# Fred Mortensen: From Delinquent to Disciple

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Jaine Toth, Fred Mortensen: From Delinquent to Disciple, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> From Delinquent to Disciple
>    Born February 7, 1887 in Dodge, Iowa
>    Third of 13 children
>    Impoverished immigrant family from Denmark
>    In 1893 the family moves to Minneapolis, MN
>    Father unable to find work; takes to drink; abandons family
>    After the 3rd grade, Fred, along with his brothers, quits school to
> try and support the family; they steal food, dig through trash cans
> for leftovers
>    Fred hired for menial labor at Minneapolis Star; resents work; quits
> at age 10
>    Fred & his brothers join a gang – for acceptance
> 
>    Yet Fred’s innate sense of superiority makes him feel he could easily
> best those around him.
> 
>    Life on the streets turns him hard & ruthless
> 
>    He enjoys the rough & tumble, says, “fighting is a real pleasure, as
> welcome as a meal.”
> 
>    He drinks too much, enjoys
> breaking the law, stealing,
> brawling, bullying others.
>    He recalls,
> 
> ▪ “breaking a grocer’s window to
> 
> steal his fruit or what-not was,
> 
> as I thought, a great joke.”
> 
>    The gang terrorizes immigrants, especially Russians & Jews. He relates
> 
> ▪ “I can’t begin to tell you how we enjoyed persecuting them, stealing
> 
> their wine, breaking their windows, in fact doing everything but setting
> fire to their homes.”
> There are two versions of how, while          In 1904, at age 17, the gang robs a local train.
> being chased by police, they were able
> ▪ His younger brother grabs a mail bag.
> to catch him after he fell and broke his
> leg. According to Mortenson’s grandson,        ▪ Fred notices police coming, takes the bag
> and tells brother to run; police chase
> Justin Penoyer:
> Fred instead.
> 
> ▪ Trying to avoid a barrage of bullets, he
> jumps a wall, falls and breaks a leg; is
> arrested.
> 
> ▪ Prison doctor sets leg improperly – left
> with one leg shorter than the other,
> resulting in a permanent limp
>    However, Mortensen himself writes:
> 
> ▪   “…a young fellow was being arrested and I, of
> 
> course, tried to take him away from the
> 
> policeman. While this was going on a couple of
> 
> detectives happened along and in my haste to
> 
> get away from them I leaped over a thirty-five
> 
> foot wall, breaking my leg, to escape the
> 
> bullets whizzing around about — and wound
> 
> up in the ‘garden at the feet of the Beloved’ as
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh has so beautifully written it in the
> 
> Seven Valleys.”
>  In his wonder at God’s grace Fred writes about how he
> 
> arrived at the gate to the garden of the Beloved through
> his own criminal activity:
> 
> ▪ “I violated any law I saw fit, man's or God's. Strange as
> 
> it seems to me at times, it was through coming into
> contact with these laws that I received the opportunity
> to be guided into this most wonderful Revelation.”
>  The gate keeper of the garden
> 
> is the attorney appointed to
> defend him: Albert Hall, the
> son of a minister, who became
> a Bahá'í between 1900 and
> 1903
>    Fred recalls:
> ▪   “At this time I was defended by our departed, but illustrious Bahá'í brother, Albert
> 
> Hall, to whom I owe many thanks and my everlasting good will for helping to free
> me from the prison of men and of self. It was he who brought me from out the dark
> prison house; it was he who told me, hour after hour, about the great love of 'Abdu'l-
> Bahá for all His children and that he was here to help us show that love for our
> fellowmen. Honestly, I often wondered then what Mr. Hall meant when he talked so
> much about love, God's love, Bahá'u'lláh's love, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's love, love for the
> Covenant . . . I was bewildered. Still, I returned, to become more bewildered, so I
> thought; and I wondered why. . . Thus the Word of God gave me a new birth . . .”
>  Fred doesn’t know how to read.
> 
>  Hall gives him two books, one about
> the Bahá’í Faith, the other a
> dictionary;
> 
> ▪ Fred uses these to teach
> himself to read.
>    Even though the gift has been
> presented, Mortensen hasn’t
> yet fully unwrapped it, and his
> instinct for preservation kicks
> in:
> 
> ▪ As soon as his leg heals, Fred
> 
> attacks a guard, steals his
> keys, and escapes.
