Debate Modern Reforms

William Henry Conley (11 June 1840 – 25 July 1897) was a Pittsburgh philanthropist and industrialist married to Sarah Shaffer (1841–1908). They provided organizational and financial support to religious institutions in the United States. Trained by his uncle in the printing business for ten years, he was co-owner of the Riter Conley Company, which provided steel and manufactured goods during the Second Industrial Revolution. He served as the first president of Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society from 1881 to 1884, and in 1896, the Society was renamed Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, later becoming associated with Jehovah's Witnesses. He assisted in publishing Theocratic Kingdom by George N. H. Peters, dedicating the work partially to Conley, to whom Peters was 'deeply indebted for sympathy and pecuniary aid'. Stoic, outspoken, and dominant, Conley was of Scottish descent and grew up in a close-knit family, being the eldest of four children. He strongly believed in Sunday school education, was an avid reader who often discussed literature with friends, and had a keen interest in temperance and social reform.