1897 PRESS RECEPTION

A confluence of events drawing together religion, politics (with vendettas and scores to settle), and social turmoil occurred in Kansas the summer of 1897 resulting in the first significant amount of publicity found to date concerning activities of any Baha'i community in North American. Enterprise, Kansas was the epicenter of this little storm. The storm produced the first significant news coverage of local Baha’i activities in the western world. This paper will examine that press coverage.

Enterprise was the second city in North America where the Baha'i teachings were systematically taught and where "a small band of believers"{1.} developed. Ibrahim Kheiralla, the first one to give the Baha'i message on the American continent, had started his lessons in Chicago in 1895.{2.} In 1897 he came, at the invitation of Mrs. Barbara Ehrsam, the mother of one of his Chicago students, to Enterprise for a vacation.{3.}

The city of Enterprise was a small industrial center in the heart of the American plains. In addition to the Ehrsam Machine Works, which operated for over 100 years, there were the Hoffman Mills, not only for grinding and refining grain products but one to also process wool.

The leading families of the city were related. Jacob Ehrsam, founder of the Machine Works, had assisted Christian Hoffman in the construction of his mills, then married his sister-in-law, Barbara Hilty. Hoffman's wife was the sister of Barbara Hilty Ehrsam who, with their brother, Michael Senn, opened and operated the first store at the town site. Senn was also a major figure in the founding of the town and, by 1897, a retired state Senator.

Enterprise was well connected to major US cities as shipping points for milling products and machine works. Ehrsam milling equipment and farm implements were known nation-wide. Products from Hoffman mills were exhibited at the Columbian Exposition in 1893, and had been the first refined flour to be shipped outside Kansas and the first to be exported outside the US.{4.} Hoffman aggressively marketed the hard winter wheat grown in Kansas, opposed to the “soft” spring wheat grown in Europe and most of American at that time. The level of gluten in the new hard winter wheat was found to be more effective in rising bread than soft spring wheat which is light and now used mostly for baking cakes.

After an initial period of dramatic growth, the population of Enterprise peaked in the 900s and remained stable there during the twentieth century.

The oldest daughter of Barbara Ehrsam, Josephine Hilty (the oldest of the two children from her first marriage to Joseph Hilty who was killed by a horse after returning from service in the civil war) had gone to Chicago for advanced musical training. There, the newspaper reported, she became a follower of Kheiralla and shared the news with her mother who was known for her search for more spiritual nourishment than the local church had to offer.{5.} Barbara Ehrsam's brother-in-law, when a minister of the local church, eventually expelled her publicly from the church for her continuing quest and unorthodox views.{6.}

At the time of Barbara's search, one hundred years ago, the Baha'i Faith looked vastly different than it does today. In 1897 it was in the very earliest days of its introduction in North America; in fact, the religion itself, then was less than a century old. There were few adherents and no institutions, or scripture published in English. That year steps leading to the establishment of the first consultative council of Baha'is anywhere in the world, precursor to a world-wide administrative system, was formed in Teheran, Persia.{7.} By the turn of the century others had been formed in Chicago, Kenosha, WI and New York City.{8.}

Kheiralla's understanding of the teachings proved to be limited, but being the first teacher on the continent, no one here knew his limitations. Only when contact was established with the Head of the Faith in Palestine did a more complete understanding of the Baha'i teachings become known.{9.}

Kheiralla was of Syrian Christian background and had studied the Baha'i teachings briefly before coming to America. His attempts to earn a living here were not successful until he tapped the market for "healers" and unorthodox teachings. He obtained a fraudulent mail order medical degree and combined his healing practice with teaching his limited understanding of the Baha'i Faith.{10.} He eventually developed a series of twelve graduated lessons culminating in announcing the existence of a "Greatest Name" whereby the initiate might enter into a special relationship with the divine.{11.} The final step of his classes was the imparting of the Greatest Name and news that "God had returned to earth in the person of Baha'u'llah and that his Son, Jesus Christ, was living in Akka."{12} There was some semblance in a few of his lessons to the Baha'i Faith, but no substantial similarity. He initially claimed to have met Baha’u’llah, the Founder of the Baha’i Faith, then amended this to be a “spiritual” meeting.{13.}

Nevertheless, the lessons were successful and by the turn of the century it is estimated that the American Baha'i community numbered about 1500 people, about half in or near Chicago.{14.} Enterprise, Kansas became one of the other, smaller Baha'i communities.

At the time of Kheiralla's visit to Enterprise, only two pieces of Baha'i literature existed in English, and those had been written by himself.{15.} On of these pamphlets, "The Identity and Personality of God," provides evidence of Kheiralla’s lack of knowledge or understanding of the Baha'i teachings. Among its twenty-five subject areas mentioned, only two have a direct correlation with the Baha'i Faith: "the oneness or singleness of God," and reference to the Greatest Name. This pamphlet was evidently brought to Enterprise for some statements from it were reprinted or paraphrased in newspaper articles reporting on Kheiralla's visit.{16.}

Kheiralla arrived in Enterprise the week of July 12, 1897 and began his lessons almost immediately. Because prominent residents attended - among them Barbara Ehrsam's brother (retired State Senator Senn) and nephew (C.B. Hoffman, the center of some political controversy) - the classes were news. Because of their state-wide political activities the local news was broadcast across the state. Without the political connections - and Kansas was a political boiling pot at the time - the Baha'i classes would likely have received much less attention or none at all. In studies of the late nineteenth century American Baha'i community, press notice has been minimal.{17.}

A century ago it was quite common journalistic practice for newspapers to copy complete news articles intact from other newspapers. Sometimes the original newspaper would be given credit, or the city of origination, but this was not standard. Some newsmen did pride themselves in writing their own pieces from information found in other papers, so they would recast the information according to their own understanding. Additionally, a news collecting system (a forerunner of the present news syndicates) now called “patent” or “boilerplate” newspapers, spread bits of national and regional news far and wide. This process involved whole or partial pages of newspapers, including the masthead, being printed in a central location then shipped by railroad to the distant, local communities where the blank spaces were filled with local news and ads. This allowed national and regional news to be included in small, local newspapers without each individual paper going to search for it.{18.} In consequence, one brief allusion to the Baha'i events in Enterprise appeared in several newspapers across the state of Kansas. All these methods of gathering news are evident in the press coverage of Baha'i activities in Enterprise in 1897.

