Early Baha'is of Enterprise, Kansas, 1897
Exported from Holy-Writings.com on 2026-06-19 - 1 clipping

Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Duane L. Herrmann, Early Baha'is of Enterprise, Kansas, 1897, Topeka: Buffalo Press, 1997, bahai-library.com.
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Early Bahá´ís of Enterprise, Kansas: 1897

Duane L. Herrmann

© 1997
ISBN 1-879448-11-4

Note: Originally published to commemorate the centennial of the Bahá’í
community of Enterprise, Kansas, the second in the western hemisphere.

Contents

Introduction
John J. Abramson
Barbara Senn Hilty Ehrsam
E. Ehrsam
Julia Ehrsam
Louise Forrester
Elizabeth Frey
Ed A. Hafner
C.B. & Addie Harding
Rose Hilty
C.B. Hoffman
John H. Johnk
Josephine Hilty Kimmel
Maud Kirkpatrick
Carrie Lamb
Mary M.F. Miller
Elsbeth Frey Renwanz
Elizabeth Rychner
Iona L. Senn
Marie Senn
Michael & Josephine Senn
Charles V. & Minnie Topping
Sources of information
Notes
Introduction

The process of writing history is much like standing at the top of a deep well and trying to
describe the activity at the bottom. There is no light and the water is murky. The only tool
available to retrieve a fact is a hook on the end of a string. With luck the hook will catch on a
fragment of information from that earlier time, but will the assembled fragments make much sense?
This little booklet is the result of assembling such fragments and trying to create a coherent
picture. Undoubtedly there are sources of information unknown to the present writer. It is
impossible to provide complete biographies of all the individuals involved in Bahá’í activities in
Enterprise a century ago. The aim here is to briefly summarize the information found to date.
In some cases the contact these individuals had with the Bahá’í Faith may be a surprise to present
members of their families, for that we apologize. In many cases the contact was minimal and
forgotten about. In other cases, the contact may be well-known.
One hundred years ago when the Bahá’í Faith reached Kansas, it looked different than it does
today. A century ago it was still in the first period of its development. The Bahá’í Faith traces its
beginnings to the night of 23 May 1844 in Persia (now Iran) when a merchant in the city of Shiraz
announced that He was the one through whom a greater Messenger of God would appear. The
movement that arose was suppressed by the military and religious authorities of the country.
In 1852, a Persian nobleman, and follower of the Báb, was imprisoned for the new beliefs and
consigned to an underground pit, in stocks with a 100-pound chain around His neck. During this
experience, after which He was known as Bahá’u’lláh, He became aware of God’s mission for his
Life.
Bahá’u’lláh taught that the Creator of the universe is a non-physical, spiritual being without
physical limitations, an unknowable essence. Humans are created spiritual beings, in the image of
God as we can recognize and pay homage to our Creator. We have physical bodies to live in a
physical world which in many ways reflects the spiritual world and here we learn and practice our
spiritual attributes. How we exercise choice is an indication of the level of spiritual development
which has been attained by individuals and the human spices as a whole.
Bahá’u’lláh explained that the Creator, to help humans learn about our spiritual nature, sent
Messengers to teach the human race. These unique beings, who are perfect mirrors of the Divinity,
include, among others: Adam, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ, Muhammad and now,
the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.
Bahá’u’lláh affirms that each adult is now responsible for seeking truth and not blindly following
the opinion of others, priests or other intermediaries are no longer necessary, and each person is
responsible of the result of his or her own actions. All the Messengers of God have taught the need
for the same basic qualities: charity, mercy, understanding, forgiveness, etc. Outward expression of
these has changed from age to age, but the inner meaning has not.
Bahá’ís are taught to pray and study the Word of God daily, fast once each year, observe
monogamy and chastity, raise children in the teachings of God and social amenities, and strive to be
ever more spiritual beings. The human soul endures forever in its journey toward the Creator and
our daily actions reflect progress on that course.
Human society now is in a period of transition. The Bahá’í teachings propose that a global
civilization is the next stage in human development, some of the outlines can already be seen:
women are more and more taking their rightful place alongside men, nations can no longer afford to
be aggressive, one language has become more and more useful in international communication, and
multinational treaties, covering a wide variety of concerns, are increasing the ability of nations to
function together harmoniously. Most nations share one system of weights and measures which
facilitates commerce and economic prosperity, and democracy has been adopted by more and more
nations during the past few decades. Bahá’ís believe these trends will increase as their benefits are
more widely felt.1.
The news of this message first personally reached Kansas through the actions of Barbara Senn
Hilty Ehrsam. Barbara’s oldest daughter, Josephine, had gone to Chicago for further musical
training (she eventually sang on the stage in Europe). There, Josephine heard of Ibrahim Kheiralla,
a religious teacher and “healer.”
The date of Barbara’s invitation to Kheiralla, or when it was accepted remains unknown. It is
known that he did not come alone. Two news articles make passing mention of “his family,” and
another specifically mentions his son, George. Kheiralla later stated that he was accompanied to
