William Henry Conley
William Henry Conley ( June 11, 1840 - July 25, 1897 ) was a businessman from Allegheny , Pennsylvania (USA) and from 1881 to 1884 the first president of the Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society of Pennsylvania , the parent company of the Watchtower Society applies.
Life
William H. Conley was a co-owner of the Riter & Conley Company, a metal manufacturing company in Pittsburgh and a global supplier of civil engineering cores and a supplier to the marine industry. Conley had initially been the accountant in the original Riter business. When the founder died in 1873, the late owner's brother and Conley formed a partnership ("Riter & Conley Company") to continue business. Conley was also a shareholder and director of the third National Bank of Allegheny and was very wealthy.
William H. Conley was married to Sarah Shaffer; his wife died in 1908. William and Sarah were very committed to society and supported an orphanage and a school for Black American children.
Helped found the Zion's Watch Tower Society
William H. and Sarah Conley (1841-1908) were two of the five original "1870s Allegheny Bible Students". Joseph Russell, and his daughter Margaret and son Charles Taze , were the other three. The Conley and Russell families met in 1869/1870 when both families attended an Adventist congregation of Jonas Wendell , George Stetson, and George Storrs .
When Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was founded in February 1881, William H. Conley donated $ 3,500 (70%) of the founding capital of $ 5,000. Joseph Russell donated $ 1,000 (20%), with Charles T. Russell donating $ 500 (10%). Conley played a significant role - albeit behind the scenes - in building the Watchtower Society. Initial arrangements were made so that printing could be done by trading companies in various cities across the United States and the United Kingdom. In 1884 the Watchtower Society was registered; Charles T. Russell was named president.
However, when Charles T. Russell began to devote himself more and more to the subject of time prophecy towards the end of 1882, Conley decided that he would no longer support Russell's designs with large sums of money. After 1882, Conley was no longer mentioned in the Watchtower. Only in 1894 did Russell write in The Watchtower that Conley was "one of the original Allegheny Bible Students."
When William H. Conley died in July 1897, there was no obituary in the Watchtower. This is amazing, given that Russell published obituaries in The Watchtower for both of his early Adventist teachers, George Stetson and George Storrs.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Historical data and works by Charles T. Russell. Serious Bible Students, Retrieved December 3, 2008 .
- ^ Zion's Watch Tower , June 1894; P. 176.
William Henry Conley (1881-1884) | Charles Taze Russell (1884-1916) | Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1917–1942) | Nathan Homer Knorr (1942–1977) | Frederick William Franz (1977–1992) | Milton George Henschel (1992-2000) | Don Alden Adams (2000-2014) | Robert Ciranko (since 2014)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Conley, William Henry |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American businessman, 1st President of Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society of Pennsylvania |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 11, 1840 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Allegheny, Pennsylvania |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 25, 1897 |