The newspaper articles will be discussed not in chronological order, because the printed dates of the newspaper are not the dates they appeared on the street, but generationally. It has been discovered that oftentimes an article in one newspaper would be reprinted from paper to paper, sometimes altered, sometimes not. Similarity in wording allows them to be traced from one to another. Several different streams of articles have been identified. The dates of the newspapers are no indication of their appearance because many newspapers were only published weekly, or were weekly additions of daily newspapers. Sometimes the date of the "original" weekly newspaper was later than the date of daily newspapers that had reprinted from it.

Two major news articles were used by several different newspapers, copied intact or nearly so, or as the basis of new articles. Objectivity, as we shall see, was not a regular part of news reporting {19.}. In Kansas, many newspapers were profoundly political and even announced their bias in their name: the "Salina Republican-Journal" and the "Dillon Republican" are two examples (Kansas to this day is a predominately Republican state but was even more so before Populism divided the party in the latter half of the nineteenth century). Fortunately, some of the information that appeared in the news articles can be confirmed from sources outside Kansas, such as surviving notes taken by Kheiralla's students in Chicago.

There was a remarkable abundance of newspapers in Kansas a century ago. Part of the multiplicity was due to daily as well as weekly editions of many newspapers. In the small town of Abilene there were two competing daily newspapers, each with their own weekly editions: the Abilene Reflector and the Abilene Chronicle. Smaller towns, such as Enterprise, had only one newspaper, and that a weekly.

The July 13, 1897 issue of the Abilene Daily Reflector was the first newspaper found, according to its date, to announce the unusual events in Enterprise. This could well be the very first mention of Baha'i activities because of its early date and, more importantly, the article itself says it is reporting and commenting on second-hand information. There is no pretense of it being first hand news. The articles briefly states: "It is reported that C.B. Hoffman is practicing under an Arabian doctor in the art of curing by laying on of hands. Chris will probably add this new department to the State Agricultural college when he masters it more thoroughly."{21.} The barb was intentional.

Christian B. Hoffman (1851-1915, son of the millwright, Christian Hoffman) was at the time a member of the Board of Regents of the State Agricultural College, now Kansas State University, and so well known that no further identification was necessary. He had already made substantial changes at the agricultural college that drew considerable state-wide ire. In a state whose economy is based on farming, any changes at the state supported agricultural college rapidly drew attention. Among other things, he had established the first dormitory there as well as the first cafeteria and bookstore on campus for the students. These were not seen as reasonable expenditures of state funds and the outcry was great.{21.}

It was also common knowledge that a few years earlier he, as well as thousands others, had deserted the Republican Party for the Populist. The Populist Party was largely a grassroots movement arising from the earlier Farmers Alliance. It’s main concerns were those of the farmers (American was still largely rural and devoted to agriculture in the late nineteenth century), such as lower rates for freighting produce to market, and those concerns that were shared with the working class. The split caused political power to pass to the Democratic Party generating bitterness on the part of the remaining Republicans over their betrayal.{22.}

The July 13 article in the Abilene Daily Reflector was reprinted intact in the weekly edition of the Reflector, dated two days later.{23.}

With a date of Thursday July 15, the Enterprise Journal ran the first major news article about Kheiralla's visit. It was reprinted in toto a week later in the July 23 edition of the Abilene Weekly Chronicle. Both newspapers titled it: "THE BIBLE IS NOT THE TRUTH," clearly to attract attention in this church-going state. The headline does not necessarily reflect what Kheiralla taught, nor is it in line with Baha'i belief, but sensationalism seems always to have been a selling point of journalism. This article, as it appeared in the Enterprise paper, is sympathetic in tone and, according to Chicago lecture notes, relatively accurate in describing Kheiralla's teachings.{24.}

It begins by explaining why he is in town, "Dr. I.G. Kheiralla, Chicago, who is spending his vacation with the family of J.B. Ehrsam, is teaching the people of Enterprise the religion of his order. Dr. Kheiralla was sent by his Order from the Orient to this country to teach "the truth" and has a large following in Chicago where he has resided since coming to this country from Egypt."{25.} Kheiralla promoted himself as an officially designated “teacher,” which status does not exist in the Baha’i Faith.

The article continues by describing his teachings, "He teaches the Oneness and Singleness of God; also whence we came, why we are here and where we are going. He gives to his private pupils the key to the sealed books of the Bible which he uses to verify his teachings. He believes the truth is in the Bible but that the Bible is not the truth."{26.} If the truth is in the Bible, as the Baha’i Faith teaches, how can the Bible not be true?

Next, the article describes what might be called his teaching parameters, "One of the strict rules of his Order is that no teacher is allowed to accept any remuneration, directly or indirectly, for teaching the truth; neither is any one allowed to teach unless a most thorough investigation has been made and every statement which they make can be proven."{27.} The first part of this statement is true of the Baha'i Faith, that there is no paid clergy or professional teachers. The second part is Kheiralla's own decision and one way of his maintaining control and authority over the community that was being created. Yet there is some similarity here with the Baha’i principle of the independent investigation of truth which is enjoined on all believers. Each person is obligated to think for themselves and not blindly follow others.

