Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was formed on 16 February 1881 with W. H. Conley as president and Russell as secretary and treasurer, and was legally incorporated in 1884 with Russell as president, chartered for “the dissemination of Bible Truths in various languages”.

Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (1993), “Chapter 26: Producing Bible Literature for Use in the Ministry”

1993 · p.576 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was formed on February 16, 1881, with W. H. Conley as president and C. T. Russell as secretary and treasurer. ... In 1884, Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was legally incorporated, with C. T. Russell as president, and its charter showed that it was more than a society that would direct publishing. Its real objective was religious; it was chartered for “the dissemination of Bible Truths in various languages.””

The chapter traces the Society's publishing from Russell's first article in George Storrs's Bible Examiner in 1876 to the 1918 dismantling of the Brooklyn headquarters.

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