Why does Charles Taze Russell's grave have a cross on it?

Answer 1

No, Russell's grave does not have a cross on it; however, a few years after Russell died, Joseph Rutherford authorized the building of a pyramid monument in honor of God's witness in Egypt. (Isaiah 19:19) The pyramid monument does have a cross on it. Nevertheless, that pyramid monument is not a grave or tomb; no one is buried in or under that monument.

Unlike the later Jehovah's Witnesses, Russell had no objection to using the cross as a symbol of Jesus' death, as well as a symbol of the suffering and sacrifice of the Joint-Heirs.

The vast majority of The Bible Students, however, did not become Jehovah's Witnesses; by 1928, more than 75% of the Bible Students had rejected Rutherford's "Jehovah's visible organization" dogma; they did not become part of the JW organization, nor did they take the name "Jehovah's Witnesses". Bible Students to this day continue to use the cross and crown symbol, whereas Rutherford, in 1936, led the Jehovah's Witnesses into rejecting its use with the claim that Christ died on an upright stake or a tree.