Guess Who?

This is a little bit of light reader participation, which some with long memories and diverse readng habits may have seen elsewhere. Can you identify the person photographed with Charles Taze Russell?

The photograph is taken from a larger picture that featured four people. Below is the complete photograph that can be found in a rather poor reproduction opposite page 112 in the 1914 convention report, captioned “Receiving instructions. Re: Immersion service.” The convention report does not reveal who the characters are.

This nice clear print comes from a good copy that originally belonged to Rose Hirsh, wife of Robert Hirsh. The reverse of the photograph identifies who the people are: (from left to right) Robert Hollister, our mystery person, Charles T Russell, and Edward W Brenneisen.

A few clues:

He personally typed out Joseph Lytle Russell’s last will and testament.

He designed the pyramid monument at United Cemeteries.

He grew “miracle wheat.”

His death certificate said he had been a lecturer for the IBSA for 30 years.

 

The answer is in the comments.

1881 Organizational Document

Many readers here will already be familiar with the handwritten organizational document dated February 1881. It outlines the plans of the principals and lists the amounts they donated or pledged to the cause. A discussion of this document can be found in Volume 2 of Separate Identity, pages 169-171.

It is reproduced here, however, so that readers can see it in “full color.”

 

Reproduced with permission from Tower Archives, with thanks

What significance does color have? You will note that there is a purple line down the side of the written word on the left, which covers the whole the document. Additionally, when W H Conley signed the document, he also used a purple pencil or similar.

This would not be accidental. A researcher who has spent much time in Pittsburgh and Allegheny record offices over the years has come across this action several times. And on several other occasions in documents from the 1880s, by the signature in purple someone has written the title “President” or a similar expression to the show the person’s key position in the document.

So William Henry Conley was of course the first president, and signed here in that capacity. It is only a small point, but it’s only by seeing the document reproduced in color that it can it be observed.