William Henry Conley

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William Henry Conley
William Henry Conley
Born	11 June 1840 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Died	25 July 1897
Occupation	Businessman, Allegheny Bible Students
Spouse(s)	Sarah Shaffer

William Henry Conley (11 June 1840 – 25 July 1897), was a Pittsburgh businessman. He was the first president of Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society (1881-1884), with Charles Taze Russell as secretary and treasurer.^[1]

[edit] Business and charitable interests

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William Conley was bookkeeper for James M. Riter, owner of a metal fabrication company. In 1873, Riter died, and his brother, Thomas B. Riter, formed a partnership with Conley to continue the business, which became 'Riter & Conley Company'. The business gradually grew into a highly-respected worldwide supplier to the drilling, mining, manufacturing, and marine industries. Conley was also a stockholder in, and Director of, the Third National Bank of Allegheny.

William H. Conley was married to Sarah Shaffer (1841-1908). William and his wife were active in several Pittsburgh charities, including but not limited to an orphanage and school for children of African-American heritage, as well as a local hospital.

[edit] Co-operation with Zion's Watch Tower Society

William H. and Sarah Conley were two of the five original Allegheny Bible Students. Joseph Russell, his daughter Margaret, and his son Charles T., were the other three. The Conley and Russell families became acquainted c. 1869, at Adventist meetings held by Jonas Wendell, George Stetson and George Storrs.^[2]

When the Watch Tower Society was founded in February 1881, William Conley donated $3500 (70%) of the $5000 original capital. Joseph Russell donated $1000 (20%), and Charles Taze Russell donated $500 (10%). Arrangements were made with commercial firms to handle printing operations in various cities of Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio, as well as in Britain. In 1884, Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society was legally incorporated with Charles T. Russell as president.^[3]

However, some time in 1882 Conley evidently decided that he would not make further significant contributions to finance Russell. After 1882, Conley's name is not mentioned again in the pages of the Watch Tower Magazine. Russell introduces Conley to the 1894 readers of his Watch Tower Magazine as merely "one of the original Allegheny Bible Students".^[4]

Jehovah's Witnesses consider Charles Taze Russell as the first president of the Watch Tower Society corporation; their official history mentions Conley once, in passing, at the establishment of the previously unincorporated Society:

"Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society was formed on February 16, 1881, with W. H. Conley as president and C. T. Russell as secretary and treasurer. ... In 1884, Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society was legally incorporated, with C. T. Russell as president, and its charter showed that it was more than a society that would direct publishing. Its real objective was religious; it was chartered for “the dissemination of Bible Truths in various languages.”^[5]

To date, that passage is the only mention of Conley in the literature of Jehovah's Witnesses published since 1950.^[6]

[edit] References

Preceded by '

President of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania February 16, 1881-December 15, 1884

Succeeded by Charles Taze Russell