Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 1909-00-0, descending sort earliest first

date event tags firsts
1909 (In the Year) Martha Root became a Bahá'í. [SYH58] Martha Root
1909 (In the year) The Bahá'í community of Saint Paul, Minnesota began in 1909 when Dr. Clement Woolson, who became a Bahá'í in New York City in 1899, moved to Saint Paul to establish a Bahá'í community there. Both Clement and his wife Leona were osteopathic doctors and active Bahá'ís. The Woolsons held weekly Bahá'í gatherings in their home in Saint Paul.

In 1912 Clement was a delegate to the 4th Bahá'í National Convention in Chicago and Leona was the alternate delegate representing the Bahá'ís of Saint Paul. At the end of the convention, on May 1st, 1912, they were able to attend the large gathering in Wilmette, Illinois when Abdu'l-Bahá laid the cornerstone for the House of Worship.

On September 20th, 1912, Abdu'l-Bahá spoke in the Woolson home on spiritual education. Dr. Clement Woolson was an eloquent speaker and as a result of their firesides, others were soon declaring their faith. By 1922 there were nine Bahá'ís in Saint Paul. Among those attending the gatherings at the Woolsons were the Abas, Kadrie and Hider families. These three families from Syria moved to New York in 1902 and on to Saint Paul in 1922. First Hassen Abas attended the gatherings and soon after Alex Kadrie and Kamel Hider were attending talks at the Woolson home. By 1930 or soon after all three had become Baha'is on fire with the Cause of Baha'u'llah. These were large families; Hassen Abas and his wife Madie had nine children of their own. Their daughter Gayle Abas accepted the Baha'i Faith in 1932 at the age of 19. Three years later, after Dr. Woolson's his first wife Leona died, Gayle Abas married Clement. Dr. Woolson passed away a few months later. In 1976 Gayle Woolson wrote a biography about the Abas, Kadrie and Hider families. [A Saint Paul Bahá'í Community History: The Early Years]

St. Paul, MN; USA
1909 (In the year) The publication of A Year With the Bahá'ís of India and Burma by Sydney Sprague. It was published by Priory Press in London. PDF1908 [Collins 7.2467]

The book was republished in 1986 by Kalimat Press. PDF1986.

    This short memoir is the account of the first visit by a Western Bahá'í to South and Southeast Asia, at the behest of Master himself. Sprague has given us a priceless description of several early Bahá'í communities in the region. From the author's pilgrimage to 'Akka, and the instructions given to him by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, through trips to Bombay, Rangoon, and Mandalay, then to Delhi and Lahore, we see a broad spectrum of Bahá'í community and life at the turn of the twentieth century. Sprague paints a clear picture of the transforming power of the Faith's message of unity in diversity that could bring together Muslims, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, and Hindus as a single-family.
the first visit by a Western Bahá'í to South and Southeast Asia
1909 (In the year) The publication of Observations of a Bahai Traveller 1908 by Charles Mason Remey. The book was a narrative of travels in 1908 among the Bahá'ís of the Holy Land, Iran and Turkestan. [Collins 7.2254] Observations of a Bahá'í Traveller 1908; Charles Mason Remey; East Lansing, MI
1909 (In the year) Juliet Thompson made a pilgrimage to 'Akka and met with 'Abdu'l-Bahá., [ABF19] Juliet Thompson; Pilgrims; Akka, Israel
1909 (In the year) The passing of Robert Turner (b. 15 October, 1855 or 1856, Virginia d. 1909 California)
  • the first African-American Bahá'í and a member of the first Western Pilgrimage to Haifa in 1898, led by his employer Mrs. Phoebe Hearst. He was a butler in her household for more than 35 years. He was taught the Bahá'í Faith by Lua Getsinger in the process of serving tea and remained a devoted believer his entire life. "Such was the tenacity of his faith that even the subsequent estrangement of his beloved mistress from the Cause she had spontaneously embraced failed to becloud its radiance, or to lessen the intensity of the emotions which the loving-kindness showered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá upon him had excited in his breast." (GPB259) [A Vision of Race Unity, Ving p101, AZBF475, An Early Pilgrimage by May Maxwell]
  • He received a Tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá while on his deathbed and a tribute after his passing. [AY60, 61, 339, AB72]
  • He was one of the nineteen Western Bahá'ís designated as a Disciple of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • A Tablet to him from 'Abdu'l-Bahá can be found in SWABpg114 #78 and 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America (website).
  • See also Bahaipedia, Bahá'í Chronicles.
  • Find a Grave.
  • Ask a Bahá'í.
  • Robert Turner; - Disciples of `Abdu'l-Bahá; Firsts, other; Phoebe Hearst; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Virginia, USA; California, USA; USA the first African-American Baha'i
    1909 (In the year) Sutherland Maxwell, Hand of the Cause of God, became a Bahá'í. [BFA2:156]

    In the same year he was married to May Bolles. [WMSH16-17]

    Sutherland Maxwell; - Hands of the Cause; Montreal, QC; Quebec, Canada; Canada
    1909 (In the year) Karl Kruttner, a professor in Bohemia, became a Bahá'í, the first person to do so in the Austro-Hungarian empire. [Bahaipedia 1909] Karl Kruttner; First Bahá'ís by country or area; Bohemia, Czech Republic; Germany The first person to become a Bahá'í in the Austro-Hungarian empire..

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