Chase was born in Springfield, Massachusetts to parents of English background and Baptist religion. After being schooled for college by Rev.
African-American Civil War Memorial
completed in 1997. After the war he worked as a businessman, performed as a singer, and was published as a writer of prose and poetry while living in several states after leaving Massachusetts. He married twice and fathered three children.
Long a seeker in religion, when he was nearly 50 he joined the
Robert H. Stockman and websites have had entries about him since. In 2020, a film on his life was produced by Misaq Kazimi and Sam Baldoni titled Steadfast.[1]
Early life
He was born James Brown Thornton Chase on 22 February 1847 in
colonial families (such as Thomas Dudley). Chase's mother, who was of similar pedigree, died about two weeks after he was born, an event that profoundly shaped Chase's subsequent development.[5] Chase's father remarried three years later and the couple adopted three girls. But instead of being raised at home the United States 1850 census shows that he was living with a foster family in West Springfield at the three years old.[6] Chase himself describes his childhood as "loveless and lonely,"[6]
and from it he pursued a personal mystical relationship with God.
For four years, aged thirteen to sixteen, Chase lived in Newton, Mass., with the well known Baptist Rev. Samuel Francis Smith.[7][8] In July 1863 Chase was accepted to Brown University but soon was off to serve in the Civil War.
Civil War service
Just before his seventeenth birthday, in early 1864, Chase traveled to
Edwin McMasters Stanton.[15] The school also helped train troops - eleven African American regiments were raised in one year, and were supported by several abolitionists.[16]
By May, 1864 Chase was first lieutenant of Company K, second in charge under the captain, with 100 men.
Charleston, S.C. in and around John's Island, especially around Fort Pringle;[20][21] two officers were wounded during battles in South Carolina during this first deployment[19] – Chase was wounded by an exploding cannon, permanently injuring the hearing in his left ear,[20] and the other was the commander of the regiment who was killed December 17, 1864.[19] Chase is listed returning to New York in November as "James B Chase".[22]
Richard Walter Thomas, black scholar of race relations, observed that the relationship between white and black soldiers in the Civil War was an instance of what he calls "the other tradition": "… after sharing the horrors of war with their black comrades in arms, many white officers experienced deep and dramatic transformations in their attitudes toward blacks."[23] We do not know Chase's personal views, but in 1865 Chase started service in another black soldier unit. He was promoted to captain and commanded Company D of the 104th United States Colored Infantry.[24][25][n 3] That unit was organized at Beaufort, S. C., April–June, 1865, and did guard duty at various points in South Carolina through February, 1866.[26] Meanwhile news of the surrender of Lee and days later of the assassination of Lincoln arrived in late April.[27] Chase's resignation from the military was accepted November 7, 1865, in Beaufort, SC, and thus honorably discharged. However, because of the manner of his resignation from service, he was later denied pay for returning home which was restricted to being discharged from service by the military - though he was given "in kind" travel back to New York.[28]
Nearly two decades later, he contributed a poem to a magazine noting the dying off of the Civil War veteran, with the poem "Lo! The Ranks are Thinned and Thinning".[29] Lines of it were used in veteran memorials.[30] Robert Stockman, a scholar on Chase, draws attention to two stanzas of the poem as having a biographical tone to them:[31]
African American Civil War Memorial
of the 104th Regiment, USCI, James B. Chase on 10th line near left
At whose memory courage blenches,
And the dreadful Wilderness;
Carolina's swamps, and Georgia,
Like a hydra-headed Borgia,
Send their armies bodiless.
From the beds of rolling rivers,
From the woods where moaning quivers
Thro' the shivered, creaking trees;
From each battlefield and prison,
Myriad martyr-souls have risen,
Risen to an endless peace.
