Charles Taze Russell was a non-sectarian Christian servant of God who did not believe in any human authoritarianism as is found in the JW org. He never demanded obedience to him, except in a general way as being the coporate president of the legal entities of which he was president; he did not demand obedience from the Bible Students Association fellowship at large. As far as Brother Russell was concerned, any Bible Student was free to either accept or reject his suggestions, although some local ecclesias set up their own standards. Even toward those congregations that had elected him as their "pastor", he did not claim any authority over their local affairs, and left it up to each congregation to either accept or reject his suggestions. His view was summed in his words just before his death: "Let it be borne in mind that the [Watch Tower] Society exercises no authority, makes no criticism, but merely gives advice; and that in the interest of the Lord’s Cause and the Lord’s people." (The Watch Tower, August 15, 1916, page 248) This began to change within a few weeks after his death.
Charles Taze Russell cannot be heldresponsible for the current JW practices since he preached against most of their practices; under Rutherford, the JW leadership abandoned the freedom of congregations to decide for themselves what to believe and teach, and they abandoned the central teachings of Brother Russell concerning the ransom, not to mention his side teachings on chronology, time prophecies, etc. In short, the message of Jehovah's Witnesses of "join us or be eternally destroyed in Armageddon", is almost the very opposite of Brother Russell's message as found in the Bible of good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
I have the research regarding the above on my websites linked to from my "Charles Taze Russell - Examining the Facts" site.
A Restoration Light Site - Charles Taze Russell – Examining the Facts