> ▪ He ends up in Oakland,
> California where he works at
> the newspaper.
> 
> ▪ After experiencing an
> earthquake, Fred hightails it
> back to the midwest, then
> travels to the Dakotas; finds
> work each time with the local
> newspapers.
>    Fred comes across the book
> he’d gotten from Albert Hall.
> This time the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> reach deep into his heart.
>    After four years as a fugitive, he returns to Minneapolis, knowing
> he’ll probably be sent back to jail, but unable to resist the urge
> to reconnect with Hall and learn more about the Bahá’í Faith
>    To Fred’s surprise, Hall, now District Attorney, doesn’t have him
> arrested
>    While living in Minnesota, Fred learns
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá will visit Green Acre, Sarah
> Farmer’s home in Eliot, Maine (close to
> Portsmouth, NH) which was a center for the
> study of comparative religions
>    He also hears the Master may not travel west
>    Fred takes off traveling to
> Green Acre
>  On reaching Cleveland, OH, he attends a
> 
> printers’ convention before continuing his
> journey, but, anxious to meet the Master,
> he leaves before it ends.
>  However, his funds are depleted.
> 
>  Out of money, Fred rides the
> 
> rods, hobo-style, on top, under
> trains, never inside – all the coal
> dust from the burning coal
> spewing forth, permeating his
> clothes and clinging to his skin.
>    In Fred’s Words
> “… [as] I crawled off from the top of one of its passenger
> trains at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, I was exceedingly
> happy. A boat ride, a street-car ride, and there I was, at the
> Gate of Paradise. My heart beating double-time, I stepped
> onto the soil of that to-be-famous center tired, dirty, and
> wondering, but happy.”
> The Ballad of Fred Mortensen
> written, composed & performed by
> Mike Rogers
> from his CD,
> Steppin’ to a Brand New Beat
>  In a hurry to reach his destination,
> 
> and with no money at his disposal,
> Fred arrives in a disheveled state,
> covered in soot from riding for days
> on the outsides of coal-burning
> trains, smelling like the rail cars on
> which he’d traveled.
>  Even with a letter of introduction from Albert
> 
> Hall, efforts are made to turn him away.
>  Two of the women, Mrs. Kinney
> 
> and Barbara Fitting, ignore the
> vigorous protests of the
> menfolk, invite Fred in, give him
> the opportunity to wash up and
> offer him a bed for the night.
>  Told schedule full — no chance of an audience
> 
>  Goes anyway and signs the appointment ledger
> 
>  At the end of the first interview, Fred is told the Master
> will receive him next. He is stunned:
> ▪ “Why, I nearly wilted. I wasn’t ready. I hadn’t expected
> to be called until the very last thing. I had to go, and it
> was a strange feeling in my heart and wondering what
> would happen next.”
>    After first asking after Fred’s health, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asks about
> 
> his trip to Green Acre, requesting specifics. Fred tries to avoid
> 
> the subject, but the Master won’t let it go. Fred figures He
> 
> already knows so he’d better tell the truth.
> 
>    Mahmud’s Diary relates: “He explained everything about his
> 
> journey to the Master, who then told him, 'You are my guest.’”
> “. . . a wondrous light seemed to pour
> out. It was the light of love and I felt
> relieved and very much happier. He gave
> me much fruit, and kissed the dirty hat
> I wore, which had become soiled on my
> trip to see Him.”
>    Penoyer writes:
> ▪ “Fred often spoke of the great amount of
> fruit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave him during their
> conversation. As soon as he finished one piece,
> he was given another. He would later say he had never eaten so
> much fruit in one day. Interestingly, the day before Fred’s
> arrival at Green Acre, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asked one of His
> interpreters to buy a basket of fruit, as he was expecting a
> special guest to arrive the next day.”
>  Fred joins the others seeing the Master off the
> 
> next morning.
>  As the Master’s car is passing, it stops suddenly
> 
> and the Master pulls him in and invites Fred to
> spend the week with Him in Malden,
> Massachusetts, the next stop on His itinerary.
>    Penoyer says,
> ▪ “Unfortunately, what transpired between them during this time is
> 
> unknown. What is known, however, is that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Fred
> became close friends for the remainder of their lives. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> often referred to Fred as “my son.” Such an appellation was very rare
> for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to make. They met again briefly a few weeks later,
> when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, on His way to Chicago, requested a detour to
> Minneapolis. This was unusual in that there was only a small Bahá'í
> community there at the time. Fred, Albert Hall, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> spent the day together, the last time they would meet in person.”