The last paragraph begins by describing the schedule he has established in Enterprise, "On Sunday evenings there will be public talks given in the parlors of the Ehrsam residence, to which all are invited. The private classes which have been held twice, meet Tuesday and Friday afternoons and evenings. There are twenty-seven people taking the private teachings and another class will be formed later."{28.} It is likely that Kheiralla had not yet been in Enterprise for a full week, a later article said a class would be held on Sundays. With the private classes being held Tuesdays and Fridays, evenings and afternoons, it is unclear whether Kheiralla is teaching four classes a week, thereby condensing his twelve lessons into three weeks (yet he stayed in Enterprise six weeks), or holding duplicate classes. And, if the classes are in the afternoon, how could those with jobs attend? Answers to these questions have not yet been found. Still, attendance of twenty-seven is a substantial number for a city as small as Enterprise and, with the possibility of a second class being started later, even more interest is evident. This is a remarkable response.

The article concludes, "A great interest is manifested by those who have begun the teachings of this religion of which so little is said, for the name of the order is only revealed to those who have taken all the teachings."{29.} This insistence on secrecy is the same procedure as noted in Chicago, yet quite contrary to actual Baha'i teachings, and we shall see the suspicion that is raised. It is possible that some level of secrecy was necessary in Egypt, a muslim country, where even today, freedom of religion is not as open as in the U.S.

The tone of this article is respectful and straight forward. The gentleness of it may be due to the fact that at the time, the publisher of the Enterprise Journal was Christian Hoffman, father of C.B. and brother-in-law of Barbara Ehrsam, Kheiralla's host.{30.}

This article was reprinted the next week in the July 23 issue of the Abilene Weekly Chronicle with the same headline but including additions that were not so gentle. The Abilene version included negative comments at the beginning and the end. It begins by mildly mocking the Enterprise newspaper, "The Enterprise Journal discovered this week that "Dr." Kheiralla was in its town and prints some facts concerning him and his creed in addition to those heretofore published in the Chronicle."{31.} The week before, this weekly edition of the Chronicle had published the initial article that we will examine shortly.

The Chronicle now deleted the introductory information from the Enterprise article about Kheiralla and begins with him being "sent" here "by his order." The rest of the article is reprinted exactly except for omitting the dates, times and location of the classes - that would be aiding the outsider.

The article ends by slamming Kheiralla's secrecy, "Nobody, however, will take much stock in a religion which cannot stand the open light of day and Kheiralla's "religion" is perhaps as great a fake as his alleged miraculous cures."{32.} Battle lines are evident.

No other newspaper appears to have picked up this article, their attention had already been taken by the earlier article which had appeared in the Chronicle the week before, to which we shall turn next.

The second major article, and the one that appears to be the basis for most of the subsequent coverage across the state, appeared on the top of the front page of the Abilene Weekly Chronicle with a date of July 16. Common for the times the article has three headlines in descending size and emphasis: "TEACHES STRANGE THINGS, An Arabian Springs as Entirely New Religion of the People of Enterprise," and (in much smaller type) "HAS WONDERFUL POWER TO HEAL."{33.}

The identity of Kheiralla as an "Arabian" was marginally accurate but incorrect at the same time. He was actually a Syrian and his last permanent address was Egypt, but in the middle of Kansas in the 1890s such a distinction was irrelevant: all Semites were "Arabs," and he did speak Arabic.

Kheiralla is introduced by saying he "claims not only to teach the only true religion but to posses remarkable powers as a healer of all ills that flesh is heir to."{34.} Here we see the result of Kheiralla having conflated his religious teachings with his healing practice. He would eventually give up the healing business, but he had not yet in 1897. The specific phrase about healing all the ills of mankind caught the interest of many editors and is one that we will find repeated in many other newspapers, sometimes as the basis of the news article.

"Dr. Kheiralla has written a book." it continues, "in which he sets forth his peculiar religious ideas, which are to a considerable extent fanatical. By some it is called Neo-Platonism, by others pronounced a combination of Arabic mysticism, German rationalism, mesmerism, etc."{35.} This reference to "mysticism, rationalism and mesmerism" is a key to the genealogy of other, future news articles which condense or summarize the original to such an extent that sometimes this is the only phrase that is left. How these terms could be applied to the Baha'i teachings remains a mystery, especially the reference to hypnotism (then called mesmerism, after Friedrich Anton Mesmer, who perfected the procedure). Since no Baha'i scriptures had yet been translated into English, there was nothing for the people of the time upon which to base an accurate assessment. The conclusion that Kheiralla taught "a modified form of Pantheism" is highly inaccurate when compared with actual Baha'i teachings.{36.}

The article tried to describe Kheiralla's teachings saying, "He has two systems of teaching," public lectures on Sundays and private lectures on Wednesday evenings. This is a very different schedule from that given in the Enterprise paper. It is likely that the Enterprise schedule is more accurate given the connections in the town, or at some point the schedule was changed.

In Chicago he gave the classes only once a week, but it would not have been cost effective for him to stay in Enterprise that long. By conducting the class several times a week he could use his time more wisely and move on to another town. The private classes were later described as the "advanced class," which raises the question of how, or whether the early lessons were previously given to members of the advanced class.{37.}

Some of the information of more historical interest contained in the article involved the names of individuals who attended the classes. One name in particular is not on the membership list Kheiralla maintained, because that student did not finish the class. The article states: "An inner circle, or class formed to take the advanced course in the Kheiralla religion, already has several members, including C.B. Hoffman, C.V. Topping, Ed Haffner and others."{38.} C.B. Hoffman's name is not on Kheiralla's list though the other two are. The article also later mentions Josephine Hilty (referred to as "Josie") having become a believer while still in Chicago.