For his service in U. S. Colored Troops and U. S. Colored Infantry regiments, his name was included as "James B. Chase" among the 7000 white officers on the Wall of Honor at the
Chase began to attend Brown University in September 1866, and was elected class secretary,[33] but left school before completing the second semester.[34] He returned to Springfield, where he worked for his father's lumber business – and joined the Mendelssohn club.[35] On 11 May 1870 he married Annie Elizabeth Allyn of Bristol, Rhode Island,[36] and they had two children: Sarah Thornton (1871–1908) and Jessamine Allyn (1874–1947). Chase's activities in work in society multiplied:[37] he started his own specialty lumber business, directed the choir of First Baptist Church, and served as an officer in one of Springfield's musical organizations, and performed in a local concert.[38]
In 1872 Chase's business failed.[39] Unemployed, he moved to Boston leaving his wife and children, where he obtained a meager and unsatisfying living as an actor and singer. In 1873, amidst the Panic of 1873 and subsequent Long Depression and its privations, Chase described having what he called a mystical experience of God's love, of love "unspeakable," of "absolute oneness," which set him on a path of renewed hope in a religious search.[40] Not finding sufficient work to support him and his family in Boston, Chase moved to Fort Howard (Green Bay, Wisconsin), where he taught school.[41] The first high school graduates of the city ever were in 1875.[42] He moved to Chicago briefly and then he moved to Kansas with teaching and music tutoring jobs[43] and was visible in the local newspapers in 1879 in a regional music convention.[44] However the school broke up.[43] Next Chase settled in Del Norte, Colorado as an early mining town but was not successful.[45] Meanwhile, Annie remained in Springfield living with her mother and their two daughters, waiting for her husband to provide his family support. However in March 1878 she moved back to Rhode Island and filed for divorce.[41] He wrote a certified letter responding,[46] and despite family pressure to reconcile, Annie persevered and the court granted the divorce.[47] Chase had little to do with the family after that. Annie lived the rest of her days in Newport, Rhode Island, dying in 1918.[47] Chase's older daughter, Sarah, married in 1895 and had five children before dying suddenly in 1908.[48] Chase's last daughter, Jessamine, never married and became a school teacher and musician; she died in 1947.[49] A letter from some family in New York looking for him was published looking for him some years later in South Dakota.[50] Meanwhile he met and married Eleanor Francesca Hockett Pervier on 6 May 1880 and they settled in Pueblo, Colorado.[51]
Once again he became active in music. He returned to Kansas for a concert in mid-February, 1881, held despite a blizzard stranding rail travelers.[52] He bought an advertisement for music students in the March.[53] In May Chase assisted in the production of two concerts in Pueblo,[54] and also took various jobs over the summer/winter,[55] while continuing in music performances.[56] He began to publish poetry in local newspapers and magazines; one poem focuses on Jesus's love for humanity, thereby highlighting Chase's devotion to Jesus.[57] He also had some success in mining. He invented and patented a prospector's pick in 1881.[58] In October 1883 newspaper articles mentioned his pursuing gold mining,[59] and in December he hoped to open a mining company named "Amity Company".[60] A mine of his was producing well decades later.[61]
In early 1882 Chase served on a city government committee investigation of setting up lead works in Pueblo as its secretary.[62] In later 1882 Chase moved to Denver and was noted contributing poems to local papers.[63] He was also visible singing at various events the end of that year and into the next,[64] known as a "leading basso".[65]
He was called one of the leading poets of Pueblo in 1884.
Swedenborgian church in 1883,[68] attached to its emphasis of a metaphorical interpretation of the Bible and stressed a mystical approach to Jesus and Christianity and its sense of Christianity was much less doctrinal that the Baptist Church of Chase's childhood.[69] However he didn't like the church's view on the Virgin birth of Jesus, and the Denver church was wracked by doctrinal disputes five years later.[70] About that time Chase abandoned it and all other Christian churches.[71] He initiated a broader religious search and began to read a wide variety of books about religion; Chase read James Freeman Clarke's classic Ten Great Religions, later said he had taken an interest in Hinduism and for a time accepted the idea of reincarnation.[72]
In the summer of 1886 Chase was mentioned in theatrical productions in Denver.[73] In March 1887 he was hired by the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company as an agent[74] and soon promoted as manager for all of Colorado.[75][76] In June 1888 they promoted him again and moved him to their California office[74] where he was listed as "superintendent" for the company.[77] The move was noted back in Pueblo,[78] and his career lauded.[79] On 28 June 1889 Chase and Eleanor had a son, William Jotham Thornton Chase. Chase published a booklet called Sketches that explains why people should purchase life insurance for themselves, using biblical and religious stories to illustrate its major points.[80] According to Stockman, it reveals Chase as a religious seeker familiar with all the major religions.[81] His wife was visible in the Santa Cruz community up to 1892.[82] Thornton Chase was visible entertaining at a reception in April, 1893.[83]
Baháʼí life
Chicago
In June 1893 Union Mutual promoted Chase to superintendent of all agencies west of the Appalachians.[74] This necessitated a move to Chicago.[84] In May he was in Omaha, NE,[85] and Salt Lake, UT,[86] for business, and in early September the president of his company was killed in a train accident back east.[87] He may have been able to attend the first Parliament of the World's Religions held in Chicago in mid-September which was organized by a Swedenborgian. Stockman considers it likely Chase at least followed the reports in the newspapers which did include a quote of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, and Chase could have followed up with the then available books and journal articles by Edward Granville Browne available in the library.[88] The next president of the company was elected in October.[89] In early 1894 Chase was elected to the Insurance Underwriters Association there.[90] Stockman quotes Carl Scheffler offering an anecdote of how Chase learned of a teacher of the religion in Chicago:
While writing a poem about God one day he was interrupted by the visit of a business acquaintance who expressed an interest in his activity, perhaps because he was so busy typing. Mr. Chase read a portion of what he was writing and he was astounded when his friend told him that he had recently come upon a man who had declared that God had “walked upon the earth.” Immediately Mr. Chase expressed interest and asked to be conducted to this person.[91]
Chase was then put in touch with Ibrahim George Kheiralla, recently immigrated to the United States and the second Baháʼí in America after Anton Haddad.[92] A small group began to study the religion with Kheiralla.[93] Stockman indicates that 5 June 1894 was probably the day the class began.[94] A week later he was noted in Pueblo, CO,[95] and then attended a memorial observance for Bunker Hill back in Chicago.[96] Chase's status as a Baháʼí is accepted pointing to this time though several others accepted the new religion before him, but did not stay with the religion.[97] Thus Chase should be considered the first American to become and remain a Baháʼí, and not the first American Baháʼí chronologically.[98] In January 1897, his speech at an insurance agents convention was described as "beautiful…, bright and sublime in its imagery", about attaining to noble ideals above "killing time".[99] In February Chase used an editorial commending of the insurance agent association for "inviting men in various walks of life to its banquets to speak to the members on topics that inspire, elevate, and encourage",[100] and expands on the theme, quoting his words:
If we are only business seekers, traders, worshipers of the calf of gold, Caesar is our tax assessor and God to us is nothing; but if we are teachers and bearers of "good will to men," we shall keep the laws of humanity with heart and act, helping men to help themselves, teaching them the beauty and wisdom of unselfishness, of laboring for others, of providing a certain hope for their own futures, of protecting those dependent on them, even after earthly interests shall cease.
