The item at auction is a "cover",
or "used envelope" from 1903. In the upper left-hand
corner (sender's name and address) is the imprint of
"Riter-Conley Mfg. Company, Iron and Steel
Construction, Pittsburgh, PA."
This cover is missing its
right-hand edge from being torn open by the
recipient. There is a April 3, 1903 Pittsburgh
postmark on the front, as well as a 2c stamp. The
reverse has the out-of-state "received" stamp dated
April 11, 1903, as was routine practice in that time
period.
WHY IS THIS ITEM OF INTEREST
TO COLLECTORS OF WATCHTOWER SOCIETY AND JEHOVAH'S
WITNESSES MEMORABILIA?
Because the "Conley" in "Riter-Conley" was the
FIRST PRESIDENT of the WATCH TOWER SOCIETY.
Many, if not the vast majority, of Jehovah's
Witnesses think that Charles Taze Russell was the
first President of the Watch Tower Society. Sorry,
but Russell was NOT!!! Charles Taze Russell was
actually the SECOND President of the Watch Tower
Society.
The Watch Tower Society was legally founded in
February 1881, initially as an "association" type
legal entity. Charles Taze Russell was the Watch
Tower Society's first "Secreary/Treasurer", and his
father, Joseph Russell, was the Society's first
"Vice-President".
THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE
WATCH TOWER SOCIETY was a prosperous Pittsburgh
businessman named WILLIAM HENRY CONLEY (1840-97).
Despite the tales told by Charles Taze Russell
(and repeated ever since in WatchTower
publications), it was William H. Conley who provided
much, if not most, of the $$$ in the early days of
the Watch Tower Society. When the Watch Tower
Society was founded in 1881, William Conley donated
$3500 (70%) of the $5000 original capital. Joseph
Russell donated $1000 (20%), with Charles Taze
Russell donating only $500 (10%). In its first
12 months (1881-2), the Watch Tower Society spent
$40,000 on distribution of "Food For Thinking
Christians" and other free literature. In later
years, Russell insinuated to his gullible
sychophants that he and his father were the ones who
had footed this hefty expense. However, evidence
suggests that while the Russells donated a portion
of this $40,000, the majority of the $$$ was
actually donated by President William H. Conley.
William Henry and Sarah Conley (1841-1908)
were two of the five original "1870s Allegheny Bible
Students" to which Watch Tower publications
sometimes will make only a quick vague reference.
(Now, we know why.) Joseph Russell, and his daughter
Margaret, and son Charles Taze, were the other
three. The Conley and the Russell families likely
became acquainted in the late 1860s or early 1870s,
when both families attended the local Advent
Christian Church, where they listened to the
preaching of Second Adventists Jonas Wendell, George
Stetson, and George Storrs. There was a rift amongst
Pittsburgh's Advent Christians in the early 1870s,
and it may have been at that time that the Conleys
and Russells started meeting together - probably at
the Conleys' home.
While Joseph and Charles Taze Russell worked for
years to build "J. L. Russell & Son" into a "huge"
chain of five men's clothing stores, William H.
Conley was co-owner of "Riter-Conley Company", a
prosperous metal fabrication company which gradually
grew over the years into a highly respected
WORLDWIDE supplier to the drilling, mining,
manufacturing, and marine industries. By the late
1880s, Riter-Conley had in excess of 600 employees,
and that figure doubled in the following 20 years.
William Conley had been the bookkeeper for the
original Riter operation, which had started back in
the mid-1860s. When the founder died in 1873, the
deceased Riter's brother and William Conley formed a
partnership (Riter-Conley Company) to continue the
business. Riter and Conley continued as partners
from 1873 until Conley's death in 1897, when Riter
formed a corporation (Riter-Conley Mfg. Company) to
continue the business.
Buyers should understand that
the envelope at auction is from this later
corporation (Riter-Conley Mfg. Company). Obviously,
the name "Conley" still refers to the deceased
William Conley. It is unknown whether any of
Conley's heirs held any stock in this later
corporation (Conley was survived by his wife Sarah,
his elderly Mother, and other relatives), or whether
such is true of anyone else connected to the
WatchTower Society. It is also notable that this
envelope has "Pittsburgh" as its address, since the
company sold its Pittsburgh and Allegheny locations,
and relocated to Leetsdale. The addressee of this
"business envelope" is a female, and she lived some
distance away in New England. This is a small size
envelope, which suggests the contents may have not
been customer related. The surname of the addressee
is a surname common to a family with memberS who
have held high positions in the Watch Tower Society.