The two paragraphs from the end discuss Kheiralla's "healing," stating that he cured one of the Ehrsam boys of colic and helped a blind grand daughter of Barbara Ehrsam ("a little girl named Hilty") to distinguish between light and dark as well as the difference of some colors.{39.} No other mention of these cures have been found.

On Wednesday, July 14, the Topeka Daily Capital (the morning paper), the Topeka State Journal (evening), and the Lawrence Daily Journal all reprinted this article, or versions of it, about Kheiralla and his classes. Topeka, the capital city of Kansas, is 85 miles east of Enterprise and Lawrence a further 30 miles east of Topeka. The news had traveled far and fast. The articles in the Topeka newspapers were essentially the same and lifted directly from the original in the Abilene Weekly Chronicle. This article had appeared in the issue of the Chronicle dated July 16 - two days after appearing in the Topeka newspapers! It is likely that the weekly edition carried a date subsequent to the release date, just as some monthly news magazines still do today in order to have a longer shelf life, so the newspaper could well have reached Topeka before the issue date.

The Daily Capital gave credit to the Chronicle, while the Journal put "Enterprise" in the headline and byline. The Capital titled the article: "HOFFMAN'S NEW RELIGION," so it was obvious where the newspaper's interest lay. This version reprinted all but the last paragraph of the article which dealt with future reports of these activities appearing in the Chronicle.{40.}

The State Journal titled the article: "HEALER AT ENTERPRISE," with a subheading, "An Arabian Teaches a New Doctrine - C.B. Hoffman Investigates."{41.} Here again, Hoffman is the center of attention. The Journal reprinted the first, and second paragraphs of the article intact and parts of the third and fourth. Opinionated comments, and reference to Josephine Hilty who would be unknown in Topeka, were omitted to make it more straight news.

The other news article with a date of July 14 appeared in the Lawrence Daily Journal. This appearance began a sequence that brought the news full circle. The article contains a phrase relating to "mysticism, rationalism and mesmerism," evidence of its genealogy. The rest was spiteful retaliation. The Lawrence newspaper was radically Republican, and Hoffman, now a Populist, had betrayed the Republican party. The complete text of the article reads: "It has been reported from Enterprise, Kansas, that C.B. Hoffman, the man who has been playing hammer and eggs with the agricultural college, is a member of a new religious sect organized out there by a gentleman by the name of Ibrahim Kheiralla, late of Arabia. The religion is said to be a conglomeration of mysticism, rationalism and mesmerism. With wheels of that kind in his head it is no wonder Hoffman wants to grind things up."{42.} The game of “hammer and eggs” is not one in which the eggs will ever win. The wheels and grinding would be allusions to the Hoffman Mills and the anger at Hoffman is undisguised.

This article was reprinted exactly in the next weekly edition of the Lawrence Journal; even the word breaks are exactly the same; this and other sections of type had been lifted directly from one edition of the paper to another.{43.}

The day after it first appeared in the Lawrence Daily Journal, the Abilene Daily Reflector reprinted the Lawrence article, with a dateline of “Lawrence, Kansas,” complete with hammer and eggs and grinding wheels, and gave credit to the Lawrence Journal. The "news" had now come full circle.{44.}

“The Abilene Weekly Chronicle article dated July 16, is also likely to have been the basis of the news that appeared in the Leavenworth Times (140 miles northeast of Enterprise) dated July 15 (and reprinted exactly in the weekly edition of the Times dated July 22): "New Sect for Kansas.". Significant rewriting is evident but some terms and phrases reappear: calling the religion a combination of "German rationalism, neo-Platonism and mesmerism," as well as an account of Kheiralla, "curing disease by laying on of hands," etc. It creatively jibes C.B. Hoffman as one who has "passed into the mystic realm," and attributes a quote from him as saying there "is something to it," which the other articles do not. It also adds the detail that Hoffman "has sent for his friend Breindenthal to come and be initiated next Sunday."{45.} The additional comments could have come from Breindenthal himself.

Breindenthal would have been John W. Breindenthal (1862-1910), the current State Bank Commissioner, a Republican turned Populist like Hoffman, and also like him, a resident (at one time) of Enterprise.{46.} This is the only mention of Breindenthal in connection with the classes in Enterprise but does demonstrate the political network into which Hoffman provided access for Kheiralla. Later in the summer, after departing Enterprise for Chicago, Kheiralla is found in the company of the highest state officials in Topeka.{47.}

A very unusual article generated by Kheiralla's presence in Enterprise appeared in Atchison (140 miles north east of Enterprise), dated the same as the Leavenworth notice: July 15. The editor of the Atchison Daily Globe had evidently been keeping abreast of state-wide events and related them to his immediate experience. The notice is rather cryptic and would be understood only by someone who had read other newspapers in the state and could also read between the lines of this new item. Kheiralla is not mentioned by name, but he is the only "Arabian" in Kansas news at the time and that is the indicator of his identity. The item stated: "The 'healer' business is so profitable that an good many 'healers' are springing up. The latest is an Irishman who claims to be an Arabian."{48.} Earlier that summer there had been an Irishman in Atchison who claimed to heal people, and was run out of town, and the newspaper connected the claims of healing together.{49.}

With a date of Friday, July 16, The Kansas City Gazette (150 miles east) picked up the news, combined it with comments from the Lawrence paper and put it in a column of miscellaneous, unrelated and uncredited news items from all over the state, called "Pen, Paste and Scissors." For some unknown reason the Gazette changed the location of the events from Enterprise to Emporia (80 miles southeast of Enterprise). The item stated, "C.B. Hoffman, who has been playing hammer and eggs with the agricultural college, is a member of a new religious society organized at Emporia, Kansas, by a gentleman by the name of Ibrahim Kheiralla, late of Arabia. The religion is said to be a conglomeration of mysticism, rationalism and mesmerism."{50.}

One wonders if the change of city, from Enterprise to Emporia, might have been made to tarnish, however indirectly, the reputation of William Allen White, then the most nationally famous of Kansas newsmen. White had gained national fame by his editorial outburst, entitled “What’s the matter with Kansas,” in the August 20 issue of his newspaper, the Emporia Gazette, the year before. In it he lambastes the eastern attitude about Kansas and champions the ordinary citizens of Kansas as being the best resource of the state. Some residents of Kansas disagreed and here was a way to tarnish White’s resulting reputation.