Let us hope that we may urge their minds so close to the border land of the life to come that they may look across the line of division between earthly affairs and eternal ones, and grasp ideals of the greater beauty and grander wisdom of striving for the fulfillment of God's promises to men, and of providing for a permanent home in the kingdom of their Creator.[100]
In early 1899 Chase submitted an essay to the association's competition,[101] and raised awareness of the religion in Cincinnati as well.[102] Baháʼís including Chase were also known to frequent a restaurant named "Kimballs' Restaurant" in Chicago.[103]
Classes on the Baháʼí Faith were organized in Chicago, and later in Enterprise, Kansas; Kenosha, Wisconsin; Ithaca, New York; New York City; Philadelphia; and Oakland, California.[94] By 1899 there were many hundreds of Baháʼís in Chicago itself and close to 1500 among those cites.[94] There had also begun to be some public attention to the point that it drew a public rebuke in the person of Stoyan Krstoff Vatralsky – and to whom Chase stood up in public to retort and there followed newspaper articles going back and forth.[104]
In 1899 other American Baháʼís went on pilgrimage to
fast, which began their observance in North America.[113] Scholar Marzieh Gail indicates her father, Ali Kuli Khan, asked individuals in 1906 if translations of letters to individuals could be copied and sent to Chase in particular so that they were then more widely circulated, (about 4 years before the first national periodical.)[106]
Thornton Chase (seated, second from right) among Baháʼís in Egypt.
Meanwhile Chase set out on further travels for the religion. In 1902 he went to Johnstown, NY,[114] and Manitoba, Canada,[115] as well as Louisville, KY, in 1903.[116] In 1904 and 1906, Chase presented at the Monsalvat School at Greenacre and other conferences there.[117]
In 1907, Chase went on Baháʼí pilgrimage though only for three days but still a pivotal experience for him[94] and he wrote a book about it.[118] ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, highly impressed by Chase's qualities, conferred on him the title thábit, "steadfast."[119] A picture of Chase in Egypt among Baháʼís was published in 1908.[120]
On returning home Chase presented again at Greenacre[117] and Cincinnati, about his 1907 pilgrimage.[121] In 1908 he joined an association to aid to the poor.[122]
During his pilgrimage, he had asked ʻAbdu'l-Bahá about the community building a temple and was directed to work with
Hand of the Cause, as "complete directions" had been given to her.[108] This was a step in the process of implementing the Baháʼí teaching of the equality of women and men. A series of articles in the fall of 1908 including Chase among a set of women in several newspapers about the aim of the Baháʼís to build a House of Worship.[123] And a photograph including Chase in 1908 at the home of the Trues was published in 1976 – he's the tallest man in the picture.[124] This interaction led to the next development of a national sense of community: The election of the first national council of the religion, with delegates present from across the US and Canada, in the spring of 1909.[108]
Thirty percent of the members elected were women; there was still some confusion over the issue of female membership until 1912.
Tent raised at the site of the future Baháʼí Temple near Chicago for the Feast of Ridván, noting especially Thornton Chase with the ✚ above him.