Enterprise by his wife and teenage son.2. The memory of one of his Enterprise students
independently confirms it.3.
Kheiralla (1842-1929), of Syrian Christian background, had learned of the Bahá’í Faith in 1883,
eventually decided to study it and converted in 1889 in Egypt. He later came to the U.S. to make
his fortune. After several failed attempts, he learned he could tap the market for “healers” (some
were already doing a thriving business even in Kansas). He bought a mail-order medical degree and
soon combined “healing” with teaching his understanding of the Bahá’í Faith. It was reported that
in the first few years, Kheiralla had attracted over a thousand followers.4.
In Chicago, Kheiralla developed a system of classes for teaching the Bahá’í Faith. “This was a
series of graduated lectures, the earliest dealing with such general issues as the immortality of the
soul, the nature of the mind, and the need to believe in God. Later lectures dealt increasingly with
biblical prophecy concerning the second advent and the existence of a ‘Greatest Name’ of God by
which the believers might enter into a special relationship with the Divine.”5.
A summary of the beliefs of the American Bahá’í community before the turn of the century
concluded that, “Ibrahim Kheiralla had taught the North Americans that Bahá’u’lláh was the return
of the Father and that in His religion all biblical prophecies had been fulfilled.6.
This was the time of the beginnings of the American Bahá’í community. In contrast, recent
statistics from the Bahá’í World Center, in Haifa, Israel, indicate that the Bahá’í Faith has a world
population numbering “more than five million,” whose members live in 235 countries and
dependent territories Bahá’ís reside in 121,058 localities around the planet and represent 2,112
races, tribes and ethnic groups. Local administrative councils have been established in 17,148
localities under the guidance of 175 national or regional administrative councils.7.
At the time of Kheiralla’s visit to Enterprise in 1897, only one piece of Bahá’í literature existed
in English, and that written by Kheiralla. His pamphlet, entitled: “The Identity and Personality of
God,” is evidence of Kheiralla’s lack of knowledge of the Bahá’í Revelation. He lists seventeen
“general principles,” and eight “great points.” Among these only one, “the oneness or singleness of
God,” is recognizable as one of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. Only the last of Kheiralla’s “great
points” is sufficiently clear to indicate a correlation with the Bahá’í Faith and that is a reference to
the “Greatest Name,” the name of Bahá’u’lláh. Of these twenty-six items listed in the pamphlet, the
text discusses only one. Twenty-eight pages of the pamphlet are devoted to Kheiralla’s ideas about
the “proof” of the “individuality of God.”8.
It appears that Kheiralla brought this pamphlet with him to Enterprise. Some statements from it
are reproduced in the larger newspaper articles, such as, “the teacher can not accept any
remuneration…”9.
Within a few days of his arrival in Enterprise, in the middle of July 1897, Kheiralla began his
lectures. Because of the attendance of prominent individuals, including Michael Senn, Barbar’s
Ehrsam’s brother (and former State Senator) and particularly C.B. Hoffman, her nephew (then at the
center of political controversy), the classes attracted the attention of the press. Kansas newspapers
from Hays and Hutchinson and Salina to Kansas City and Atchison made reference to the classes
that July and August. Two major articles and one smaller one were used, copied more or less word
for word, or as the basis of new articles or references. Newspapers outside Enterprise often added
their own editorial comments. Some statements in the news articles can be confirmed by notes
taken by his students in Chicago.
Once a person had completed the classes, Kheiralla invited their participation in a private
ceremony which he had devised. During this ceremony he informed the student of the name of the
Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh. This was referred to as, “receiving the Greatest Name.”
The ceremony signalized complete membership into the American Bahá’í community at that time.
As the number of members increased, Kheiralla found himself unable to continue the degree of
control that he wanted. This became completely impossible hen believers began to arise in several
different cities simultaneously. Distance, especially in the case of Enterprise, became an inhibiting
factor. The believers in Kansas wanted the initiation and felt deprived without it. Gradually
Kheiralla was impelled to allow other believers to give out the Greatest Name. Barbara Ehrsam
relates this as the manner in which she received it.10
Kheiralla’s secrecy and special initiation was kindred to the secret societies that were
predominate at the time. In 1896, with a population of only 36,000, according to the city directory,
there were seventy-five “Secret and Benevolent Societies” in Topeka, and nearly as many other
clubs and organizations, not counting churches.”11.
By 1897 the American Bahá’í community had not yet developed a sufficient infrastructure of
effective administration, nor a systemic method of communication among its members. Many of
the “little band of believers,” as Barbara Ehrsam described them, gradually drifted to other interests.
Those who maintained their interest saw these problems resolved and provided a connection to
those originals events. Through then, the Kansas Bahá’í community has been continuous for a
century.12
Different amounts of information have been found regarding the various individuals involved, so
the following profiles are uneven in coverage and substance.

