Chronology: Date 1898

Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 1898, descending — sort earliest first

date	event	tags	firsts
1898 21 Dec 189-	Birth of Dorothy Beecher Baker, Hand of the Cause of God.	Dorothy Baker; - Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; - Births and deaths
1898 c. 20 Dec 189-	The second group of Western pilgrims arrived in `Akká, and stayed three days before returning to Cairo to resume their plan for a six-week trip up the Nile which began soon after New Year's Day. [BFA1:145] Included in this group were Phoebe Hearst, Amalie Bachrodt, Mrs Thornburg and possibly Robert Turner. The Hearst group arrived incognito and in the dark to protect her reputation and that of her son . In spite of these precautions the authorities became aware that visitors had come to see the Prisoner of Akka and limitations upon Him were increased. [BFA1:145] This group remained for three days and were back in Cairo for Christmas. [BFA1p145]	Pilgrimage; - First pilgrims; Pilgrims; Phoebe Hearst; Amalie Bachrodt; Thornburg, Mrs; Robert Turner; Akka, Israel
1898 10 Dec 189-	The first Western pilgrims arrived in `Akká. [AB68; BBD13; BBRXXX; DH214; GPB257; SCU13; Bahá'í Teachings] See MBBA146-152 for a description of how arrangements were made to accommodate the Western visitors in a relatively new city with no hotels and few houses. The city was built to accommodate the construction of the Suez Canal which had been completed in 1869. Other sources indicate that the pilgrims were accommodated in Cairo. 'Abdu'l-Bahá expressed His appreciation to Mírzá Áqá Nuri'd-Din for his service in accommodating the Western pilgrims. His Tablet seems to indicate that he was kept in place for that purpose. [MBBA152] They divided themselves into three parties, using Cairo as a staging post. [AB68; BFA1:143; SBBH1:93] See AB68–72; BFA2:9; DH61; GPB257, 259 for those included in the pilgrimage group. Included were Mrs Hearst's nieces, a few American friends and, joining in London, Mrs Mary Thornburgh-Cropper and her mother. [SCU13. CH234-236; LDNW15] In Paris the group was joined by two nieces of Mrs Hearst, Mrs Thornburgh, her daughter Miriam Thornburgh-Cropper and May Bolles. [AB68] LDNW15 says that Ella Goodall and Nell Hillyer and May Bolles joined the party in Paris. There were further additions in Egypt. [AB68] See BFA1:143–4 for those included in the first group. Among the group was Robert Turner, the first member of the Black race to become a Bahá'í. For 35 years, Turner faithfully served as butler to Phoebe Apperson Hearst and Senator George Hearst, parents of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. [AB72; BBD227; BFA1:139; GPB259] `Abdu'l-Bahá received the pilgrims in the House of `Abdu'lláh Páshá. [BBD13, 108; DH61] See AB68–71; BW16:104–5; CH235–6 and GPB257–9 for the pilgrims' responses to the pilgrimage. Edward Getsinger made a recording of `Abdu'l-Bahá chanting a prayer. [BFA1:160] Getsinger also took photographs that he later tinted and published as an album. [LDNW16] On the 18th of January, 1899, Lua received her first Tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in fact, it was the first Tablet addressed to a North American believer. [LGHC23] See TF31-52 for details of Lua Getsinger's pilgrim experience and TF44-46 for 'Abdu'l-Bahá's parting remarks to the pilgrims. The Getsingers returned from the pilgrimage with an Arabic copy of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas which was later translated by Anton Haddad. They departed on the 23rd of March, 1899. [BFA2:11; LGHC30] See Star of the West, vol. VII, No. 4 or "Lua Getsinger - Herald of the Covenant" By Amine DeMille for a description of how 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave Lua the power to speak eloquently. [LDNW15] iiiii	Pilgrims; Pilgrimage; - First pilgrims; Mary Virginia Thornburgh-Cropper; Robert Turner; - First believers by background; Edward Getsinger; Lua Getsinger; Anton Haddad; Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book); House of `Abdu'lláh Páshá (Akká); `Abdu'l-Bahá, Voice recordings of; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); Akka, Israel; Cairo, Egypt; Egypt	First Western pilgrims; first group of first Western pilgrims; the first Tablet addressed to a North American believer; first member of black race to become Bahá'í
