Final resting places

Graveyard memorials are an interesting adjunct to genealogy and history. They often tell us about attitudes towards death and also fame, going right back to the pyramids of Egypt. It is notable in the 19^th century with the attempts of Victorians (in the UK at least) to outdo their dead rivals in the cemetery with spectacle. It’s been said that the attitude in 19^th century Britain was – if you can’t take it with you, you can at least show the rabble you once had it.

With that in mind, it is interesting to note the grave markers of the first six presidents of the Watch Tower Society.

William Henry Conley

Conley was a wealthy industrialist who became first Watch Tower president in 1881. By 1884 he had left regular association with Charles Taze Russell to go on a different religious journey. But his memorial is typical of wealthy men who made their name.

Photograph by the author

In fairness to Conley, his actual grave marker was quite standard, alongside almost identical ones for his wife and adopted daughter. But the family memorial for his name is quite striking, even today.

Charles Taze Russell

CTR was the first president of the incorporated Society in 1884, and founder of the magazine now known as The Watchtower (originally Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence). He gave instructions for a simple funeral at the Society’s own plot in United Cemeteries, Ross Township, Pittsburgh. His first marker pictured in the 1919 convention report was very simple, but something more elaborate was installed in 1920. Even so, it was a fairly modest affair, when compared with other markers of the time, including in the same series of cemeteries.

Photograph by the author

It should be noted that the pyramid installed near the grave marker, was not for CTR but for the whole Bethel family along with colporteurs of the day. Like a war memorial it was originally intended to commemorate the names of 196 people. In practice only nine names were ever engraved on it before the idea was abandoned. The structure was taken down in 2021.

Joseph Franklyn Rutherford

The second president of the incorporated Society was Joseph Franklyn Rutherford. Originally a grave space was reserved for him on the same site as CTR. But the headquarters were now in New York and a new graveyard was established on Staten Island. The Society bought land in 1922 and established both a farm and a radio station there. The radio station had the call letters WBBR and opened for transmission in 1924. Adjoining this property was a famous landmark, the Woodrow Road Methodist Church, with a number of graveyards surrounding it. The Society was to have its own section here. It is not known when this began, but the last interment of a Bethel worker at the old cemetery in Pittsburgh was that of Charles Buehler in 1925.

When JFR died he was buried at Staten Island.

Below is a snapshot from Google Earth taken from Woodrow Road showing part of the cemetery.

The Woodrow Road Methodist Church is on the right. On the left is a fence separating a housing development, which was where the Woodrow Road entrance to the Society’s property used to be. The radio masts for WBBR were behind the Methodist church and their own graveyard adjoined the WBBR property. The graveyard is noted for the policy of having no grave markers at all. This was used for Bethel workers until the end of the 1960s, even though they sold off the radio station in 1957. The last recorded interment was in December 1968. (See The Watchtower magazine for February 15, 1969, page 125.) So J F Rutherford has no grave marker at all. He is buried in this private cemetery area with five others who went to prison with him in 1918.

Nathan Knorr, Fred Franz and Milton Henschel

In the 1970s a new private cemetery was established at Watchtower Farms in Walkill, Ulster County, NY. It is also a private cemetery but this time on private land, and now the decision was taken to have simple grave markers flat on the ground.

Here are the markers for the next Watchtower Society presidents, Nathan Knorr, Fred Franz, and Milton Henschel.

Nathan Knorr and Fred Franz

Milton Henschel

It is an interesting progression from the memorial for William Henry Conley.