John J. Abramson
John Abramson was born in Syria in 1871 of parents who were born in Russian and Switzerland.
This does not preclude a German background, indicated in personal correspondence, by him being
addressed as, “Hans,” the diminutive of “Johan,” the German form of “John.” There is also local
reference to him having a Jewish background.
Described in the 1900 census as a “nephew” of Jacob Ehrsam, he had lived with the family since
his arrival in the U.S. in 1888 at the age of 15. By that time he was fluent in German, Arabic, and
English, adding a dynamic element to family life.
He is listed as attending Kheiralla’s class, but he did not satisfy himself with what he heard there.
To learn more he wrote to his brother who lived in Jerusalem. Letters from his brother were shared
with Bahá’ís and some were saved by Thornton Chase, a Bahá’í at the time in Chicago. The
information his brother found is consistent with Bahá’í histories available today.
In one of those letters he mentioned planning to go to the Holy Land at the end of 1898, but no
evidence has been found that such a trip occurred.
Though Barbara Ehrsam indirectly confirms his role as, “one of the believers here,” no other
evidence has been found of involvement with the Bahá’í community other than attendance in the
class and the surviving letters.
In 1903 he moved to California where he lived the rest of his life and died there in 1932. He
married Josephine Hilty and they had one child, a son, Hilty Abramson.

Arnold J. Ehrsam

Arnold Ehrsam was the third son of Jacob and Barabara Ehrsam and given, for a middle name,
the name of the Swiss hero, Winklereid. After attending the Enterprise schools, he went to Baker
University and devoted himself to the new sport of “football.” He became the first football coach at
K-State.
After his college career, he entered the family business and held various responsibilities until his
death in 1941. In 1901 he married Viola Hare and had three children. She far outlived him by
reaching her 100th birthday in 1978, a month and a half before she died.
The only evidence of Arnold’s connection with the Bahá’í community was his attendance at
Kheiralla’s class.

Barbara Senn Hilty Ehrsam

Barbara Ehrsam was born in Switzerland on 14 May 1843. Her father brought the family to
America in 1854 and she grew up near Grasshopper Falls, KS. In May 1860 she married a
neighbor, Joseph Hilty. Together they had two children, Leonhard and Josephine. Her husband
died in 1868 after returning home from service in the Civil War. They owned two sections of land
which the young widow could not manage, in addition to the two babies, so her brother, Michael,
came to help her.
The next year she rented out her farm and both of them, with their families, joined their sister and
her husband in building a new town on the central Kansas prairie. This became the city of
Enterprise. Barbara and Michael built and managed the first store at the town site.
In 1870 Barbara married Jacob Ehrsam, the mechanic who had helped her brother-in-law build
the mill on the Smokey Hill River. Together they had six children, giving Barbara a total of eight.
Twenty years later she was searching for more meaning in life and turned to various philosophies.
While her daughter, Josephine, was in Chicago, she heard of another spiritual teacher, Ibraham
Kheiralla, and he was invited to Enterprise. In the summer of 1897 he arrived and held his classes.
He did not complete them and thought he might return, but did not. For several years his students
sought the Greatest Name to complete their experience, and some found it, Barbara from her
daughter, Josephine.
Two letters of 1899 survive from Barbara to Kheiralla’s secretary asking for more information.
None was available so Barbara went on to other interests.
In 1911 she did encounter more information on the Bahá’í Faith in an article in Everybody’s, a
general interest magazine. She wrote of this in two letters to her daughter-in-law, Rose Hilty. In
one letter she states she never agreed with Kheiralla’s insistence on secrecy, one of his ideas that
clouded his efforts.
The next year, in letters to Rose, she mentions the visit to her of another Enterprise believers,
Elkizabeth Frey, who had been to Chicago to see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, then Head of the Bahá’í Faith, who
was traveling in America at the time. Barbara related the tragedies in the life of one believers, and
how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained that it is through such difficulties that people’s souls are tested and
strengthened.
One more indication of interest was found in the financial ledger books of the Bahai Temple
Unity, the executive body formed to build the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, IL, near
Chicago. In 1917 she sent a contribution to help with construction.

E. Ehrsam

No first name for this person is given in Kheiralla’s list. According to both the 1895 and 1900
census there were four individuals in Enterprise who could be referred to as, “E. Ehrsam.” Three
were named “Elizabeth,” and a fourth was “Elsbeth.” Two were born in Switzerland in the early
1830s, and one of these was a sister-in-law of Barbara Ehrsam. The third was in her early 20s in
1897, and the fourth was only nine, the daughter of Barbara and Jacob Ehrsam. With no other
information, speculation as to actual identity if futile.

Julia Ehrsam

Born in Enterprise on 11 January 1879, she was the fourth child of Jacob and Barbara Ehrsam. In
1897 she graduated from Enterprise High School at the age of 18. Kheiralla’s list indicated that she
attended the class and received the Greatest Name, probably from her mother or step-sister. No
other evidence of her involvement with the Bahá’í community has been found.
In 1906 she taught Kindergarten in Enterprise after traveling to St. Louis for instruction. She
later married Edward H. Kuster. For thirty-five years he was the secretary, and a director, of the
Ehrsam company. He also became vice President, and a director, of the Dickinson County Bank,
Mayor of Enterprise from 1941-1947, and member of the city council for twenty-five years. He
died in 1955.
After her husband’s death, Julia moved to Wamego to be near her only child and joined St Luke’s
Episcopal Church. The last year of her life she lived in a nursing home in Topeka and died there in
1967. Both she and her husband are buried in Enterprise.

