- 1894-02-00 —
Ibrahim George Kheiralla settled in Chicago. [BFA1:XXVII, AB65]
- Owing to his work, the first Bahá'í community in North America was soon formed in Chicago with other groups soon forming in Philadelphia, New York City, Kenosha, Wisconsin and Ithaca, New York. [BBRSM:100; BW10:179; LDNW12]
- See AY59-60 for a description of the teaching method used by Haddad and Kheiralla.
- See
Materials for the Study of the Babi Religion by E.G. Browne, Chapter 2, Ibrahim George Khayru'lláh and the Bahá'í Propaganda in America for an appreciation of what Kheiralla believed and taught.
- 1898-09-01 —
Eighteen people became Bahá'ís in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the visit of Kheiralla in the autumn of 1897. [BFA1:XXVIII]
- This marked the establishment of the third Bahá'í community in North America. [BFA1:110]
- 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 —
Stoyan Vatralsky, a Harvard educated, Bulgarian Christian, attacked the Bahá'ís, `Truth-knowers', in a series of talks in a church in Kenosha, Wisconsin. [BFA1:XXIX, 114–15; SBBH2:111 SBBH1p232; SBBH1p232-238]
- By this time two per cent of the population of Kenosha were Bahá'ís. [BFA1:114]
- See also WOB83 for others who wrote polemics against the Bahá'í Faith.
- 1900-03-08 —
At a meeting in Kenosha, Kheiralla publicly announced his doubts about `Abdu'l-Bahá's leadership of the Bahá'í community. He also said that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was not the return of Christ has be had been teaching. [BFA1:XXIX; SBBH1:96; SBBH2:117; SBBH1p96]
- He he had allied himself with Muhammad-`Alí. [SSBH1:96]
- The Bahá'ís effectively divided into two camps. There had been two to three thousand believers in North America in 1900, by 1902, 1,700 had left the Faith leaving six or seven hundred of whom three hundred were "Behaists" and the rest "Abbasites" or "Behais" (followers of 'Abdu'l-Bahá). By 1906 the US Census of Religions reported that the number of Bahá'ís had risen to 1,280 and the "Behaists" numbered on forty. The Kenosha Behaists continued to exist until the early 1950s. [SSBH1:96-97; WOB82; SBBH14p7]
To counter the effects of this, Abdu'l-Baha, in 1900 and 1901,
sent teachers to America who were completely loyal to the Center
of the Covenant and well-informed on the teachings of Baha'u'llah.
They were Mirza Abu'l-Fadl and Mirza Asad'u'llah. Mr. Chase wrote, with these teachers came the first opportunity for a correct and
intimate knowledge of the true Bahá'í teachings...rather than
psychic and occult experiments...Many persons who had conceived
views imbued with imaginations and superstitions fell away from
the Cause, but those who remained discovered such spiritual
light,...and power in the teachings, that they were deeply confirmed
in their belief, and clung to it.. ." [from a short paper
entitled 'A Brief History of the American Development of the Bahá'í
Movement,' printed in Star of the West, Volume V, number 17.]
- For the changes to the Bahá'í community as a result of this schism see SSBH1:96–9 and SSBH2:117–20.
- 1905-00-00 —
Muhammad-'Alí sent his eldest son Shu'á'u'lláh to North America as his representative. It would appear that he did not work with Kheiralla but rather aligned himself with the group of Behaists in Kenosha. [BFA1p180; GPB319]
- He was the editor of the Behai Quarterly, a periodical published seven times from the Spring of 1934 to 1936 published from 7534 Twenty-sixth Ave in Kenosha. [BFA1p180; AB527n60]
- When the Master visited Los Angeles in October of 1912 he was living in Pasadena and became a cause of grief for 'Abdu'l-Bahá through his machinations. [MD340-341]
- It is believed that he stayed in North America until the 1930s or 1940s. [BFA1p180]
- 1912-09-15 —
In the morning`Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to Dr. William Frederick Nutt, a friend of Kheiralla. (Nutt later broke the Covenant) Observers say that both Dr. Nutt and the interpreter were left trembling after He made his remarks.
- Shu'á'lláh, son of Mírzá Muhammad-'Ali was in America at the same time. The previous May he had written to the Kenosha Evening News decouncing 'Abdu'l-Bahá and proposing a meeting between himself and 'Abdu'l-Bahá to settle their differences. In July Kheiralla had written to the same newspaper in support of Shu'á'lláh. [MD264n277]
- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, his party of six plus Fujita departed to Kenosha but they missed their train. He told His fellow travellers not to be concerned over this, as there would be a good reason for it; travelling on the next train they come across the wreckage of the first, which has been in a collision. [239D:145; AB267]
- Upon arrival they were taken to the hall of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár where they were served lunch. After lunch they went to the home of Mrs Henry Goodale.
- In the evening He spoke at the Congregational Church on the unity of the Manifestations. [MD226] Now called First Congregational Church of Kenosha, 5934 8th Avenue. ['Abdu'l-Bahá in America 1912- 2012]
- 1912-09-16 —
In the morning 'Abdu'l-Bahá departed for Chicago
- He gave a talk at Home of Mrs. Corinne True, 5338 Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. The subject of this talk was The Covenant. [PUP320]
- In the evening He told His party to pack and move to the hotel. [MD268]
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