In February 1909 Chase addressed the University of Chicago International Club students on the imminence of the age outlining a number of expected changes coming: The downfall of nationalism/rise of internationalism, universal peace instead of battleships, and war becoming seen as a "deed of inhumanity",[125] and in March appeared listed as a Baháʼí publicly in Chicago.[126]
Chase then wrote an introductory book on the religion, The Bahai Revelation, in 1909.[127] According to Stockman "this work was one of the most comprehensive and accurate introductions to the Baháʼí Faith written by an early American Baháʼí."[94] The work emphasized the Baháʼí Faith and its teachings as a vehicle for personal spiritual transformation.[128]
Los Angeles
The Union Mutual Life Insurance Company didn't like the publicity linking their company with Chase's publicity for the religion, and transferred him to
Star of the West, noting excitement in San Francisco because of the visit of Dr. Fareed and Lua Getsinger in advance of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá coming west, regular meetings in Los Angeles as well, and the hospitality provided by Mrs. Goodall and Cooper in Oakland.[139] In May 1912 Chase was present at garden party observance of Ridván in San Francisco.[140] The San Francisco Assembly had been founded in 1910.[141] Stockman observed circa 1990 that Chase used to include mention of how many Baháʼí there were in the early days of the religion in his letters to people in a period well before the first accounting done inside the religion.[142]
Thornton Chase died on 30 September 1912 in Los Angeles, age 65, of complications following unsuccessful surgery.[143][74] Chase managed a note to his friend John Bosch while in the hospital.[144] The surgery was not successful and Chase was in pain some 5 days before dying, probably of cancer. ʻAbdu'l Bahá was on a train en route to California at the time; He immediately changed his plans and went to Los Angeles to visit Chase's grave. There he praised Chase's qualities highly, instructed the Baháʼís to hold a commemoration of Chase annually at his grave, and encouraged Baháʼís to visit the gravesite. Many Baháʼís visited that year and a more permanent memorial has since been raised.[145] ʻAbdu'l-Bahá wrote a prayer for Chase that includes:
Verily he guided the people to Thine ancient pathway, and led them to Thy way of rectitude.
Verily he held the chalice of guidance in his right hand and gave unto those athirst to drink of the cup of favor."[146]
A letter from the Los Angeles community published in
Star of the West in October noted his many meetings along the last trip he took along the coast perhaps as far as Vancouver and that signs of his illness had appeared during the trip.[147]
The outline of his life offered by Frank G. Tyrrell included mention of being a student of Rev. Samuel F. Smith, joining the military at 17, his Civil War service and rising to Captain, but not the detail of it being with black regiments, did include briefly of his life in Colorado and then as an insurance agent. They had held a prayer vigil for him while he was in the hospital which transitioned directly into a memorial on hearing of his death. The funeral was held a few days later with contributions from some ministers as well as friends and a memorial a couple days after that. A friend outlined his life including his Civil War service and that he had not spoken of this as well, as well as his career. Mrs. Chase spoke at the memorial as well.
An obituary article was published in the Brown University Alumni periodical in Feb 1913 by Brown alumnus Alfred G. Langley,[148] it emphasizes his relationship with the Bahá´í Faith though it all but skips his military career in how quote of Chase's presents his life. Another mention came a month later by alumnus Wilfred H. Munro commenting on the incompleteness of a text of Brown university students who had served in the Civil war by adding that Chase was Captain of Company D of the 104th US Colored Infantry.[149]
Legacy
Early period
The October issue of
Star of the West made room for remembering him while news continued of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's travels and speeches and dedication of the cite for the Baháʼí House of Worship near Chicago. It included a long poem Chase composed.[150] This poem arrived in Egypt and was read to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá July 4, 1913.[151] The Star of the West edition also published letters from various communities memorializing him. Tributes from Portland, OR and Chicago were also published,[152][153] followed in March, 1913, by one from Beirut which included remembrance of those who were on pilgrimage and met him in 1907.[154] A letter/poem/ode from him to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was published in September, 1913 dated from August, 1912, published as a one year anniversary of the visit of ʻAbdu'l-Baha to his gravesite[155] and was re-printed in 1922.[156] The editors noted the observance held for what was called "The day of Thornton Chase". It also reported more of the words ʻAbdu'l-Bahá had said on the visit to the gravesite:"…During his lifetime he bore many trials and vicissitudes, but he was very patient and long-suffering. He had a heart most illuminated, a spirit most rejoiced; his hope was to serve the world of humanity; during the days of his life he strove as much as he could – he never failed…"[157] There was an article then published including a picture marking Chase among the people standing at a Ridván meeting in May, 1909, who lead the services that day and compared the tent raised as a precursor to the eventual building.[158] It also included a short article by Chase "The Greatest Name".[159] An account of that first anniversary followed in the November edition.[160] 10 Baháʼís attended the gravesite Sep 30th with flowers and prayers for an hour and a service was held the following Sunday in a hall which was also the anniversary of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's visit and the assemblage again returned to the gravesite at sunset. A memorial comment was then published from Thomas Kelly Cheyne.[161] In February 1914, an excerpt from Chase's book The Bahai Revelation was published in Star of the West.[162] The anniversary was noted again in 1914,[163] and then an article briefly reviewing the history of the religion in America by Chase was published in early 1915,[164] and again noted the anniversary in September.[165] A more enduring gravestone was placed in 1918.[166] A memoriam article in 1918 noted 21 Baháʼís attended the anniversary meeting which also saw the new stone marker. Mrs. Chase attended and shared anecdotes of his life.[167] A picture of the gravestone was published in 1920.[168]
In 1920 Martha Root refers to distributing Chase's book The Bahai Revelation in various libraries on her tour around South America.[169] Memorials of others began to be published in 1922 recalling the contact they had had with Chase.[170]
Later period
The memorial meeting in 1924 noted that inquirers were informed of "the truth of the Oneness of Mankind and the fatherhood of God, for which Mr. Chase had given his heart and life."