William J. Ehrsam

William was the first child of Jacob and Barbara Ehrsam, and the first child born in the town of
Enterprise. At age 14 he attended the Kansas State Agricultural College for three years, then Rose
Polytechnic Institute in Terra Haute, IN.
After graduation he returned to Enterprise and joined the family business. In 1924 he became
president of the company after the death of his father. he remained in that position until ill-health
forced him to retire in 1942. Under his direction the company grew from a small machine shop into
an internationally famous manufacturer of milling equipment. As testimony to his accomplishment,
he was invited to England, in 1936, as a consulting engineer.
In 1903 he married Vergiline Mulvane, daughter of the President of Washburn College of
Topeka. They had five children. For his family he bought the house that is now operated as
“Ehrsam House Bed and Breakfast.”
His name on Kheiralla’s list is the only indication of his involvement with the Bahá’í community.

Louise Forrester

“L. Forrester,” is the only one listed in the 1895 Kansas census that could be Louisa Forrester.
She is listed as being a “housekeeper,” in the home of Robert Forrester, a stonemason, with five
other Forresters, whose ages indicate they are the children of the household. Five years later, in the
1900 federal census, Louisa is not living there, but Robert’s wife, Moriah was. Louisa and Moriah
are not the same person as they have different ages and birth places. Five of Moriah’s eight
children were living, with accounts for the five children of the household. It is quite possible that
Louisa and Robert were brother and sister, and she came to help him during the time his wife was
away from home.
After Kheiralla’s class, Louisa either married, moved out of Kansas, or died some place other
than Enterprise. Her name does not appear in further connection with Enterprise or the Bahá’í
community.
Kheiralla’s list does not indicate that Louisa received the Greatest Name. it is likely that she left
Enterprise before the others there received it. No other indication has been to suggest that the
maintained contact with the Bahá’í community.

Elizabeth Frey

Born Elizabeth Killius in Havana, IL, in 1858, she had at least four siblings, two of whom
outlived her. When she was about seventeen she traveled to Kansas where she lived near Detroit
with a sister and taught school, in 1882 she married James Frey.
When, in the summer of 1897, James was appointed Postmaster of Enterprise, she then became
the Assistant Postmaster. Their oldest son was hired as a clerk. Also, that summer, Elizabeth
attended Kheiralla’s classes and later received the Greatest Name, She did not stop with that, but
other events in her life took her attention.
As 1901 began, she traveled to Highland, IL., to get the three orphaned children of her brother.
Both he and his wife had suddenly died. The children’s ages ranged from eight months to nine
years, her own youngest was then fourteen. She spent her life giving to others in need.
A highlight of her life occurred when she was fifty-four; a trip to Chicago. This was not an
ordinary vacation trip. She and her daughter, Elsbeth Renwanz, went there to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
who was traveling in this country. While in Chicago, He laid the cornerstone for the Bahá’í House
of Worship to be build in Wilmette, IL. Elsbeth is in a group photograph of the event, and her name
is on the list of those who attended. Elizabeth Frey had stayed in her hotel on the actual day of
dedication since the weather was cold, wet and windy.
As soon as she returned home, she went to see Barbara Ehrsam and told her of the trip. She
shared with her the trials suffered by Corinne True who was instrumental in encouraging the project
of building the House of Worship. Barbara’s account of these events can be accurately compared
with True’s biography.
In 1928 she became ill with what her obituary called, “a deadly malady,” and died in April of the
next year. The full obituary extolled her religious nature and the active role of prayer in her life.

Ed A. Hafner

Ed Hafner may not have lived in Enterprise for a very long time. Neither he, nor any family with
his name, appears on either the 1895 or 1900 census. His name is on the class list, but not as having
received the Greatest Name,
One other interesting place where his name does appear is in a brief item in the Enterprise
Journal. On Thursday, 12 August 1897, the Journal stated: “Ed Hafner, Emmitt Hoffman and
George Kheiralla are with a camping party on Lyons creek, near Woodbine, and will fight chiggers
and mosquitoes for a week.” George Kheiralla was the teenage son of Ibrahim Kheiralla who
taught the class.
Nothing more was found about him.
C.B & Addie Harding

Chauneg Harding was the Station Agent for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in
Enterprise. He and his wife, Addie, attended the Bahá’í class and, afterwards, both received the
Greatest Name.
He was from New York (both he and his parents were born in that state) and she was born in
Iowa (also of American-born parents). His thirty-fourth birthday occurred the August that Kheiralla
was in Enterprise. She was a few months older. Their two children were aged eleven and six.
By 1900 they owned their home, free of any mortgage, and had a servant living with them. Their
home was also large enough for a boarder, and in the summer of 1900, a man named, John E.
Pontius, boarded with them.
Aside from their names on the class list, no other evidence has been found of any further
involvement by either of them with the Bahá’í community.

