- 1899-05-00 —
A council board of seven officers, a forerunner of the Local Spiritual Assembly, was established in Kenosha. [BFA1:112; GPB260]
- Those elected were not so much members of a council but rather "community officers" who carried out the decisions made at a community meeting. [BFA1p112] iiiii
- 1899-10-00 — Edward Getsinger appointed five men as a "Board of Counsel" for the Baha'is of northern New Jersey. Isabella Brittingham was made the honorary corresponding secretary, but was not a member of the body. [The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith]
- 1900-03-16 — The Chicago community re-organized by selecting a ten-member Board of Council. Neither Kheiralla nor any of his supporters were on the Board. [BFA1:XXIX, 170; The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith]
- 1900-12-07 — In New York, nine men were selected to govern the affairs of the Faith. Those serving were Arthur Dodge, Hooper Harris, William Hoar, Andrew Hutchinson, Howard MacNutt, Frank Osborne, Edwin Putnam, Charles Sprague and Orosco Woolson. Among the problems that they had to face was the effect of the disaffection of Kheiralla. [BFA2p36; Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p5]
One of the men, William Hoar, had been present at the reading of the paper by Henry Jessop at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1892. Shortly after he began study of the Faith with Ibrahim Khayru'llah. Later Hoar moved to New York where he continued study with Anton Haddad. Haddad had learned of the Faith in Egypt from Haji 'Abdu'l-Karim-i-Tihrani. [WMSH59] - 1901-05-15 — Mirza Assad'u'llah, received a Tablet from Abdul-Baha, in which He has positively declared to be necessary the establishment here of the House of Justice by election by the believers with order and just dealing. According to this blessed Announcement, our believers have elected those whom they deemed best fitted, and thus The House of Justice was established.The Chicago Bahá'ís elected a nine-man Board of Council for a term of five years. Those elected were: George Lesch, Charles H. Greenleaf, John A. Guilford, Dr. Rufus H. Bartlett, Thornton Chase, Charles Hessler, Arthur S. Agnew, Byron S. Lane and Henry L. Goodall. [BFA2:XXV, 44–7; The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith]
Only days after the election of the Chicago House of Justice, a Ladies' Auxilliary Board was organized at the suggestion of Mrs. Ella Nash and Mrs. Corinne True. This Board was later to be known as the Women's Assembly of Teaching. It appears that the Ladies' Auxilliary was able to maintain control of the funds of the Chicago Bahá'í community despite the election of the House of Justice.[The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith] - 1901-05-20 — The number of members on the Board of Council was raised to 12. [BFA2:47]
- 1901-05-24 —
The name of the Chicago Board of Council was changed to the House of Justice. [BFA2:48]
- `Abdu'l-Bahá requested that this name be changed a year later. [BFA2:49]
- 1911-08-23 —
`Abdu'l-Bahá took up residence at Thonon-les-Bains on Lake Leman (Lake Geneva). [AB140; GPB280; SBR219]
- While there He encountered Zillu's-Sultán, the eldest son of the Sháh of the time, Násirid-Dín Sháh. It was he who had ratified the execution of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs and at least 100 others. The whole family was in exile in Geneva at this time. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was very courteous to this man who had been such an inveterate enemy of the Cause. [DJT172, AY19, GPB201] .
- The Master sent for Juliet Thompson who had been waiting in London for His permission to join Him.
- During His stay he had a visit from Annie Boylan, a member of the New York community that was experiencing disharmony. Unaware of Bahá'í election procedures, a group that was unhappy with the disunity and ineffectiveness of the Council had organized a vote to be rid of several of its Council members. 'Abdu'l-Bahá had written to the community a short time before recommending that the Council be expanded from 9 to 27 members so that all factions could be represented. He also recommended that women be included on the Council and that the name be changed to "the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of New York". This apparently addressed the problem of disunity because the New York community went on to contribute significantly to the progress of the Faith on a national level. [DJT181, BFA2p338]
- Horace Holley, who lived at Quattro Torri, Siena, Italy at the time, along with his wife Bertha Herbert and baby daughter Hertha, visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the 29th and 30th of August. Please see his Religion for Mankind p 232-237 for a pen portrait of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
- He met with Elizabeth Stewart and Lillian Kappes who were on their way to Tehran. [find reference]
- It would appear that He returned to Marseilles and travelled to London by sea. [SCU22-23]
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