William Conley evidently became rather wealthy
from Riter-Conley. Conley was also a stockholder in
and Director of the Third National Bank of
Allegheny. Both William and Sarah Conley were active
in several Pittsburgh charities, including but not
limited to a orphanage and school for children of
African-American heritage, as well as a local
hospital.
William Conley evidently gradually became
disappointed that his large donation(s) in 1881/2
did not accomplish any more than they did. The
failure of the costly distribution of "Food For
Thinking Christians" to garner any significant
number of believers, coupled with Russell's previous
failed predictions for both 1878 and 1881, probably
caused Conley to re-think both his financial support
for Russell and his faith in Russell's various
doctrinal and prophetic interpretations. Although
Conley had been a Second Adventist, he evidently had
not been one of the Second Adventists who followed
after the irresponsible "time brethren" Second
Adventists who repeatedly made predictions for this
or that prophecy to happen in certain years.
Otherwise, Conley would not have been making new
business plans back in 1873/4, the years when Jonas
Wendell and Nelson Barbour had been predicting
Armageddon. However, when Conley's friend Charles
Taze Russell fell under the spell of Nelson Barbour
and started teaching that Christ had invisibly
returned to the vicinity of the earth in 1874, and
when Russell started predicting the Rapture for
Passover 1878, and then 1881, Conley evidently must
have put some amount of faith in Russell.
However, sometime in 1882 Conley evidently
decided that he would make no more "large"
contributions to finance Russell's schemes. From
latter 1882 until the mid-1890s, the Watch Tower
Society reported receiving very few donations, and
as a result conducted minimal activity during that
ten year stretch. This fact alone indicates that the
tales of Russell's great wealth are like nearly
everything else that has been told about Russell -
much exxagerated.
As much as for the "official reasons" that
Russell stated at the time, Russell probably decided
to "incorporate" the Watch Tower Society in 1884 so
that he could remove "President Conley" from the
Watch Tower Society paperwork.
After 1882, Conley's name is not mentioned again
in the pages of the Watch Tower Magazine until
twelve years later when Russell prints a letter from
Conley in a 1894 issue [in which
Conley takes up for Russell in another rift which
occurred in the Society in the mid 1890s, when
again, many of Russell's closest associates turned
against him. Interestingly enough, I have identified
another "rift" in the Pitt/All area which occurred
about this same time, which involved Russell and
Conley on opposite sides. However, I don't know the
extent to which each were involved, nor whether this
second rift had anything to do with the WatchTower
rift. However, it appears that Conley's letter to
Russell in 1894 was Conley's way of trying to at
least stay on friendly terms with Russell].
Russell introduces Conley to the 1894 readers of his
Watch Tower Magazine as merely "one of the original
Allegheny Bible Students". Russell does NOT disclose
to his readers that Conley was actually the Watch
Tower Society's FIRST President.
When William Conley died in July 1897, there
was no mention of his death in the pages of the
Watch Tower Magazine. This is notable, since
Russell had published death notices in the Watch
Tower Magazine for both of his early Second
Adventist teachers - George Stetson and George
Storrs.
However, another one of Charles Taze Russell's
many "former friends and associates", John H. Paton,
did publish notice of Conley's death in his own
competing "The World's Hope" magazine. Paton also
mentioned that he had stayed at the Conley home
numerous times "over the past 20 years". (John H.
Paton authored many of the Watch Tower Magazine's
articles during its first couple years.) Evidently,
Conley had remained closer to the "trinitarian" John
H. Paton (who lived in Michigan) than Conley did
with Russell, who lived right there in Allegheny.
This fact, along with the report that William Conley
eventually joined a local Presbyterian Church, might
also indicate that William Conley's problems with
Charles Taze Russell started when Russell rejected
the Trinity Doctrine in 1882. There is also evidence
that Conley may have chosen Paton's chronological
interpretations over Russell's after 1882.