>    Fred Mortensen’s life is forever changed after
> this experience; he writes:
> 
> ▪ “These events are engraved upon the tablet
> 
> of my heart and I love every moment of them.
> The words of Bahá'u'lláh are my food, my drink,
> and my life. I have no other aim than to be of
> service to His Pathway and to be obedient to His
> Covenant.”
>  A year later, a letter from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá prophesies,
> 
> ▪ “That trip of thine from Minneapolis to Green Acre
> will never be forgotten. Its mention will be
> recorded eternally in books and works of history.”
>    Thirty-two years later, Shoghi Effendi writes in God Passes By:
> 
> ▪ “A survey, however inadequate of the varied and immense
> activities of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His tour of Europe and America
> cannot leave without mention some of the strange incidents
> that would often accompany personal contact with Him. The
> bold determination of a certain indomitable youth who, fearing
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá would not be able to visit the Western states, and
> unable himself to pay for a train journey to New England, had
> traveled all the way from Minneapolis to Maine lying on the
> rods between the wheels of a train . . . “
>    His story is now also included in:
> 
> ▪ Alan Ward’s 239 Days
> 
> ▪ H. M. Balyuzi’s ‘Abdu’l-Bahá — The Centre of the Covenant
> 
> ▪ Star of the West Volumes VI & IX & XIV
> 
> ▪ The Bahá’í World, Volumes X & XI
> 
> ▪ Mahmud’s Diary
> 
> ▪ and on a website dedicated to him which includes the thesis of his
> great-grandson, Justin Charles Martin Penoyer
>    Jealousy raises it’s ugly head amidst the believers,
> beginning at Green Acre when that “filthy, horrid man”
> as someone so rudely refers to him, receives that
> special, unscheduled audience with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. More
> incidents feed the green-eyed monster lurking within
> the Bahá’í community, like his invitation to spend the
> week with the Master in Malden, and moreso when
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá refers to Fred Mortensen as His “son.”
>    Fred moves to the South to work
> for racial amity.
>    He uses his natural leadership skills to organize numerous
> successful proclamation events for teaching the Faith,
> bringing in many excellent speakers.
> 
> Louis Gregory takes to calling him
> “Frederick the Great.”
>    Thinking of his mother, Fred had mixed
> 
> emotions, sad for what he put her through
> 
> yet happy that her hopes for him finally came
> 
> true. He wrote:
> 
> “My dear mother had done everything in her power to make me a good boy. I
> 
> have but the deepest love for her and my heart has often been sad when
> 
> thinking how she must have worried for my safety as well as for my future
> 
> well-being. Through it all and in a most wonderful way, with a god-like
> 
> patience, she hoped and prayed that her boy would find the road which
> 
> leadeth to righteousness and happiness.”
>    The American Bahá'í Community wishes to send funds to the Holy Land to assist with ‘Abdu’l-
> 
> Bahá’s humanitarian work.
> 
>    The Master, unsure if a trip to the Holy Land can be accomplished, due to the war, allows them to
> 
> make the attempt.
> 
>    However, He refuses to approve the person selected by the Bahá'í Temple Unity to make the trip,
> 
> insists that He will only permit the effort if Fred Mortensen serves as the representative.
> 
>    This exacerbates the already intense ill-will of the Baha'is towards Fred, they mistakenly
> 
> assuming naivety on the part of the Master, thinking He just doesn’t understand what “these
> 
> people” are like.
> 
>    Fred’s ship, as the Master had feared, is turned back. The journey cannot be completed and
> 
> monies are not delivered.
>    Fred moves as a homefront pioneer to Montana where he personally finances publicity and
> 
> publishes many articles about the Faith in local newspapers. According to Penoyer’s thesis,
> 
> ▪   “In one instance, he felt obliged to correct an article printed in the Montana Record
> 
> Herald, which gave credit for the conception of the League of Nations to an unspecified
> 
> king of France. Encouraged by friends in Helena, he wrote a letter to the paper in which
> 
> he clearly stated that Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í faith, had revealed the basic
> 
> principles of the League at least fifty years before it was established; furthermore, these
> 
> same principles were explained by His son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a book titled The Secret of the
> 
> Divine Civilization, written in 1875. A few years later, Fred wrote an essay titled “The
> 
> Three Great Lights,” in which he eloquently described the nature of progressive
> 
> revelation. This essay was published in the March 1925 edition of the Star of the West.”
