the president.

Knowing that it was going to be elected, Rutherford, prepared before the election of the decrees (or “By-Law”) to make vote by the shareholders. The day of the election, a committee of three “brothers” was charged to examine and modify these decrees. Nevertheless, having taken the right it to make, Rutherford will prohibit to them the access of the estrade until they decide not to modify a line. These decrees gave the full powerss to the president and with him only, one is thus not astonished by the controversy. Moreover, this action did not have any legality, the shareholders did not have the right to make pass from the “By-Laws”, Rutherford used this artifice to oblige the directors to vote them thereafter, them only by having the right. This vote took place one day when 5 of the 7 directors were present at Béthel. Thus the idea of Russell of a " Central" college; directing work after its death, was buried at the Témoins of Jéhovah for 60 years still.

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