Star of the West 1930.[176] Howard MacNutt, another very early Baháʼí, was photographed visiting the gravesite before his death in 1926.[177] In 1930 a dinner was held for the poor commemorating his death followed by a talk on his life.[178] A 5 page letter of Chase's was published in The Baháʼí World series for 1928–30, part of a major series of volumes covering world wide aspects of the religion, entitled Before Abraham was, I am; written in 1902 to a Christian.[179] Further scholarly work on Chase appeared in a 1932 article which included several excerpts from letters and papers of Chase,[180] and gathered materials were being sent to the national archives (and Hatch was perhaps on pilgrimage.)[181] A letter to Chase from ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was central to a question of Baháʼí involvement in the political rights and responsibilities of being a citizen and a Baháʼí communicated specifically in 1933 and was further discussed at the convention and lead to a fuller clarification in 1934.[182] Hatch held a meeting with African-Americans in August 1933 and there was the memorial meeting in September.[183]
In 1935 there were several actions remembering Chase:
a personally owned copy of a book of Chase's was sold to raise money for the Baháʼí Fund,[184]
a Los Angeles area newsletter reproduced the notice of the first assembly-like institution in LA that elected Chase among the five members,[185]
more materials of Chases' were mentioned in the 1935 convention,[186]
and it was also established in 1935 that Chase was to be recognized as one of the
In 1937 at the memorial service it was clarified by official translation that the commemoration of visiting the gravesite was on the anniversary of the death of Chase.[188] In 1938 some further materials Chase had had were given to the national archives of the Baháʼís including a seal and ring made with a gem given to him.[189] The certificate from the State of California of the incorporation of the Los Angeles Spiritual Assembly updated in 1938 notes ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's visit to Chase's gravesite in 1912 and the annual memorial for Chase as part of its mandate.[190] By 2005 it was noted the Bosches had donated 11 boxes of materials for the Chase collection of the US Baháʼí national archives.[191] The 1944 Centenary of the religion was observed partially with a text The Baháʼí Centenary which included Chase's early history of the religion incorporated into a broader summary – uncredited,[192] but noted in the second generation national Baháʼí newspaper, the Baháʼí News, that it was by Chase.[193]
In 1945 Chase was mentioned in the Pittsburgh Courier, a noted African-American newspaper, but only his status as the first American Baháʼí and his gravesite visited by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá.[194] Hatch was visible in May again at an interracial meeting and a brief comment was also made of the memorial meeting in the Baháʼí News,[195] followed by a picture of the memorial published soon after.[196] A further scholarly work on Chase was published in August 1945 in the World Order magazine of the religion.[197] In it Scheffler mentioned he had known and traveled with Chase including his pilgrimage but "I had then practically no knowledge of his early life." Scheffler comments on small experiences of Chase mentioning his early life but nothing about the civil war service was mentioned – though he did understand Chase was a singer some time in his early life. Scheffler mentions Chase's deep abiding interest in religion and his finding Swedenborgianism. Scheffler speaks also of some correction of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá of Chase's thought at the time. The memorial was the lead mention in the summary of activities in Los Angeles in 1948 published in the Baháʼí News.[198] In October 1949 Hatch received a clarification to a question he had addressed Shoghi Effendi, then head of the religion; it was clarified that the gravesite could be called a shrine but that it was not important what to call it or if the memorial meeting is held Sep 30 or Oct 1 (since Chase had died after sunset and Baha'i calendars mark the change of day on the sunset.)[199] Memorial observances continued to be published in the Baháʼí News over the years and the responsibility of maintaining the event shifted from Los Angeles to the Inglewood community and with broadening attendance (for example in 1963 it was reported there were some 70 adults and 15 children from a range of communities and in 1965 there were 350 attending.)[200] In 1966 a tree was donated to a nearby park and has been the site of a social reception after the memorial.[201]
In 1972 a review of pilgrimages noted Chase's across a few paragraph's in some detail taking from his In Galilee and Scheffler's comments.