1898 13 Nov 189-	`Abdu'l-Bahá commemorated Kheiralla's arrival by ending the period of mourning for Bahá'u'lláh and by opening His Tomb to pilgrims for the first time. [BFA1:142–3; SBBH2:112]	Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Firsts, other; Bahá'u'lláh, Shrine of (Bahjí); Bahá'u'lláh, Ascension of; Pilgrimage; Pilgrims; Bahji, Israel	First time Tomb of Bahá'u'lláh opened to pilgrims
1898 11 Nov 189-	Kheiralla arrived in `Akká. [BFA1:XXVIII, 141] He had left the party of pilgrims in France and departed for Egypt in early October where he had children. His wife went to England to invite her Bahá'í aunt to accompany them to Akka. [BFA141] During his stay he tried to get approval for his manuscript entitled Behá'U'lláh from 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The manuscript had many of his personal beliefs, such as the station of 'Abdu'l-Bahá being that of the return of Christ and his concept of reincarnation. [BFA1p230; 161; LWS149] See BFA1p32-33 for a discussion of how the issue of reincarnation affected the American Bahá'í community. During his visit `Abdu'l-Bahá conferred titles on him: `Bahá'ís Peter', the `Second Columbus' and `Conqueror of America'. [BFA1:142; GPB275; SBBH2:112] Dr. Kheiralla, his wife and daughters, Nabiba an Labiba departed Haifa for Port Said on the 21th of March, 1899. Kheiralla arrived in New York on the 10th of May. [LGHC24; 30; BFA1p160;]	Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Pilgrimage; - First pilgrims; Pilgrims; Akka, Israel
1898 (Before 10 Dec) 189-	During this period, `Abdu'l-Bahá issued instructions that, under no circumstances, was the Cause of God to be proclaimed or propagated in Egypt. The pilgrims who came through Port Said on a monthly basis were told when they arrived not to teach the Cause and, if they were asked about the Faith, not to offer a response. Ibrahim Effendi, who served in the Egyptian Custom Office as an inspector, noticed the coming and going of pilgrims from Persia and pressed for an explanation. One of the pilgrims, a renowned Bahá'í teacher from a Zoroastrian background named Jinab-i-Nush, unaware of the injunction, began to teach him. Mirza Áqá reported the incident to 'Abdu'l-Bahá and He welcomed the new believer with a Tablet. Ibrahim Effendi became an intrepid teacher of the Faith.	Jinab-i-Nush; Ibrahim Effendi; Port Said, Egypt; Egypt	first first native believer of Port Said.
1898 Oct 189-	Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visited Haifa where the Templer colony numbered about 700 souls. His ship docked at what is now Ben Gurion Avenue. (The modern port built during the British Mandate period reclaimed much land altering the shoreline of Haifa beyond recognition and depriving the German colony of direct access to the sea. The Kaiser's visit was the apex of the history of the colony and would be commemorated with a stone marker that today sits just above the entrance at the top of the Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb.) He, however, chose not to go to Akka where 'Abdu'l-Bahá lived and He did not go to see the Kaiser because he "was proud He was the embodiment of pride." [VAB8; LWS10, 288n20]	Templer Society (German Templer colony); Kaiser Wilhelm II; Haifa, Israel
1898 22 Sep 189-	The first Western pilgrims departed for `Akká, travelling via New York and Paris. [BFA1:XXVIII, 140–1, 230] It was arranged by Phoebe Hearst, who had already planned a journey to Egypt for the autumn. [BFA1:140, AY60] There were 15 pilgrims in all. Among them was Ibáhím Kheiralla and his family. [AB68; AY111]	Pilgrimage; - First pilgrims; Pilgrims; Phoebe Hearst; Lua Getsinger; Edward Getsinger; Robert Turner; Ibrahim George Kheiralla; New York, USA; United States (USA)	First Western pilgrims