That same day the Junction City Tribune (15 miles east) and Salina Herald (30 miles west) condensed different portions of the long original news article into single, very different paragraphs of local news. The Tribune focused on the slight healing of the Hilty girl's sight, while the Herald simply mentions Kheiralla's presence in Enterprise with the healing mentioned briefly in passing. The version in the Tribune read, "Considerable excitement has been created in Enterprise by "Dr." Kheiralla, an Arabian, who claims to possess power to heal all the ills that flesh is heir to. A little girl named Hilty, who has been blind from birth, is now reported to be able to distinguish light from darkness and note the difference in colors, by the laying on of the doctor's hands."{51.} On the other hand, the Salina Herald said, "The little town of Enterprise is said to be stirred over the peculiar teachings of one "Dr." Ibrahim G. Kheiralla, an Arabian, who claims not only to teach the only true religion but to possess remarkable powers as a healer of all ills that flesh is heir to."{52.} As they are repeated from newspaper to newspaper, the phrases become very familiar.

A week later, with a date of July 23, the Junction City Sentinel rephrases this same "news:" "The little town of Enterprise is all worked up over the conversion of C.B. Hoffman to the new religion as taught by Dr. Ibraham Gkerhemis Kheiralla, an Arabian who teaches the only true religion. He also claims to possess wonderful healing power."{53.} The inclusion of Kheiralla's full, native middle name is the noteworthy feature of this item and shows that some independent research was conducted; with Enterprise only fifteen miles away that is not improbable.

This appears to be the end of the stream of articles based on or inspired by the original one in the Abilene Chronicle of July 16. Eleven spin-offs from one reporting job is quite an accomplishment. From this we will turn to an entirely different development, that of support for freedom of conscience.

With a date of July 22, an article in the Enterprise Journal became the first in the West found to date to defend the Faith of Baha'u'llah in print. It was prompted by two lines which had appeared the week before in the Chapman Standard (15 miles east of Enterprise). The Chapman item, dated July 16, was brief, repeating lines from the Abilene article of the same date stating, "An Arabian is at Enterprise who claims to teach the only true religion. He also has the power to heal all the ills that flesh is heir to."{54.} The Enterprise Journal, whose publisher was Christian Hoffman, the father of C.B. Hoffman, responded by repeating these two lines, crediting them to the Chapman Standard and retorts, "There you go, jumping to conclusions. Dr. Kheiralla teaches a new religion and one that he believes, like all other sects, to be a true one, but as to the 'only' religion and the power to heal all the ills the flesh is heir to,' you are as far off from the truth as the average pop orator."{55.}

Why Hoffman would take on only the Chapman newspaper, and not Abilene where the statement was originally made, is a question for future discussion. Be that as it may, Chapman was a small rival town to the east, while Abilene was the county seat to the west. Chapman and Enterprise were on a more equal footing than Enterprise and Abilene, though that did not stop the competition. Notwithstanding the long-standing rivalry between Abilene and Enterprise dating back to the founding of Enterprise, Hoffman may not have wanted to take on Abilene over this issue.{56.} This is the first known instance where the Faith of Baha'u'llah is defended in the western press.

During the next few weeks most newspapers took no further notice of Kheiralla's presence, but the Enterprise Journal ran brief notices indicating that he and his family had become an accepted part of the summer. One matter-of-factly states: "Ed Haffner, Emmett Hoffman and George Kheiralla, are with a camping party on Lyons creek, near Woodbine, and will fight chiggers and mosquitoes for a week."{57.} Haffner and Hoffman were obviously in the higher social circles to warrant attention, and George Kheiralla, Kheiralla's son, was now just a normal part of the summer.

The next week the Enterprise paper ran an innocuous note about the classes. They had become quite common really: “Dr. Kheiralla has a large class taking lectures in the new religion and and (sic) the meetings are reported as being very interesting.”{58.} This article (with the second “and” deleted) was reprinted the next week in the August 27 issue of the Abilene Weekly Chronicle, after Kheiralla had left town – maybe they weren’t up on the latest developments.{59.}

One brief note regarding Kheiralla circulated through many distant Kansas newspapers that summer. It was an oblique, laconic one-liner that is obviously a product of the patent or boilerplate newspaper system. Before the days of news syndicates and press associations, many small, local newspapers would avail themselves of the services of a central news source. This news service would collect international, national and regional news and advertising, print up pages of the subscribing newspapers (including the masthead), leaving blank spaces for purely local items, then ship the pages to the individual newspapers. The pre-printed part is called “boilerplate” because it was sent to newspapers in printed or “plate” form, the local newspapers would fill the blank spaces with local information and have outside information without the expense of gathering it themselves. The term “patent” is descriptive as indicating that the newspapers originated from a single source. A comment on the events in Enterprise found its way into this mass produced "news."