Rose Hilty

Rosa Abbuehl of Grasshopper Falls married Leonhard Hilty, son of Barbara Hilty Ehrsam, in
1860. Later, during their lives, they Americanized their names to “Leonard,” and “Rose.” Together
they had three daughters, the middle one, dying in infancy. The youngest, Lovelia, was born blind
and, when Kheiralla arrived in Enterprise, one of the newspapers mentioned him “healing” her
blindness to the extent that she could distinguish light from dark and see some colors. She later
gave music professionally.
Both Leonard and Rose attended Kheiralla’s class, but only Rose received the Greatest Name.
She is one of the few who maintained her connection with the Bahá’í community her entire life. to
gain more information, she planned a trip to Chicago in 1899, but the need for surgery cancelled it.
In 1905, Rose and Mrs. Mary Miller, also of Enterprise signed a petition to ‘Abdul- Bahá (such
petitions were frequently circulated through the American Bahá’í community in the early years of
the twentieth century). The reply was printed as a booklet with the names of all 422 other believers
who signed. A copy is in the Topeka Bahá’í Archives.
The next year, the Hilty’s moved to Topeka so that Lovelia could attend high school there. This
move resulted in Rose becoming the first Bahá’í to live in the capital city and the beginning of the
Topeka Bahá’í community. While there, Rose and her mother-in-law would write weekly letters to
each other. in December 1911, she informed Rose of the article in that month’s edition of
Everybody’s and the next year she wrote about Elizabeth Frey’s trip to see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in
Chicago.
By 1916 the family had moved back to Enterprise, but Lovelia remained in Topeka. Rose
brought with her news of contact with the larger Bahá’í community outside Kansas. There was now
a small group of believers in Topeka, and one of them, Bertha Hyde, had other family members in
Urbana, IL, who were also Bahá’ís.
In 1920, a Bahá’í sent by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to travel through America, came to Topeka. Rose came
back to Topeka to help in preparation for his visit, and stayed. Sites for lectures were arranged,
news releases prepared, etc., a flurry of activity for the small group of Bahá’ís in Topeka. The next
year the Topeka city directory indicates the Hiltys had moved back to town. A few years later,
Leonard died.
Rose was visited in 1934 by two new members of the Topeka Bahá’í community wanting to learn
about the early days of the Kansas Bahá’í community. Their notes of Rose’s reminiscences became
the only local history the Bahá’ís of Kansas would have for many decades to come. Later that year,
Rose died and was buried next to her husband in the Topeka Cemetery.
Over the year, as Bahá’í books had become available, Rose had bought each one. She also
subscribed to the Bahá’í magazine. After her mother died, Lovelia gave all these to the Bahá’ís of
Topeka. They formed the basis of the Topeka Bahá’í Library, a legacy of her mother’s faith.

C.B. Hoffman

Christian Balzac Hoffman was born in Switzerland in 1851, the son of Christian and Elsbeth
Senn Hoffman. When he completed his education, he hoined his father’s milling business and
gradually his interests branched out from there, eventually to politics.
The Hoffman mill sent samples of its flour to be exhibited at the Columbian Exposition in 1893
and the Hoffman family attended. C.B.’s wife, Catherine, wrote of her impressions of one event she
attended there: the Parliament of Religions. She called it, “the greatest demonstration of the
spiritual evolution of man that has ever occurred.”
She closed her account saying, “This Parliament broadened human thought, created a deeper
feeling of charity, and good will and served to unite the races into stronger bonds of brotherhood,
that brotherhood taught by Jesus wherein creed and baptism are secondary and the spirit of love is
paramount.” It was at this event that the name Bahá’u’lláh, and His teachings, were first mentioned
in America.
In the summer of 1897 Hoffman was a controversial figure on the Kansas political scene. For
several years he had championed the Populist cause and had been appointed to the Board of Regents
of the Kansas State Agricultural College. His proposals attracted considerable excitement. When
he attended Khairalla’s classes in Enterprise, newspapers across Kansas (from Hays, Hutchinson
and Salina to Atchison and Kansas City) took note.
Hoffman wanted to know more than Kheiralla was able to teach (because he himself knew little
about the Bahá’í Revelation( and, in his effort to maintain congrol, Kheiralla eventually expelled
Hoffman from the class. This also generated publicity.
Though his contact with the Bahá’í community ended, some of Hoffman’s thoughts, later in life,
touched on a few points in agreement with Bahá’í teachings. These are expressed in an unpublished
essay he titled, “Emotional Relition,” his over-riding belief though, was in socialism.

John H. Johnk
John Johnk was the only one of his family on Kheiralla’s list. He and his wife, Margaret, had six
children by that summer of 1897, and they may have been the reason she did not come. Two more
were born later to complete the family. John was a native of Germany, the fourth generation of his
family to be a miller. He had moved his family several times before the turn of the century,
movement that is reflected in the birthplaces of his children: Nebraska, Kansas, two in Colorado and
three in Enterprise. All the children survived their infancy, a remarkable fact for those times.
Johnk was just a few days short of his forty-second birthday when he attended the class. How
deep his interest went is unknown, he did not receive the Greatest Name.
About 1907 the family moved to Neosho Falls where he managed a mill of his own. He died
there in 1912.