WHY DID CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL
REFUSE THE FAMILY OF THE WATCH TOWER SOCIETY'S FIRST
PRESIDENT THE COURTESY OF AN OBITUARY IN THE PAGES
OF THE WATCH TOWER MAGAZINE?
Because William Conley, the FIRST PRESIDENT OF
THE WATCH TOWER SOCIETY, and his wife Sarah (who
also will always be noted as being two of the five
original "Bible Students"), no longer supported nor
believed in the teachings of the Watch Tower
Society. By the standards of that era, the FIRST
PRESIDENT OF THE WATCH TOWER SOCIETY had either been
DISFELLOWSHIPED by Russell, or Conley had
DISASSOCIATED himself, or both.
The specifics are not known. However, it is known
that shortly after 1882 that Conley gradually
stopped supporting the Watch Tower Society and its
teachings, and "moved on" in his pursuit of
christian "truth". While maintaining his belief that
the Second Advent was "imminent", as well as in the
dispensational teachings of [TBD - possibly Paton],
Conley evidently rejected the Watch Tower Society's
teaching that the Parousia had started in 1874. In
1884, when the Lutheran Minister, George N. H.
Peters published his masterpiece "Theocratic
Kingdom", Peter's book included a notice of
appreciation for Conley's financial assistance.
William Conley eventually joined a local
Presbyterian Church, which would indicate that
Conley did not agree with Russell's rejection of the
Trinity Doctrine in 1882. It would also indicate
that Conley had also changed his previous Adventist
beliefs on the various doctrines relating to the
soul, hellfire, and eternal damnation; as well as
calvinist doctrines.
William Conley eventually
even became involved with another emerging religious
movement of that time period. William Conley, the
FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE WATCH TOWER SOCIETY, had even
served on local, state and National Boards of
Directors of that other religious organizaton for
several years. Conley was probably considered their
#1 member in the Pitt area, which one was of that
movement's "hottest" areas. That's correct. The man
who helped start the Watch Tower movement also
helped in the founding of another one of America's
religious movements (which also eventually evolved
into a separate denomination). Like the Advent
Christian Church, this other religious group has
probably also been very happy that the Watch Tower
Society is so secretive about its past history. This
"other group" has been about as forthcoming with
info about Conley as has the Advent Christian
Church. Given the fact that William Conley was
important enough to their movement for their
"founder" (accompanied by other movement bigwigs) to
leave an ongoing Convention to come to Pittsburgh to
preach William Conley's funeral, you would think
that some of their websites would have a posted
biography of Conley.
Years later, Charles Taze Russell jealously
belittled Conley's success in life. Ignoring the
fact that William Conley continued to use his
fortune to promote the spread of the "true Gospel"
after Conley had "moved on" from the Watch Tower
Society, Russell even insinuated that Conley had
chosen to pursue riches rather than follow Jesus
Christ. Russell even had the temerity to suggest
that Conley had lost his anointed calling as a
heavenly co-ruler with Christ Jesus. Russell knew he
was telling a lie when he said such. William Conley
had a long trail of using his fortune for a variety
of "christian" purposes. He helped support the
previously mentioned orphange/school and hospital in
Pittsburgh. Conley also supported other local
charities. Conley was also very active in local
church efforts, including sponsoring annual
religious conventions at Carnegie Hall -- all of
which Russell was all too aware. Conley even
organized and funded a Christian mission in
Jerusalem. Put simply: RUSSELL FLAT OUT
INTENTIONALLY LIED AND SLANDERED HIS DEAD FORMER
FRIEND. Russell's "Pittsburgh area" sychophants,
including both those who remained loyal to the
WatchTower Society and those who later became part
of the various "Bible Student" splinter groups,
would all have been fully aware of the truth
regarding William Conley, and Russell's libelous
slander. ALL WERE PART OF THE RUSSELL CONSPIRACY TO
WIPE WILLIAM HENRY CONLEY OUT OF THE WATCHTOWER
HISTORY BOOKS.
Here is Conley's OBITUARY published in the other
group's magazine:
It is with deep sorrow
that we are called upon to record the death of
one of our most valued fellow-laborers in
______, and one of the few princely Christian
merchants we have in our ____. We refer to Mr.
