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People who were

important to
Charles Taze
Russell

2010 Doug Mason


doug_mason1940@yahoo.com.au

Ernest Henninges (p. 133)

George Storrs (p. 102)

William Miller (p. 68)

Nelson H. Barbour (p. 20)

Charles Taze Russell (p. 55)

George Stetson (p. 129)

William H. Conley (p. 38)

John H. Paton (p. 28)

Maria Russell (p. 47)

Jonas Wendell (p. 1)

Rose Ball (Henninges ) (p. 133)

G. N. Peters (p. 95)

Jonas Wendell

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Nelson Horatio Barbour

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John H. Paton

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William Henry Conley

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William Henry Conley (11 June 1840 25 July 1897) was a Pittsburgh philanthropist and
businessman. He was the first president of Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society from 1881 to 1884,
with Charles Taze Russell as secretary and treasurer. The Society later evolved into the chief
administrative organization of Jehovah's Witnesses.
W. H. Conley was a prominent, wealthy member of the Allegheny City community. He was a
member of the boards of directors of the Third National Bank of Allegheny and the Home for
Colored Children and St. John's General Hospital. He was married to Sarah Shaffer (1841-1908).

Business and charitable interests


William Conley worked as bookkeeper for the the owners of a metal fabrication company. In 1873,
Thomas B. Riter, formed a partnership with Conley, 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.
Conley and his wife were active in several Pittsburgh charities, including an orphanage and school
for children of African-American heritage, as well as a local hospital.

Watch Tower affiliation


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 about 1869 at Adventist meetings held by Jonas Wendell, George Stetson and
George Storrs.
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, Zions
Watch Tower Tract Society was legally incorporated with Charles T. Russell as president.
After 1882, Conley is not mentioned in Watch Tower literature in reference to his tenure as
president. Russell refers to Conley in the June 1894 issue of The Watch Tower only as "one of the
original Allegheny Bible Students".
- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 11/21/2009

http://pastorrussell.blogspot.com/2009/11/william-h-conley-1840-1897.html

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 2. No 10, April 1881

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 2. No 11, May 1881

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 2. No 11, May 1881

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 15. No 8, 25 April 1894

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 15. No 8, 25 April 1894

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 15. No 12, June 1894

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Maria Russell

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One example from numerous articles by Maria Russell.

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Charles and Maria Russell


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William Miller

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 4. No 10, May 1883

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G. N. Peters

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 4. No 10, May 1883

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George Storrs

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 27. No 14, July 15 1906

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 1. No 7, January 1880

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George Stetson

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 27. No 14, July 15 1906

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George Stetson was a minister, school teacher and a physician, who


followed the Christian pathway for over forty years.
In his early years, Stetson was associated with Henry Grew and
George Storrs, and in his later years with Jonas Wendell and
Charles Taze Russell.

Stetson and Wendell wrote for George Storrs magazine The Herald
of Life and the Coming Kingdom, and for other magazines such as
The Worlds Crisis.
In the early 1870s, they worked together in several Advent
Christian churches throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio. While he
was pastor in Pittsburgh in 1872, Stetson met Charles Taze Russell.
Stetson led the Edinboro, Pennsylvania congregation for the
following six years until his death. His dying request was that Pastor
Russell give his funeral sermon, where over twelve hundred
attended.

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 1. No 4, October 1879

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Ernest and Rose Henninges

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 15. No 8, 25 April 1894

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 15. No 8, 25 April 1894

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 15. No 8, 25 April 1894

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 15. No 8, 25 April 1894

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 15. No 8, 25 April 1894

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 15. No 8, 25 April 1894

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Henninges married
Rose Ball

Zions Watchtower, Vol 15. No 8, 25 April 1894

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Zions Watchtower, Vol 27. No 14, July 15 1906

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Burwood Cemetery, Melbourne, Australia

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