>    In 1922 Fred meets and marries Kathryn May Rubeck, happy to welcome
> her infant son as his own, especially because he’d given up hope of ever
> having children.
>    But they have four more children together, in rapid succession, and he
> remembers that the Master once told him he would
> receive “four blessings.” These children, he believes,
> are those blessings.
>    After their home in Helena, Montana burns down (caused by
> earthquake in 1925) the
> Mortensens move to
> Chicago to be near the
> House of Worship.
> In Chicago, Mortensen
> 
>  Remains an active believer
> 
>  Works nights at the Chicago Tribune
> 
>  Devotes the majority of his time to his family
>    Penoyer relates:
> 
> ▪ “Every night he went over his children’s homework, and he made sure
> 
> they were well fed and properly clothed.
> ▪ In addition to their school studies, he was very involved in
> 
> their sports activities and other interests;
> ▪ and, most important, he
> 
> taught them the words of
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh, stressing the
> 
> importance of love in all
> 
> facets of society. His children
> 
> all became dedicated Baha’is.
>    According to Penoyer,
> 
> ▪ “His daughter, Kathryn, remembers him as
> 
> ▪ ‘a standard of fatherhood’
> 
> ▪ whom she viewed as a saint.”
>  Active in YMCA
>  Boxing
>  Swimming
>  Skating
>  Baseball
>  Handball
>  Forming Unions
> ▪ Fought for
> ▪ Age limitations
> ▪ Minimum Wage
> ▪ Safer Working Conditions
>    All the wonderful things that happened to Fred, and that he in
> turn, did for family, society and within the Bahá’í community, he
> credits to a spiritual transformation:
> 
> ▪ “…the Word of God gave me a new birth, made me a living soul, a
> 
> revivified spirit. I am positive that nothing else upon the earth
> could have changed my character as it has been changed. I am
> indeed a new being, changed by the power of the Holy Spirit…I
> have been resurrected and made live in the Kingdom of Al Abhá.”
>    1946 - End of World War II; children grown, Fred wishes to
> serve the Faith abroad
>    Writes to Shoghi Effendi requesting permission to pioneer
> to Germany
>    Guardian suggests Austria instead
>    Fred makes plans to go
>    Shortly before departure date, falls seriously ill
>    Dies on June 13th, of a cerebral hemorrhage, just a few
> months after he was to travel to Austria
>  On learning of Fred’s death,
> the Guardian cables the family:
> 
> ▪ “Grieve passing beloved Fred.
> Welcome assured in Abhá Kingdom by Master.
> Praying progress his soul. His name is forever
> inscribed Bahá'í history.”
>  Buried at Cedar Park Cemetery, Chicago, IL
> Per Fred’s request,
> his autobiographical account,
> When a Soul Meets the Master
> was read at the service
>    His obituary in the “In Memoriam” section of
> the Bahá’í World, Vol. XI, quotes his daughter,
> Mrs. Kathryn Mortensen Penoyer:
> ▪ “My father lived and practiced the Bahá’í
> Religion to a degree beyond possible
> explanation . . . On the very eve before his
> death he spent his last time teaching the
> Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. His devotion cannot be
> measured in mere words, they are not
> powerful enough.”
>    Penoyer sums up his thesis:
> 
> ▪ “Fred Mortensen’s background was that of a rogue and thief. Fred was
> 
> not an advantaged person, and as such would not be a likely candidate
> to understand, let alone embrace, a new religion. He lived his beliefs
> without benefit of wealth or education, much like his mentor, ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá. He was so moved by his exposure to Bahá'í teachings that
> the direction of his life changed instantly. The facts suggest a
> metamorphosis on a level other than scholarly.
>    “Fred’s story is well known in Bahá'í history. The
> documentation is the result of his example of faith in
> action, not of his material accomplishments. Fred
> perceived a truth more impressive than that of his
> grinding poverty, more real than his material needs,
> and more important than his immediate gratification.
> He is an example of one who learned that material
> things are transient, while inspiration and faith
> survive.
> SUCH IS THE POWER OF FAITH TO CHANGE A LIFE.
>
> — *Fred Mortensen: From Delinquent to Disciple (Used by permission of the curator)*