1898 (Autumn) 189-	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]	Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Kenosha, WI; Wisconsin, USA
1898 20 Aug 189-	Jamál Effendi passed away in `Akká. [EB128; Momen-Jamal Effendi] Note: Balyuzi gives the date of August 20th with giving a source. Momen says that Jamál Effendi lived out the last days in Akka. He died on 9 November 1898. He was buried in the Akka cemetery near the grave of Mírzá Músá, the brother of Bahá'u'lláh. 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote a tablet of visitation for him and instructed that on his grave be written the following words: Verily, Jamál ad-Dín, a traveller famous in every clime, the spreader of the fragrance of the love of God, has now become a traveller in those realms of God which are hidden from the eyes of the people of realm of veils. 1316 AH	Jamal Effendi; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; Akka, Israel
1898 Jul or Aug 189-	Phoebe Hearst became a Bahá'í in California through the efforts of Lua and Edward Getsinger. [BFA1:XXVIII 139; LDNW14-15] SBBH1:93 says this was July, based on Kheiralla's autobiography; BFA1 is based on a letter from Phoebe Hearst.	Phoebe Hearst; Lua Getsinger; Edward Getsinger; California, USA; United States (USA)
1898 1 Jun 189-	Áqá Ghulám-Husayn-i-Banádakí was killed by a mob in Yazd after refusing to deny his faith. [BW18:384]	* Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Mobs; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Yazd, Iran; Iran
1898 Jun 189-	In New York City, 141 people became Bahá'ís in the five months since Kheiralla's arrival. [BFA1:XXVIII, 125]	Ibrahim George Kheiralla; New York, USA; United States (USA)
1898 Apr 189-	Nine Bahá'ís attending a Ridván meeting were arrested, beaten and imprisoned in Hamadán. [BW18:384]	* Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution; Hamadán, Iran; Iran
1898 9 Feb 189-	Hájí Muhammad-i-Turk was shot, beaten and then burned to death in a main street in Mashhad by four religious students. [BBRXXX, 406; BW18:384] For Western accounts of the episode see BBR406–17.	Hájí Muhammad-i-Turk; Mashhad, Iran
1898 Feb 189-	Kheiralla arrived in New York and began classes on the Bahá'í Faith. [BFA1:XXVIII, 116]	Ibrahim George Kheiralla; New York, USA
1898 (In the year) 189-	Several Bahá'ís were arrested and imprisoned in Qazvín. [BW18:384] Hájí Muhammad was set upon and killed in Hisár, Khurásán. BW18:384]	* Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Qazvin, Iran; Hisar, Iran; Khurásán, Iran; Iran
1898 (In the year) 189-	The Tarbíyat School for boys was established in Tihrán by the Bahá'ís. [BBD221]	Tarbiyat School, Tihran; - Bahá'í inspired schools; Social and economic development; Tehran, Iran; Iran	Founding of the first Tarbíyat School for boys
1898 (In the year) 189-	The first anti-Bahá'í polemical tracts were published by Christian missionaries in Iran. [SBB111:69]	Criticism and apologetics; Firsts, other; Iran	First anti-Bahá'í polemics by missionaries in Iran
1898 (In the year) 189-	`Abdu'l-Bahá instructed that the remains of the Báb be brought from their hiding place in Tihrán to the Holy Land. [BBD209] In the 48 years since His martyrdom the Remains of the Báb had been secreted from a silk factory in Tabriz to Ṭihrán, Iṣfáhán, Kirmansháh, Baghdád, Damascus, Beirut and finally to 'Akká and then to the Mountain of God. [CoF54] He insisted that the utmost secrecy be observed. "The dangers inherent in conserving such s precious Trust were enhanced tenfold with the defection of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's brothers….Spies in the employ of these disloyal members of Bahá'u'lláh's own family could be found in the telegraph offices and ports throughout the region." [LWS147] Picture of the shipping crate.	Báb, Remains of; Báb, Shrine of (Haifa); Tehran, Iran; Iran


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