Dhikru'llah Khadem called Chase "the Mullá Husayn of the West",[204] (the first believer of the religion founded by the Báb and accepted as a precursor to the religion by Baháʼís.)[205] In 1974 the Pittsburgh Courier again notes Chase, this time in a profile of a major Baháʼí conference, noting he him as the first Baháʼí in America.[206] In 1979 Roger White, called a poet laureette of the religion, albeit unofficially,[207] published a volume of work called Another Song, Another Season: Poems and Portrayals which included a 7 page creative nonfiction story "Graveyards Are Not My Style; Thornton Chase 1847-1912" centering on that first graveside memorial visit with ʻAbdu'l-Bahá.[208]
It was written from the point of view of a Catholic man in love with a Baháʼí and their struggle over unity being of different religions and their resolution at the interaction of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Thornton Chase's gravesite, and them.
Chase scholar
Huququ'llah in the West, the father of Firuz Kazemzadeh.[213]
In 1994 several centennial observances were noted. In January it was announced, in the third generation of Baháʼí national news, The American Baháʼí, that a massive granite monument was placed at the gravesite after a 7 year fundraising campaign. As of June it had cost $26,000. Contributions were sent from Baháʼís all over the United States and from
Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum. The black granite was specially ordered from India and is engraved with gold lettering.[214] The architect who conceived and designed the monument was Arsalan Mottahedin then of Beverly Hills, California. The dedication and unveiling of the monument coincided with the annual memorial service for Thornton Chase. The sculptor for the eagle was Frederick ("Rik") Sargent,[215] a Baháʼí then from Littleton, Colorado. Firuz Kazemzadeh was the keynote speaker at the dedication. A choir directed by Russ Garcia performed. At a June reception on the centennial of the religion in the West the Baháʼís presented a "family album" video narrated by Sylvia B.P. Parmelee which publicly mentioned Chase had served in the Civil War as an officer of black soldiers.[216] The event was attended by over 500 people including dignitaries. A September centenary memorial at the gravesite of Chase's joining the religion was also advertised.[217]
In 2002 Stockman published Thornton Chase: First American Baháʼí and it mentions Chase's war service in detail and with African-American troops. In 2009 an encyclopedic article published by Baháʼís written by Stockman includes his service and addressed Stockman's views of Chase's importance as an early North American Baháʼí thinker, publicist, administrator, and organizer being still underappreciated and that in many ways Chase's death left a gap in the North American Baháʼí community that remained unfilled until the rise to prominence in the early 1920s of Horace Holley, the chief developer of Baháʼí organization in the United States and Canada and included the picture of the 26th Colored Troops on parade as above.[94]
A couple 2012 presentations recalled Chase's correspondence and activity in the religion,[218] one of which included very early picture of Chase from 1884 as well as a picture with his son in Los Angeles.[219] This presentation was republished separately in 2013.[220]
Poem "Lo, the ranks are thinned and thinning"[30] 1882/1883
The Serpent (Chicago: n.p., 1900)
What Went Ye Out for to See? ([Chicago: Bahai Publishing Society], 1904).
Thornton Chase (Aug 1945). "The gift of God"(PDF). World Order. Vol. 11, no. 5. pp. 147–151. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2017-09-16. Retrieved Sep 10, 2017. It was a chapter from Chase's The Bahai Revelation
excerpts from his letters published as Thornton Chase (1993). "Impressions of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and His Station". World Order. Vol. 25, no. 1. pp. 12–23.
^Other students of the school who passed exams in DC the same week as Chase are:
Charles E. Behle, George Miller, Sammuel P. Coffan, John Locke, William R. Browne, Frederick W. Watkins, John H. Upham, Mathew H. Kolleck
John Cowgill, DeWitt C. Smith, (E?)dward Pyle, Benton Tuttle, John S. Appleton, John T. Sebering
as published in "Officers for colored troops". Dollar Newspaper. Philadelphia, PA. April 13, 1864. p. 2. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.(subscription required)
^Some of the others of Company K have been identified:
Robert, Alexander, and Charles Deyo, noted by Bryan_C (Apr 22, 2016). "Company Muster Roll". The CivilWarTalk Network. Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved Sep 12, 2017.
.
In addition to those of company K it is noted that
Louis Gregory's father, George Gregory, was First Sergeant in Company C of the 104th in 1866.Morrison, Gayle (2009). "Gregory, Louis George (1874-1951)"
. Baháʼí Encyclopedia Project. Evanston, IL: National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States.
see also Paul T. Arnold (Jan 1910). William Abbat (ed.). "Negro soldiers in the United States Army". The Magazine of History, with Notes and Queries. Vol. 11, no. 1. W. Abbatt. p. 10.
^"Barker, Abraham; Biographical notes". SNAC – Social Networks and Archival Context. Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities. Retrieved Sep 16, 2017.
^"In U. S. steam transport…". The New York Times. New York, NY. 3 November 1864. p. 8. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved Jul 2, 2014.