Henry Conley, of Pittsburg, Pa., who passed away
at his home in Pittsburg on Sabbath evening,
July 25th, after a brief illness of only about a
month. Indeed, he was only confined to his room
about a week before the end. Mr. Conley was a
business man of vey high standing in Pittsburg,
and a vast concourse of his fellow citizens
gathered at his funeral to pay their last
tribute of respect and affection to his memory.
The funeral services were conducted at his home
in Pittsburg by Rev. [Founder], Rev [Board
Member], Rev. [Board Member], and Rev. [___], of
Pittsburg, who referred in appropriate terms to
his high character and great usefulness.
Mr. Conley was an earnest and loyal member of
_____ and one of the leading officers of _____.
The remarkable progress which the ______ work
during the past two years was largely due to his
untiring labors and his wise and earnest
counsels. He carried the spirit of business
enterprise into his Christian work and did
nothing by halves. He was one of the few
Barnabases of the church and it is easier to
supply a dozen preachers than one such
whole-hearted Christ-filled business man. But
God remains and He is equal to every need.
Mr. Conley's heart was much in the work of
[evangelizing], and his spontaneous liberality
has largely helped to keep in operation the
blessed [evangelizing] which has been so
successfully carried on by our _____ friends in
Pittsburg.
But his heart had also caught the Master's
geater thought for the evangelizaion of the
world. And he has been for many years in the
very front of the great missionary movement.
Many years ago he supplied the means for
planting the present ____ mission in Jerusalem,
and he sustained [the missionary's] work up to
the close of his death. He was a member of the
Board [of the national organization]. He has
been from an early day one of the official Board
[of their seminary] and took the deepest
interest in its welfare.
He leaves a wife, who has long been the
sharer of his Christian hopes and plans, to take
up the broken thread and finish his life and
her's. We are sure the blessed Master will both
sustain and use her.
The inspiration of Mr. Conley's life and the
theme of his constant testimony was the coming
of the Lord Jesus. As our love ones leave us how
earnestly we long for that blessed morn to break
on the night of earth and time.
We are very sure that our beloved brethren in
Pennsylvania will take up and carry on the work
in their State with unslackened zeal, and that
God will still prove that while He may bury the
workers the work will still go on.
***For JW shoppers who do not
know the true facts about Russell, the Watch Tower
Society, and the Watch Tower Magazine, the above
history may be somewhat confusing. JWs need to
understand that the Watch Tower Magazine was not
owned or published by the Watch Tower Society until
many years later - after Russell started donating
his business assets to the Society to keep his wife
from getting her hands on such during their marital
and legal wranglings. Until Russell finally donated
such to the Society, the Watch Tower Magazine was
owned by Russell personally and operated under
Russell's "for-profit" business named Tower
Publishing Company. Do you recall reading in modern
WatchTower literature how Russell gave away
WatchTower magazine subscriptions and other
literature to "the Lord's poor"? What Brooklyn isn't
telling you is that anything sent out "free",
whether it was WatchTower magazines or other
literature, was done through the "books" of the
Watch Tower Society - not Tower Publishing Company.
Whatever "free" literature was supplied from Russell
and his Tower Publishing Company was then "paid for"
by Russell transferring donations from the Society
to his own Tower Publishing Company. Years later,
when "colporteurs" were "hired" to sell Russell's
books as a "fulltime job", there was a point in time
when books shipped to colporteurs on "credit"
amounted to an outstanding debt to Russell's Tower
Publishing Company of around $10,000. When one of
Russell's followers came into a large amount of
money and made a substantial donation to the Watch
Tower Society, Russell then took most of that
person's donation to the Society and paid off the
colporteur's debt to Tower Publishing Company
(HIMSELF). Russell even charged the Watch Tower
Society 6% INTEREST every year on those "bills",
which were actually owed by the individual
colporteurs. One can only wonder if back in 1882
whether William Conley suspected Russell of making a
profit from Conley's large donation(s) to the
Society, whose literature was probably supplied to
the Society through the books of Russell's Tower
Publishing Company.
William Conley JWs FOUNDER & FIRST WATCHTOWER
PRESIDENT (more information)
JWD Discussion