The Worcester County Bahá'í Community

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The Worcester County Bahá'í Community

“The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens” - Bahá'u'lláh

Other Early Worcester Bahá'ís

Lotus Temple
Lotus Temple

The Struvens were registered at the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, along with Mr. Arthur Hathaway, in 1920 as the first Baha'is in Worcester. By 1922 the following Bahá’ís were listed in Worcester's membership list: Arthur A. Hathaway, Mr. and Mrs. Howard C. Struven, Mr. and Mrs. Henry L. Green, Ellen M. Burt." (1)

Very little we know of those friends other than the Struvens.   Arthur Hathaway is listed as Salesman in the birth record of his daughter Dorothy Lois (b. 07 Sep 1911) in Boston. (2)

In "The Light of the World" (4) George O. Latimer  relates the following:

Mr. Hathaway then asked for a name for his daughter Dorothy, saying that she was very full of light. The Master said: "I will give her a name from the Persian, ‘Mahpareh'. This is made from two words, ‘mah' meaning moon and ‘pareh' meaning portion. The translation is ‘a portion of the moon'."  Haifa, 19 November 1919.

A group of Western pilgrims in Haifa eating fruit from 'Abdu'l-Baha's garden, November 1919. Left to right: George Latimer, Arthur Hathaway, Ruth Randall, Harry Randall, Dr. Esslemont, and Bahiyyih Randall

Image source: http://communitybaha.blogspot.com/2010/11/group-of-western-pilgrims-in-h...

 

There is mention in the early literature of contacts between 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Mr. Hathaway.  In Star of the West Vol. 12 (3) we can read a tablet from The Master  " .. supplication for Divine forgiveness for the deceased maid servant of God, Mrs. Arthur Hathaway".   Mrs. Hathaway's name was Annie A. Chapman (2)

 

Other Bahá'ís that have belonged to the Worcester community in its early years (up to ~1940) include the following (5):

Given names Last name Address (Worcester) Birthplace Birth date
Walter H Blakely 166 Heard St Harriman, Tenn 10/26/1899
Gladys Cotton 15 1/2 King St Newton, N.H. 4/20/1906
Mary M. Fletcher 311 Main St Watervill, Vermont 7/6/1866
Jessie M. (Babbitt) Higman 15 Dix Keene, NH 3/8/1877
Richard E. Higman 15 Dix London, England 7/27/1864
Fanny Mary Holmes 103 Webster st Worcester, MA 12/9/1875
Selma Palina Klem 26 Holden St. Norway 6/23/1882
Bertha L. Lackey 14 Shepard St Worcester, MA 1/1/1867
Howard G. McCausland Fayville, MA Worcester, MA 3/1884
Clara B. Meggett 14 Pemberton St Springfield, MA 8/7/1865
Florence Reed Morton 5 Wheeler Ave. Worcester, MA 10/12/1876
Stanley R.  Morton 5 Wheeler Ave. Worcester, MA 12/28/1912
Marie Abbie Nickerson 14 Oread St. Sandwich, MA 2/5/1855
Leslie C. Russell 3 Linda Vista St Birmingham, England 2/17/1894
Maud R.G. Russell 3 Linda Vista St Birmingham, England 8/25/1895
Howard C. Struven 166 Heard St Baltimore, MD 12/25/1882
Ruby Moore (Hebe) Struven 166 Heard St Hume, NY 11/4/1882
Howard Douglas Struven 166 Heard St Baltimore, MD 12/8/1913
Orville Wilson Tibbetts 77 Pine View Ave Danvers, MA 5/10/1905
Helen Marjorie Wheeler 16 Bellevue St Worcester, MA 8/2/1902

 

this is not a complete record, they are only listed here with the hope that we'll be contacted by some living relative and we can share some information;  if you'd like more info about a particular individual contact us.

 

  1. Roger Dahl, Membership Office, National Spiritual Assembly, personal communication.   1/4/2012
  2. "Massachusetts, Births, 1841-1915," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FXKX-4BQ : accessed 10 Jun 2014), Dorothy Lois Hathaway, 07 Sep 1911; citing Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, p 203, Massachusetts Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 2409818.
  3. Star of the West Vol. 12 Issue 19 (March 2, 1922) pg. 313
  4. George Orr latimer. 1920. The Light of the World. Boston, self published.
  5. Worcester LSA historical records.

This is a work in progress if you can provide further information about these people, or corrections to this material, please contact us.

Last update: 10/13/2014