Josephine Hilty Kimmer

“Josie” was the first child of Barbara Ehrsam, born near Grasshopper Falls, KS. Her father died
after returning home from service in the Civil War. She drew up in Enterprise, then traveled to
Chicago for more education.
One of the first newspaper articles about the Bahá’í class in Enterprise reported, “Miss Josie
HIlty, who knew the ‘Doctor’ in Chicago and through whose influence he was induced to visit
Enterprise, is said to have embraced the doctrine he teaches.”
She is on the membership, with the name of “Kimmel,” as a resident of St. Louis, being the first
Bahá’í there. For a time, a civil war veteran, J.H. Kimmel, lived in Enterprise and may be the
connection to her first married name.
According to one of her mother’s letter, Josephine gave the Greatest Name to believers in
Enterprise. She wrote, “My daughter, Mrs. Kimmel of St Louis, formerly Miss Hilty, has given me
the Greatest Name (with your permission) while here on a visit.” No other evidence of her
membership has been found.
She married John J. Abramson and, with their son, Hilty, lived most of her life in California. She
died in Los Angeles a couple of years after her husband.

Maud Kirkpatrick

Maud Winifred Parker was born in 1861 in Illinois of parents who had been born in New York
and Pennsylvania. That Kansas was the birthplace of her children demonstrates her family’s part in
the westward migration of the American population. Her family moved to Detroit, KS in 1869 and
to Enterprise a year later.
On her seventeenth birthday she married Rufus Kirkpatrick, an Irishman, who, with his two
brothers owned and operated the Enterprise livery barn, located beside the Ehrsam machine shop on
First Street. They had come to Enterprise in 1872 and built the business in on the empty prairie. It
was one of the earliest businesses in town. By the time they sold the business in 1899, it included
eighteen driving and saddle horses, one dray team, eight buggies, four carriages, two hacks, a bus
and a hearse. The loft above the stables was large enough to hold twelve tons of hay. It was a
thriving business.
Before the automobile, the liveryman was one of the most essential people in town. He would
meet each train to taxi passengers to their final destination, he delivered mail and supplies from the
train as well as made local deliveries, took the doctor on sick calls and his was the only hearse in
town. The family prospered.
Maud and Rufus had two children, Theron and Maud. Their daughter died before she reached
three years of age. Theron graduated from Enterprise High School in 1898 and became a telegraph
operator, a promising career in those days.
Maud attended Kheiralla’s classes, but the record does not indicate that she received the Greatest
Name, No other evidence has been found to suggest she continued to regard herself as a believer,
but she may have. Her obituary did not mention, as was often the case, any church affiliation. It
stated that she did not hesitate to help others, “in time of sickness or need, and she was an active
member of the aid societies in town.” In this, she was practicing the life of a Bahá’í.
The family moved to Topeka in 1907, but after a few years returned to Enterprise. Maud died in
1911.

Carrie Lamb

Carrie Lamb was the wife of “H.W. Lamb” and lived in Solomon, KS. Eventually she and her
family moved to Los Angeles where she died in 1955. But, in the summer of 1897 she was in
Enterprise.
That year did not begin well for the family. In January her mother, in Enterprise, after being
unwell for two years, died unexpectedly. Her death was so sudden that she was buried in the yard
beside the house until the family could decide where to bury her permanently. It is likely that
Carried returned to the family home to help care for her younger brothers and sisters, and she was
there when Kheiralla came to give his class.
Later, in 1907, her father moved to Wichita and when he died, was buried in Wilsey, KS, where
they had eventually decided to bury his wife. The family had lived in Wilsey in 1880 before
coming to Enterprise and the youngest child was born there.
Carrie’s name is not checked on the Bahá’í list as having received the Greatest Name, and she is
not found living in Kansas in the 1900 census, so she may not have stayed in Enterprise long
enough for that to happen. No other connection has been found.

Mary M.F. Miller

She was born in 1844, the daughter of a German minister. In 1860 she married another, John P.
Miller. The next year he was assigned the mission district of Dickinson Co., and was stationed in
Lyona until 1870. Soon after his arrival, Christian Hoffman invited him to preach in his cabin at
Loudens Falls, and the Methodist Church of Enterprise made its beginnings. During his career,
Rev. Miller was assigned to various churches in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. He was
retired early due to failing health and turned to homeopathy which he then became qualified to
practice.
In 1898 the Millers were living in Kansas City, KS. That year, Mary Miller is listed as a member
of the Bahá’í community. She was the first Bahá’í in Kansas City. Shortly after thet urn of the
century, they moved back to Enterprise.
Mary Miller was one fo the two believes in Enterprise who, in 1905, signed a petition to ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá. This was not an uncommon practice of the times. His reply was printed as a booklet with the
names of all 422 believers who signed it.
Except for contributions to help build the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, little other
evidence of her membership has been found. She died in 1911 and notice appeared in the Bahá’í
magazine, “Word comes to us announcing the death of Mrs. Mary M.F. Miller, Enterprise, Kansas,
after a stroke of paralysis.” She was a believer to the end.