The notice is found in the exact same line in every newspaper and, in most of them, located in the exact same position on the page so it is obviously part of the boilerplate. And it is unnecessarily carried in the Enterprise paper itself, so it is obviously part of the boilerplate. It originally appeared in at least one newspaper with a date of July 28. It appeared in two newspapers dated July 29 and repeated in other newspapers with subsequent dates. The first appearance was in the Hutchinson Clipper (95 miles southwest of Enterprise. It has been found in two newspapers dated the next day: oddly in the Enterprise Journal, and the Herington Times (33 miles southwest). It appeared in the July 30 issue of the Junction City Sentinel and the next day in the Hays Free Press (130 miles west) and the Hutchinson Daily Gazette. Being so brief it many have also appeared in other newspapers and has simply not yet been found.{60.}

The line has the nature of an inside joke and one wonders how many readers would have understood. It briefly quipped: "Enterprise runs to religion and Abilene to baseball.{61.}

The Abilene Daily Reflector picked up the “mind reading” line from an earlier article and added it’s own punch: “If the new Arabian religion down at Enterprise has a mind-reading department, it ought to give Chris Hoffman a chance to realize how the people of Kansas feel about injury done the Agricultural College.”{62} The issue will not die a peaceful death.

Two more articles appeared in the Abilene Daily Reflector which give a glimpse into Kheiralla's method of teaching. As previously noted C.B. Hoffman and "Ex-Senator Senn" attended the classes. Both reportedly asked questions, a practice not allowed by Kheiralla; the same as in Chicago where, one student reported, “there is little chance for any discussion at any lecture…” and those who tried were expelled.{63.} Hoffman and Senn apparently persisted in asking questions and challenged Kheiralla's statements. Neither activity was acceptable. It is likely that Kheiralla had no answers to give beyond his prepared lectures. His knowledge of the Baha'i Faith was severely limited and, if questions departed from his text, he could not respond.

Hoffman and Senn persisted to such a degree that Kheiralla expelled them from the classes. The expulsions generated nearly as much press attention as Kheiralla's arrival a few weeks previously. The Abilene Reflector carried separate notices of Hoffman's expulsion (August 7), then Senn's (August 9). Newspapers in Salina (30 miles west) and Junction City (15 miles east) repeated in toto the first article on August 9 and 13 respectively. No reprints of the notice of Senn's expulsion have been found. Hoffman continued to be news. "HOFFMAN IS "CHURCHED,"" the main headline read. "New Arabian Religion Is Too Much for Chris," ran the subhead. "An interesting story about the new Arabian religion at Enterprise is in circulation. It is said that Chris Hoffman was one of the first to accept the tenets of the new creed. The Arabian preacher arranged his congregation in classes. He put Hoffman in the highest one. It reached that point a few weeks ago where Hoffman imagined he knew more about the new religion than the preacher did and this so enraged the Arabian that he set Hoffman back in the primary class as a punishment. The regent still continued to harass the preacher. As a last resort, the Arabian fired him out of the church and will not even permit him to attend his meetings."{64.} Apparently Kheiralla's class did not go smoothly.

This article was repeated entirely in the Salina Daily Republican-Journal on August 9, with credit given to the Abilene Reflector, and it was again repeated in the August 13 issue of the Junction City Sentinel.{65.}

On August 10, the Salina Daily Republican-Journal ran a commentary on the whole affair.{66.} The weekly edition of that paper repeated the commentary on the 13th.{67.} This commentary was reprinted in the Dillon Republican also on the 13th. Political revenge is undisguised: "Since little Chris Hoffman's faith has been lost in "Arabian philosophy" may he not be turned from his feverish unbelief in everything sensible, and from his jaundice view of life, to "fields of brighter day?" The little man has a big head, and there should be something more in it than an eternal kick against history, experience, laws of nature and good horse-sense. It is too bad that he should waste his very plentiful grey matter in the arid desert of discontent with everything that is."{68.}

Also on August 13, the Junction City Sentinel ran the notice that originally appeared in the Abilene Reflector on August 7.{69.} The next week, dated August 20, the Junction City Sentinel summarized the news of the week before and added news of Senn's expulsion. Hoffman and Senn were news no matter what they did.

The article announcing Hoffman's expulsion concluded with this interesting note, "In order to get even, Hoffman declares that he will not honor the Arabian now by establishing a chair of that particular doctrine at the Agricultural College."{70.} This is the first news of a possible Chair of Baha'i Studies at what is now Kansas State University. C.B. Hoffman, as a member of the Board of Regents, wielded considerable power over the college and could have instituted such a Chair.

A Chair of Baha'i Studies at that time would likely have meant a steady income for Kheiralla (as long as Hoffman was a Regent) and an accessible student audience. Such a Chair would not be out of place at an agricultural university for in the Lawh-i-Dunya (Tablet of the World), Baha'u'llah postulates several principles upon which the reconstruction of human society is to be based. He noted that, "Special regard must be paid to agriculture. Although it hath been mentioned in the fifth place, unquestionably it precedeth the others."{71.} Agriculture and improved farming practices are the focus at an agriculturally based university and the foundation of every society.

Kheiralla did not finish his series of classes in Enterprise and left near the end of August. His departure was first noted in the Enterprise Journal dated August 26, stating, "Dr. I.G. Kheiralla and family left yesterday for Chicago after a few months stay in the city. He had a class of 22 members..."{72.} It was repeated in slightly condensed form in the issue of the Abilene Daily Reflector with the same date.{73.} No other notice of his departure has been found.

The Enterprise article concluded by saying, "Dr. Kheiralla may return later and continue his lectures,"{74.} evidence that he did not complete them. Other documentation supports this conclusion.{ 75.} No evidence has been found to suggest that Kheiralla or any other teacher ever returned to Enterprise to nurture the new believers.

