He was baptized in 1906 as a Bible Student — the designation Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known by — was appointed the Society’s legal counsel the following year, and became its president in January 1917.
Në vitin 1906 ai u pagëzua si Student i Biblës, emri me të cilin njiheshin Dëshmitarët e Jehovait në atë kohë, u emërua këshilltari ligjor i Shoqatës vitin që pasoi dhe u bë presidenti i saj në janar të 1917 - s.