Elsbeth Frey Renwanz

The childhood of Elsbeth Frey was changed by two events which occurred the summer of 1897,
when she was ten years old. Her father was appointed Post Master for the city of Enterprise and her
mother attended the Bahá’í class. Her mother received the Greatest Name and remained a firm
believer the rest of her life.
In 1911 Elsbeth married Herman Rennwanz (the name was later shortened). A native German,
he had come to Enterprise from Seattle six years earlier and was a draftsman for the Ehrsam
Manufacturing Company.
The next year she and her mother made a trip that caused a lasting impression on their lives,
meeting ‘Abdul-Bahá. They were the only Bahá’ís from Kansas to do so. Elsbeth is pictured in a
photograph of a group of believers with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In her later years she related, “’Abdu’l-
Bahá, turning to mother, patted her on the shoulder, then looking at me, tears rolling down my
cheeks, bade me not to cry, not to cry, to be happy, to be happy. Then, as I recall, He said, ‘both
shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven,’ – a delightful memory indeed.
“Suddenly something more had penetrated me through and through. I was overwhelmed with
joy. It was an inexplainable, forcible reality that cannot be denied, radiating from that fountain of
Love, the Mystery of God, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.”
A year after the trip, Elsbeth and her husband moved to Grand Rapids, MI. There, their son was
born and she was actively involved in the Bahá’í community. And there, disaster struck the little
family in 1919.
In March that year, Herman contracted influenza and died five days later. He was not yet forty
years old when he became one of the 29 million to die in that global epidemic. Later that year,
Elsbeth received a brief letter from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in answer to questions she had asked earlier.
She returned to Enterprise and began teaching school. Eventually she moved to St. Joseph, MO,
teaching there until she retired, then moved to Denver. She died there in 1970, but not before
returning to Kansas one last time. This was for a Bahá’í conference in Wichita in 1955. A
photograph of the conference was published and she is identified in it.
After she died, her body was brought back to Enterprise and she was buried beside her husband
and parents in Mt. Hoep Cemetery. A nine-pointed star adorns her gravestone.

Elizabeth Rychner

According to the 1985 Kansas census, Elizabeth was thirty-three years old, a teachier and the
mother of a year old daughter. It is doubtful that she actually taught that year given the social
strictures that women did not teach school after they were married. Her husband, “J.S.” was a
“clerk,” and both had been born in Iowa.
Only Elisabeth’s name is on the Bahá’í list, and it is marked as her having received the Greatest
Name. A letter from her survives which she wrote in October 1898, before receiving the Greatest
Name, asking how she could receive it. She mentions the possibility of her going to Chicago on an
excursion train, but wanted to be sure there would be some Bahá’í meetings she could attend while
she was there. It is not known whether this trip was accomplished or not.
It is likely that she did not write the letter from Enterprise. After her signature appears an
illegible word, followed by a capital O. It is known that she lived somewhere in Ohio after the class
in Enterprise, so she may have been there by late 1898. She did keep in touch with others who had
attended Kheiralla’s class, but no other information has been found about her connection with the
Bahá’í community.

Iona L. Senn

She was a daughter of Michael and Josephine Senn, and a niece of Barbara Ehrsam in whose
home Kheiralla held his classes. During her childhood the family moved to Riley Co. where her
father founded the settlement of Lasita. She later married Clarence W Moulton and moved to
California where she lived most of her adult life. After her husband’s death she returned to Kansas
in 1965 and settled in Abilene to be near her family. She died two years later.
Her name on the membership list is the only evidence of her connection with the Bahá’í
community that has so far been found.

Marie Senn

Marie Senn was also a daughter of Michael and Josephine Senn and the first girl to be born in
Enterprise, in 1871, shortly after the founding of the town. She taught schools in Pearl and
Enterprise and attended Kansas State College. In 1894 she became the head of the department of
domestic science at North Dakota State University and continued there until she married. During
the summer of 1897, she was home in Enterprise and attended Kheiralla’s class.
In 1903, she married Thomas H. Heath, a Canadian living in Seattle. They lived in Seattle eleven
years and began heir family of three children. About ten years later they moved to Enterprise when
he was hired by the Ehrsam company. He worked there the remainder of his career. During their
life in Enterprise the family played a prominent role in activities of the city when Thomas served on
the city council four years and was mayor for sixteen years. Marie died in 1962 just a few days
short of their sixtieth wedding anniversary.
The only evidence of her connection with the Bahá’í community is her attendance in Kheiralla’s
class.

Micheal & Josephine Senn

Micheal Senn and Josephine Meyer were married near Grasshopper Falls, KS, in 1868 after he
returned from service in the Civil War. It was not an untypical union of the times: he a Swiss native
who had fought in the bloodiest war in this country and she from a naturalized family. He helped
his sister, Barbara Hilty, after her husband died and together they moved their families to the
settlement on the Smokey Hill River which became the city of Enterprise. Their sister, Elizabeth
Hoffman, and her husband, Christian, lived there and encouraged them to come. With Barbara, he
built and operated the first store in the town and, with the Post Office in the store, became the first
Post Master of Enterprise. As the town grew, his interests branched out. He, like Hoffman, utilized
the water power of the river to operate a mill, his a woolen textile mill. Eventually he went into
politics.
Later, he moved his family to Riley Co. and founded the settlement of Lasita, where he lived the
last sixty years of his life. he earned a reputation as a “poet philosopher,” and gained such a
reputation for honesty and integrity that he was elected to both the Kansas House of Representatives
and, later, the state Senate.
No matter where the family lived, his wife, Josephine, gained a reputation as one who could be
called on in times of need, especially when doctors were few and women assisted each other in
childbirth and caring for their infants.
Both attended Kheiralla’s class in Michael’s sister’s home. Michael made news after asking
questions that Kheiralla could not answer (Khairalla said they made no sense) which resulted in him
being expelled from the class. Only Josephine’s name is marked on the membership list, but not
marked as having received the Greatest Name,.= No other evidence of involvement for either of
them has been found.

