Jehovah's Witnesses
- Profile
- Images
Location: Tuxedo Park, Orange, New York, United States
Surnames/tags: Jehovahs_Witnesses WTBTS RELIGION
[send private message] and Religion Project WikiTree [send private message]
Contents |
Jehovah's Witnesses
Mission
The goal of this project is to gather information about Jehovah's Witnesses, with a focus on the leaders, "Bethel" volunteers and residences, and the history and genealogy of its members.
Membership
Will you join me? Please post a comment here on this page, in G2G using the project tag, or send me a private message. Thanks!
To Do
- Create profiles for:
- NY, USA Bethelites: 1910 √ | 1915 √ | 1920 √ | 1925 √ | 1930 | 1940
- USHMM Holocaust Encyclopedia ID Cards
- Add family to witnesses not connected to the global tree
- Write biographies
See Also:
- JW.org
- Film: Knocking
- Jehovah's Witnesses on WikiPedia
- Wikidata: Item Q35269, en:Wikipedia
History
Their present understanding of Bible truths and their activities can be traced back to the 1870s and the work of Charles Taze Russell and his associates, and from there to the Bible and early Christianity. On July 26, 1931, at a convention in Columbus, Ohio, Joseph Franklin Rutherford introduced the new name – Jehovah's witnesses – based on Isaiah 43:10: "'You are my witnesses,' declares Jehovah..."
Major publishers of the Bible and Bible education literature. Currently, the Bible is available for free online and in hardcopy (in whole or in part) in over 160 languages. Bible literature is available in over 975 languages online or in hardcopy.
Governing Body
| Image | Wikipedia | Wikitree | Connected? To Do | Assigned | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Charles Taze Russell | Russell-17043 | Yes! | Seely-210 00:35, 8 Feb 2018 UTC | 1852 | 1916 | President |
 | Joseph Franklin Rutherford | Rutherford-3100 | Yes! | Seely-210 Robinson-27225 21:59, 20 July 2020 (UTC) | 1869 | 1942 | President |
 | Nathan Homer Knorr | Knorr-359 | Yes! | Robinson-27225 00:26, 20 May 2020 (UTC) | 1905 | 1977 | President |
 | Frederick William Franz | Franz-747 | Yes! | Seely-210 Robinson-27225 06:17, 26 Jul 2021 UTC | 1893 | 1992 | President |
 | Milton George Henschel | Henschel-55 | Yes! | Robinson-27225 04:12, 26 Jul 2021 UTC | 1920 | 2003 | President |
| needs photo | Don Adams | Adams-58134 | Yes! | Robinson-27225 06:06, 23 Apr 2022 UTC | 1925 | 2019 | President |
| needs photo | Robert Ciranko | Ciranko-1 | Yes! | Robinson-27225 13:22, 23 April 2022 (UTC) | 1947 | President | |
 | Alexander Hugh Macmillan | Macmillan-1071 | Yes! | Peasley-221 16:57, 24 Jul 2021 (UTC) | 1877 | 1966 | Governing body |
 | William Van Amburgh | Van_Amburgh-98 | Yes! | Robinson-27225 19:30, 25 Jul 2021 (UTC) | 1863 | 1947 | Secretary-Treasurer |
| needs photo | Carey Barber | Barber-11508 | Yes! | Robinson-27225 16:28, 26 December 2021 (UTC) | 1905 | 2007 | Governing body |
| needs photo | Grant Suiter | Suiter-390 | Yes! | Robinson-27225 23:01, 18 January 2022 (UTC) | 1908 | 1983 | Secretary-Treasurer |
| needs photo | Daniel Sydlik | Sydlik-1 | Yes! | Robinson-27225 19:32, 16 January 2022 (UTC) | 1919 | 2006 | Governing body |
| needs photo | Karl F Klein | Klein-7133 | Yes! | Robinson-27225 17:17, 13 February 2022 (UTC) | 1905 | 2001 | Governing body |
Locations
United States
At first they had headquarters offices at 101 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, and later at 44 Federal Street, Allegheny. In the late 1880’s, however, expansion became necessary. So Russell arranged to build larger facilities. In 1889 a four-story brick building at 56-60 Arch Street, Allegheny, was completed. Valued at $34,000, it was known as the Bible House. It served as the Society’s headquarters for some 19 years. As of 1890, the small Bible House family was serving the needs of several hundred active associates of the Watch Tower Society.
As the newspaper preaching gained momentum, the Bible Students looked for another location from which to originate the sermons. Why? The Bible House in Allegheny had become too small. It was also thought that if Russell’s sermons emanated from a larger, better-known city, it would result in the publication of the sermons in more newspapers. But which city? The Watch Tower of December 15, 1908, explained: “Altogether we concluded, after seeking Divine guidance, that Brooklyn, N.Y., with a large population of the middle class, and known as ‘The City of Churches,’ would, for these reasons, be our most suitable center for the harvest work during the few remaining years.”
In 1908, therefore, several representatives of the Watch Tower Society, including its legal counsel, Joseph F. Rutherford, were sent to New York City. Their objective? To secure property that C. T. Russell had located on an earlier trip. They purchased the old “Plymouth Bethel,” located at 13-17 Hicks Street, Brooklyn. It had served as a mission structure for the nearby Plymouth Congregational Church, where Henry Ward Beecher once served as pastor. The Society’s representatives also purchased Beecher’s former residence, a four-story brownstone at 124 Columbia Heights, a few blocks away.
The Hicks Street building was remodeled and named the Brooklyn Tabernacle. It housed the Society’s offices and an auditorium. After considerable repairs, Beecher’s former residence at 124 Columbia Heights became the new home of the Society’s headquarters staff. What would it be called? The Watch Tower of March 1, 1909, explained: “The new home we shall call ‘Bethel’ [meaning, “House of God”].”*
|
| 56-60 Arch Street, Allegheny |
|
| 13-17 Hicks Street, Brooklyn |
|
| 117 Adams St (1927 to present) |
|
| 122 & 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn |
- 101 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh
- 44 Federal Street, Allegheny
- 56-60 Arch Street, Allegheny
- 13-17 Hicks Street, Brooklyn
- Brooklyn Bethel at 122 & 124 Columbia Heights (1909-2016)[1]
- Kingdom Farm, Lansing, New York One Place Study (1935-1963) | Kingdom Farm Cemetery
- Watchtower Farms, Wallkill, New York One Place Study (1963-2016) | Watchtower Farms Cemetery
- Warwick Bethel at 1 Kings Drive Tuxedo Park, New York (2016- )[1]
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Witnesses to Relocate World Headquarters", database (https://www.jw.org/ : accessed 17 Apr 2022) About Us > Activities > Construction Projects
- McCoy, Daniel J. "The Popular Handbook of World Religions." Harvest House Publishers.
- Chryssides, George D. "Jehovah's Witnesses: Continuity and Change"
- Starting a new Free Space Project:Jehovah's Witnesses Apr 24, 2019.
- Login to request to the join the Trusted List so that you can edit and add images.
- Private Messages: Contact the Profile Managers privately: Azure Robinson and Religion Project WikiTree. (Best when privacy is an issue.)
- Public Comments: Login to post. (Best for messages specifically directed to those editing this profile. Limit 20 per day.)
- Public Q&A: These will appear above and in the Genealogist-to-Genealogist (G2G) Forum. (Best for anything directed to the wider genealogy community.)