^A website list the service of the 104th USCI among others, * "Recruiting Black Regiments". History of St. Augustine; St. Augustine in the Civil War (Page 4) 1861–1865. Gil Wilson. Archived from the original on 2017-07-02. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017. who has some archival material texts online of the area.
This pages notes the news arriving in April "St. Augustine in the Civil War (Page 6) 1861–1865". History of St. Augustine; St. Augustine in the Civil War (Page 4) 1861–1865. Gil Wilson. Archived from the original on 2017-07-02. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.
^"A letter from New York…". The Black Hills Daily Times. Deadwood, SD. 2 Aug 1888. p. 4. Archived from the original on 2017-09-10. Retrieved Sep 10, 2017.
"B. P. Waggener has been…". The Atchison Daily Champion. Atchison, KS. 18 Feb 1881. p. 4. Retrieved Sep 18, 2017.
"Personal (multiple entries)". The Atchison Daily Champion. Atchison, KS. 19 Feb 1881. p. 4. Retrieved Sep 18, 2017.
"Balie Waggener…". Atchison Daily Patriot. 19 Feb 1881. p. Atchison, KS. Retrieved Sep 18, 2017.
"The recent storm". The Leavenworth Times. Leavenworth, KS. 20 Feb 1881. p. 3. Retrieved Sep 18, 2017.
^* "Card". Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO. March 6, 1881. p. 4. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.
"Card, Colorado Daily Chieftain". Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO. March 8, 1881. p. 4. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.
^* "Mr. J. B. Thornton Chase…". Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO. July 2, 1881. p. 4. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.
"J. B. Thornton Chase is engaged…". Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO. December 16, 1881. p. 3. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.
"Mr. Thornton Chase…". Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO. October 10, 1883. p. 8. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.
^* "Among the mining enterprises…". Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO. December 13, 1883. p. 8. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.
""Tom Dowen's Ride" is…". Fairplay Flume. Fairplay, CO. October 5, 1882. p. 2. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.
"The Christmas number…". Rocky Mountain Sun. Aspen, CO. December 30, 1882. p. 2. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.
^* "The Legion of Honor gave…". Denver Republican. Denver, CO. December 8, 1882. p. 9. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.(subscription required)
"Forefathers' day". Denver Republican. Denver, CO. December 23, 1882. p. 4. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.(subscription required)
"Bully Brittons". Denver Republican. Denver, CO. December 30, 1882. p. 6. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.(subscription required)
"Musical and literary entertainment". Denver Rocky Mountain News. Denver, CO. February 18, 1883. p. 10. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.(subscription required)
"Sons of America Hall (advert)". Denver Rocky Mountain News. Denver, CO. March 17, 1883. p. 4. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.(subscription required)
^"At the Siont Street Cathedral". Denver Rocky Mountain News. Denver, CO. March 26, 1883. p. 4. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.(subscription required)
^* "Grand comic opera". Carbonate Chronicle. Leadville, CO. June 14, 1886. p. 3. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.
^* "Thornton Chase…". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco, CA. 26 July 1888. p. 8. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
"Thornton Chase…". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. 26 Aug 1888. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2017-09-10. Retrieved Sep 10, 2017.
^"The Rico News comes…". Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO. July 3, 1892. p. 4. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.
^"At the Murray". Omaha World-Herald. Omaha, NE. May 4, 1893. p. 2. Retrieved Sep 11, 2017.(subscription required)
^"Thornton Chase, superintendent…". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, UT. 30 May 1893. p. 3. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
^"Life insurance men banquet". The Inter Ocean. Chicago, IL. 18 April 1894. p. 8. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
^ abcdefghijklmStockman, Robert H. (2009). "Chase, Thornton (1847–1912)". Baháʼí Encyclopedia Project. Evanston, IL: National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States. Archived from the original on 2016-10-12.
^"Pueblo pickings". Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO. June 17, 1894. p. 4. Retrieved Sep 20, 2017.
^"Tell of its glories". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, IL. 19 Jun 1894. p. 8. Archived from the original on 2017-09-10. Retrieved Sep 10, 2017.
from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^"Prominent Bahaist Coming". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, OH. 25 October 1908. p. 28. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved Jul 1, 2014.
^From various of the articles the names include: Geraldine Farrar, Lillyan Shaffner, Ragna Linne, Nellie E Cox, Susan R Moody, Eva Russell, Mrs. A. B. Burrows, Jane Mason, Mrs. Edgar Waite, Mrs. A. R. Windust, Cecillia Harrison, Mrs. Albert Kirchner, Thornton B. Chase, Mr and Mrs. Marshall Roe, and Mrs. Flinn.
"Plan temple to prophet". The Inter Ocean. Chicago, IL. 27 Sep 1908. p. 11. Retrieved Sep 19, 2017.
^"The Revelation of Baha'o'llah". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. 1 May 1910. p. 88. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved Aug 16, 2016.