Charles V. & Minnie Topping

Both Charles and Minnie Topping attended Kheiralla’s class, but neighter received the Greatest
Name. They were counted in Enterprise in both the 1895 and 1900 census, so they should have had
as much opportunity as the other members of the class. He was a bookkeeper in the flour mill and
eventually became the Secretary of the Southwestern Millers League. As cuch, he became an
expert on freight rates and shipping regulations. Part of his responsibility for the millers association
was to testify before congressional hearings. After one particularly intense and grueling hearing, he
suffered a nervous breakdown and died four months later.
When he died, in 1928, the family was living in Kansas City. He was buried in Baldwin, KS,
where he and Minnie Ocott had been married. They had come to Enterprise in the early 1880s. he
ahd been born in Wisconsin, his parents in New York, and his children in Kansas. This was typical
of the westward migration of the American population. Minnie’s parents were born in Indiana and
she, in Kansas, the same pattern, only at a later time in the family’s progress.
By the 1900 census, they had been married sixteen years and owned their home on Bridge Street,
free of any mortgage. Three children were born to them, one died an infant and is buried in
Enterprise, but there is no marker for her grave.
Charles Topping was described as, “a pleasant spoken, unassuming gentleman, his mind stored
with an enormous found of information which he calmly presented in a manner carrying
unquestioned weight.” He was sixty-four when he died. Her death, later, was not noted int eh
Enterprise or Abilene papers.

Notes:

1. For more information on the Bahá’í Faith, see: William S. Hatcher & J. Douglas Martin, The
Bahá’í Faith: The Emerging Global Religion (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1984).
2. Dr. Robert H. Stockman, The Bahá’í Faith in America: Origins, 1892-1900, vol.1 (Wilmette,
IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1985), p.108.
3. Reminiscences of Rose Hilty found in, “History of the Membership in the Topeka Bahá’í
Community,” compiled by May Brown [n.d.], p.1, Topeka Bahá’í Archives.
4. About the life of I.G. Kheiralla see: Richard Hollinger, “Ibrahim George Kheiralla and the
Bahá’í Faith in America,” From Iran East and West: Studies in Bábí and Bahá’í History, vol. 2
(Los Angeles, Kalimat Press, 1984), pp.95-122.
5. Dr. Peter Smith, “The American Bahá’í Community, 1894-1917: A Preliminary Survey,”
Studies in Bábí and Bahá’í History, vol.1 (Los Angeles, Kalimat Press, 1982), p.90.
6. Dr. Robert H. Stockman, The Bahá’í Faith in America: Early Expansion, 1900-1912, vol.2
Oxford, George Ronald Publisher, 1995), pp.383-384.
7. World Center Publications, The Bahá’í World: 1995-1996 (Haifa, Bahá’í World Center, 1996),
p.317. Statistics as of May 1995. National/regional assemblies as of April 1997.
8. I.G. Kheiralla, “Za-ti-et Al-lah, the Identity and the Personality of God,” [no data, 1896],
National Bahá’í Archives, Wilmette, IL.
9. ibid., pp.3 & 5.
10. Duane L. Herrmann, “Letters from a Nineteenth Century Kansas Bahá’í,” World Order,
Winter 1996-97, pp.27-35.
11. Radges 1896-1897 Directory of Topeka and Shawnee County, pp.99-104.
12. Duane L. Herrmann, “The Bahá’í Faith in Kansas: 1897-1947,” Community Histories: Studies
in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions, vol. 6 (Los Angelse, Kalimat Press, 1992), pp.67-110.
Sources of information:

- Abilene Reflector and Chronicle, 1897-1934, Kansas State Historical Society.
- Barbara Ehrsam – Rose Hilty correspondence, 1911-1912, courtesy of Mrs. Constance Downs.
- Bruce Whitmore, The Dawning Place, (Wilmette, Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1984).
- C.B. Hoffman Papers, Spencer Museum, University of Kansas.
- Elsbeth Frey Memoirs, National Bahá’í Archives.
- Elsbeth Frey Papers, Denver Bahá’í Archives.
- Enterprise Journal, 1897-1934, Kansas State Historical Society.
- Kansas State Census, 1895, Kansas State Historical Society.
- Star of the West, 1911.
- “Supplication Book of Students in Miscellaneous Cities: 1894-1899,” Bahá’í Enrollment List,
United States Collection, 1894-1900, National Bahá’í Archives.
- Thornton Chase Corresondence, National Bahá’í Archives.
- Topeka Bahá’í Archives.
- United States Federal Census, 1900, Kansas State Historical Society.
-- Early Baha'is of Enterprise, Kansas, 1897 (Used by permission of the curator)