On When This Barn Was New: A visitor came to America

 

Wish I could have been around when this barn was being built in Wakeman, Ohio. What kind of equipment was used to raise these beams so high? Where did the wood come from? How were the boards sawn? And when did all this happen?

 

 

How old is this barn? Is it 100 years old? That's what I'm guessing. What did this plot of farmland look like in 1912? Abdul-Baha visited America that year. He may not have come to Wakeman, but he did traverse the American continent from coast to coast.

 

Before coming to America, Abdu'l-Baha was visiting Europe. In October of 1911, he was in Paris. Read about Abdu'l-Baha's travels 100 years ago on the following blog. http://bahaitravelswest.wordpress.com/

 

The research was done by John Conkling, the person responsible for inviting a young man living in Montana to come work at the Baha'i National Center in Illinois, where he stayed for almost seven seminal years. Thanks, John! -gw

 

October 3, 1911—  Most of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s talks were given at the residence that He took at 4 Avenue de Camoëns in the area of Quai de Passy. (The Trocadéro Gardens are adjacent to the Avenue de Camoëns. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá found relaxation in walks through the gardens.) pp. 154, 159, Abdu’l-Bahá, The Center of the Covenant, H. M. Balyuzi, George Ronald, Pub. © Mary Balyuzi, 1987 (paper back)

 

The late Hand of the Cause H. M. Balyuzi writes about Paris: “Paris has a particular distinction among all the cities in Europe, inasmuch as the first Bahá’í centre of the European continent was instituted there. . . . Monsieur and Madame Dreyfus Barney were

at hand to serve Him. Lady Blomfield, her two daughters—Mary Esther and Rose Ellinor Cecilia—and Miss Beatrice Marion Platt (all of whom had also zealously helped at 97 Cadogan Gardens (London) had come over from London. It was their assiduous application which produced an invaluable collection of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Talks:‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London  a book that has, since 1912, gone through many editions on both sides of the Atlantic. Horace Holley, [long-time member and secretary of the United States National Spiritual Assembly] who was an eyewitness, has stated that “As London emphasized the social and spiritual aspects of Bahaism, so Paris revealed its intellectual content and unparalleled power of definition.” Book titles: Paris Talks, Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. 

Posted via email from Baha'i Views