Despite the Baha'i activity and resultant publicity that summer in Enterprise, a stable and permanent Baha'i community did not result. That distinction in Kansas fell to the capital city when two of the Enterprise believers moved from there to Topeka in the fall of 1906. A Baha'i community has been continuous in Topeka since that date.

The American Baha'i community had not, in 1897, yet developed a sufficient administrative or communication infrastructure to foster cohesion among isolated and widely scattered believers. The closest Baha'i community to Enterprise was in Chicago, over 500 miles away. Though train travel was possible between the two cities, and at least one such trip was contemplated, it was simply not practical.{76.} Many of the "little band of believers,"{77.} gradually drifted to other interests.

The few who maintained an interest and commitment saw the problems of communication resolved to a degree. One who attended Kheiralla's class, and remained in Enterprise, and faithful to the end of her life, was Elizabeth Frey, wife of the Post Master in 1897. She and her daughter traveled to Chicago in 1912 to attend that year's convention and see 'Abdu'l-Baha. It was a life-transforming experience.{78.} It is through such steadfastness that the Kansas Baha'i community can date itself back to Kheiralla's classes in Enterprise in the summer of 1897.

Though Kansas Baha'is have not consistently continued to make headlines through the century since that time, the Kansas Baha'i community can rightly claim to be the second oldest in the western hemisphere and the first to have major and significant news coverage of its activities.

Notes:

1. Barbara Ehrsam to Maud Lampson, November 14, 1899, Maud Lampson Papers (National Baha’i Archives).

2. Robert Stockman, The Baha’i Faith in America, Origins (Wilmette, Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1985) 108.

3. Stockman, 108.

4. Herman Steen, Flour Milling in America, (Minneapolis: T.S. Denison, 1963) 313.

5. Edward G. Nelson, The Company and the Community, (Lawrence, Kansas: Bureau of Business Research, University of Kansas, 1956) 312. “For a young Victorian lady the possession of musical talent and a pleasing voice were valued next to a “good name,”….” Robert C. Haywood, Victorian West (Lawrence, University Press of Kansas, 1991) 202.

6. Ibid.

7. Glenn Cameron, A Basic Baha’i Chronology (Oxford, George Ronald, 1997) 123.

8. In contrast, at the end of the twentieth century, 180 national consultative councils have been constituted for as many national Baha'i communities to oversee the affairs of 131,933 local Baha'i communities, see The Baha’i World 1997-98 (Haifa, Baha’i World Center, 1999) 279, and the 1999 Ridvan message from the Universal House of Justice.

9. Letters of Lua Getsinger and others to various believers after meeting ‘Abdu’l-Baha in: Velda P Metelmann, Lua Getsinger: Herald of the Covenant (Oxford. George Ronald, 1997) 23-45.

10. For a review of the life of Ibrahim Kheiralla see: Richard Hollinger, “Ibrahim George Kheiralla and the Baha’i Faith in America,” From East and West: Studies in Babi and Baha’i History, Vol. 2, (Los Angeles, Kalimat Press, 1982) 95-122.

11. The “Greatest Name” refers to baha, Arabic for glory, splendor or light. Baha, or any of its derivatives, such as Abha, as well as certain phrases such as Allah’u’Abha, Ya Baha’u’llah, or Ya Baha’u’l’Abha, are referred to as the Greatest Name: the Greatest Name of God. See Wendi Momen, A Basic Baha’i Dictionary (Oxford, George Ronald, 1989) 90.

12. Stockman, 40.

13. Quoted in Robert Stockman, 229.

14. Stockman, 163.

15. Hollinger, 109 and Stockman, xxvii.

16. I.G. Kheiralla, Za-ti-et Al-lah, The Identity and the Personality of God (no data, 1896), 3 & 5 (National Baha’i Archives).

17 See Stockman, Peter Smith, “The American Baha’i Community, 1894-1917:A Preliminary Survey, in Studies in Babi and Baha’i History (Los Angeles, Kalimat Press, 1982 and Richard Hollinger (ed.) Community Histories (Los Angeles, Kalimat Press, 1992).

18 Merle W. Wells, ““Patent” Newspapers: their Impact in Kansas (1861-1906)” in: Forrest R. Blackburn, et al., Kansas and the West (Topeka, Kansas State Historical Society, 1976) 140-149.

19. Baha’u’llah (trans. Habib Taherdadeh), The Tarazat (Effulgences), Tablets of Baha’ullah revealed After the Kitab-i-Aqdas (Haifa, Bahai World Centre,1978) 39-40 Baha’u’llah urged newspapers to be just as they reflected the affairs of the world.

20. (no headline) Abilene Daily Reflector [ Abilene, Kansas] July 13, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society).

21. Hoffman Papers, biographical outline data, Spencer Library, University of Kansas and Patricia Michaelis, “C.B. Hoffman, Kansas Socialist,” Kansas Historical Quarterly (Kansas State Historical Society, XLI, 1975) 166-182.

22. John D Hicks, The Populist Revolt (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1931)

23. (no headline) Abilene Weekly Reflector [Abilene, Kansas] July 15, 1897: 6 (Kansas State Historical Society).

24. “The Bible is Not the Truth,” Enterprise Journal [Enterprise, Kansas] July 16, 1897: 1 and “The Bible Is Not the Truth,” Abilene Weekly Chronicle [Abilene, Kansas] July 23, 1897: 1 (Kansas State Historical Society).

25. Ibid.

26. Ibid.

27. Ibid.

28. Ibid.

29. Ibid.

30. Ibid.

31. “The Bible Is Not the Truth,” Abilene Weekly Chronicle, July 23, 1897 p.1 (Kansas State Historical Society).

