Joseph L. and Ann Eliza (Birney) Russell, a Christian couple of Scottish-Irish descent, made their home in Pittsburgh, Pa. It was here that in 1852 February 16 they greeted the arrival of their second son, Charles Taze Russell.1 A daughter, Margaret M., was born two years later, and then two more children who died in infancy. (Margaret became Mrs. Benjamin Franklin Land.) Eliza Russell gave a Christian example and instruction to her children until her untimely death in 1861. Though suffering business failure in 1855, Joseph L. Russell educated his son in public schools and under private tutors, and brought up the children in the Presbyterian Church. He gave them the benefit of a Christian example and assistance until his death in 1897