32. Ibid.

33. “Teaches Strange Things,” Abilene Weekly Chronicle [Abilene, Kansas] July 16, 1897: 1 (Kansas State Historical Society).

34. Ibid.

35. Ibid.

36. Ibid.

37. Stockman, 109.

38. “Teaches Strange Things.”

39. Ibid.

40. “Hoffman’s New Religion,” Topeka Daily Capital [Topeka, Kansas] July 14, 1897: 3 (Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library).

41. “Healer At Enterprise,” Topeka State Journal [Topeka, Kansas] July 14, 1897: 3 (Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library).

42. (no headline) Lawrence Daily Journal [Lawrence, Kansas] July 14, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society).

43. (no headline) Lawrence Weekly Journal [Lawrence, Kansas] July 17, 1897: 9 (Kansas State Historical Society).

44. (no headline) Abilene Daily Reflector [Abilene, Kansas] July 16, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society).

45. “New Sect for Kansas,” Leavenworth Times [Leavenworth, Kansas] July 16, 1897:6 (Kansas State historical Society).

46. Kirke Mecham, Ed., The Annals of Kansas: 1886-1925 (Topeka, Kansas State Historical Society, 1886-1925) 162,259, 300 and William E. Connelley, Sec, History of Kansas State and People: Kansas at the First Quarter Post of the Twentieth Century (Chicago, American Historical Society, 1928) 2275.

47. “Ed Pasha’s Jewels: Private Secretary’s Decorations Explained by Dr. Kheiralla,” Topeka Daily Capital [Topeka, Kansas] September, 1897: 5 (Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library).

48. “News and Comment” Atchison Daily Globe [Atchison, Kansas] July 15, 1897:1 (Kansas State Historical Society).

49. (no headline) Atchison Daily Globe [Atchison, Kansas] {searching to locate this information again} (Kansas State Historical Society).

50. “Pen Paste and Scissors” Kansas City Gazette [Kansas City, Kansas] July 16, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society).

51. (no headline) Junction City Tribune [Junction City, Kansas] July 16, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society).

52. (no headline) Salina Herald [Salina, Kansas] July 16, 1897: 5 (Kansas State historical Society).

53. (no headline) Junction City Sentinel [Junction City, Kansas] July 23, 1897: 1 (Kansas State Historical Society).

54. (no headline) Chapman Standard [Chapman, Kansas] July 16, 1897: 5 (Kansas State Historical Society).

55. (no headline), Enterprise Journal [Enterprise, Kansas] July 22, 1897: 4 (Kansas State Historical Society).

56. Enterprise had tried to wrest the county government away from Abilene in retaliation for Abilene's slighting of outlying settlers in the very earliest days of the county. In the resulting election of 1882, Abilene narrowly held on to the county seat.

57. (no headline), Enterprise Journal [Enterprise, Kansas] August 12, 1897: 5 (Kansas State Historical Society).

58. (no headline), Enterprise Journal [Enterprise, Kansas] August 19, 1897: 5 (Kansas State Historical Society.

59. (no headline), Abilene Weekly Chronicle [Abilene, Kansas] August 27, 1897: 3 (Kansas State Historical Society).

60. (no headline), Hutchinson Clipper [Hutchinson, Kansas] July 28, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society); (no headline), Enterprise Journal [Enterprise, Kansas] July 29, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society); (no headline), The Herington Times [Herington , Kansas] July 29, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society); (no headline), Junction City Sentinel [Junction city, Kansas] July 30, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society); (no headline), Hays Free Press [Hays, Kansas] July 31, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society).

61. Ibid.

62. (no headline), Abilene Daily Reflector [Abilene, Kansas] 30 July 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society).

63. Quoted in Stockman: 64. {note to Betty: in a letter from another student the strictures were stated even more succicntly (“no interruptions, no queries, no arguments”) which I found after sending in the original version of this manuscript, but I cannot locate the source at this time. Might you possibly be aware of this statement or another similar that is as specific? I have combed both of Rob’s volumes, and other relevant sources, Hollinger, Smith, etc.}

64. “Hoffman is Churched,” Abilene Daily Reflector [Abilene, Kansas] August 7, 1897: 3 (Kansas State Historical Society).

65. “Hoffman is Churched,” Salina Daily Republican-Journal [Salina, Kansas] August 9, 1897: 3 (Kansas State Historical Society); “C.B. Hoffman Churched,” Junction City Sentinel [Junction City, Kansas] August 13, 1897: 4 (Kansas State Historical Society).

66. (no headline), Salina Daily Republican-Journal [Salina, Kansas] August 10, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society).

67. (no headline), Salina Weekly Republican-Journal [Salina, Kansas] August 13, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society.

68. (no headline), Dillon Republican [Dillon, Kansas] August 13, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society).

69. (no headline). Junction City Sentinel [Junction City, Kansas] August 13, 1897: 4 (Kansas State Historical Society).

70. “Hoffman is Churched.”

71. Baha’u’llah: 90.

72. “Kheiralla’s Teaching Over,” Enterprise, Journal [Enterprise, Kansas] August 26, 1897: 1 (Kansas State Historical Society).

73. (no headline) Abilene Daily Reflector [Abilene, Kansas] August 27, 1897: 2 (Kansas State Historical Society).

74. “Khieralla’s Teaching Over.”

75. Duane L. Herrmann, “Letters from a Nineteenth-Century Kansas Baha’i,” World Order, Winter 1996-97: 27-35.

76. Barbara Ehrsam to Maud Lampson, May 3, 1899, Maud Lampson Papers (National Baha’i Archives).

77. Barbara Ehrsam to Maud Lampson, November 14, 1899.

78. Elsbeth Frey Renwanz Personal Recollections, (National Baha’i Archives).