^* "Thornton Chase to speak". The Oregon Daily Journal. Portland, OR. 2 May 1911. p. 9. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved Sep 10, 2017.
"Random remarks (continued)". Morning Register. Eugene, OR. 21 May 1911. p. 16. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved Sep 10, 2017.
^F. B. Beckett (Apr 9, 1910). Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema (eds.). "Los Angeles". Star of the West. p. 7. Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema, eds. (Feb 7, 1911). "Assemblies in the Occident". Star of the West. p. 10. Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema, eds. (Mar 21, 1911). "Orient-Occident Unity". Star of the West. pp. 6–7. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^* Thornton Chase (Aug 20, 1911). Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema (eds.). "(untitled)". Star of the West. pp. 7–8. Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved Aug 16, 2016.
^Thornton Chase (Nov 23, 1911). Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema (eds.). "California News". Star of the West. pp. 13–4. Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved Aug 16, 2016.
^Albert Vail, ed. (Nov 1922). "A pioneer at the Golden Gate". Star of the West. pp. 203–7. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
(PDF). Bahā'ī Studies Bulletin. Hurqayla Publications: Center for Shaykhi and Babi-Baha'i studies, University of California at Merced: (see page 5 of the pdf). Retrieved Sep 23, 2017.
^Los Angeles Bahai Assembly (Oct 16, 1912). Mirza Ahmad Sohrab; Zia M. Bagdadhi (eds.). "Letter from Los Angeles, California". Star of the West. pp. 5–6. Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Alfred G. Langley (Feb 1913). "Alumni; 1870 n". Brown Alumni Monthly. 13 (7). Providence, RI: 190–1. Retrieved Sep 17, 2013.
Munro is saying a text should be updated to reflect more service of two students including Chase. There are some dozen students noted who served with black regiments. See James Burrill Angell (1868). Henry Sweetser Burrage; John Larkin Lincoln (eds.). Brown University in the Civil War : a memorial. Providence, RI: Brown University. pp. 54, 349, 354, 357, 359, 372, 374.
^Thornton Chase (Oct 16, 1912). Mirza Ahmad Sohrab; Zia M. Bagdadhi (eds.). "El-Abhä". Star of the West. pp. 3–4. Archived from the original on 2016-04-16. Retrieved Aug 16, 2016.
^Rev. David Buchanan (Oct 16, 1912). Mirza Ahmad Sohrab; Zia M. Bagdadhi (eds.). "Tribute from Portland, Oregon". Star of the West. p. 6. Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Arthur S. Agnew (Oct 16, 1912). Mirza Ahmad Sohrab; Zia M. Bagdadhi (eds.). "A tribute from Chicago". Star of the West. pp. 6–7. Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Husein A. Afnan (Mar 2, 1913). Mirza Ahmad Sohrab; Zia M. Bagdadhi (eds.). "In Remembrance; Thornton Chase". Star of the West. pp. 9–10. Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Thornton Chase (Sep 27, 1913). Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi (eds.). "To the Center of the Covenant: Abdul-Baha Abbas". Star of the West. pp. 187–8. Archived from the original on 2017-09-13. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Thornton Chase (Mar 2, 1922). Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi (eds.). "Ode to the Center of the Covenant". Star of the West. pp. 304–5. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Thornton Chase (Sep 27, 1913). Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi (eds.). "The Greatest Name". Star of the West. p. 194. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Thomas Kelly Cheyne (Jan 19, 1914). Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi (eds.). "Allaho'Abha (sic)". Star of the West. p. 287. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Thornton Chase (Feb 7, 1914). Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi (eds.). "Faith – Knowledge – Prayer – Obedience". Star of the West. pp. 299–300. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi, eds. (Sep 27, 1914). "In memorium; Thornton Chase". Star of the West. p. 169. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi, eds. (Sep 27, 1915). "In memorium; Thornton Chase". Star of the West. p. 88. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi, eds. (June 24, 1918). "Letter from Charles Mason Remey". Star of the West. p. 77. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Frank B. Beckett (June 24, 1918). Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi (eds.). "In Memoriam; Thornton Chase". Star of the West. p. 78. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi, eds. (Mar 2, 1920). "The grave of Thornton Chase…(caption)". Star of the West. p. 339. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^see pages 109, 14, 18 of compiled from letters by Martha Root (Jul 13, 1920). Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi (eds.). "A Bahai pilgrimage to South America". Star of the West. pp. 107–110, 113–118 (continued). Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
and page 216 of Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi, eds. (Oct 16, 1920). "A Bahai pilgrimage to South America". Star of the West. pp. 206–7, 211–216. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
Hooper Harris (Mar 2, 1922). Albert R. Windust; Gertrude Buikema; Zia M. Bagdadi (eds.). "Obituary; William H. Hoar". Star of the West. pp. 310–2. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
Albert Vail, ed. (Nov 1922). "A pioneer at the Golden Gate". Star of the West. pp. 203–7. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
Charlette M. Linfoot (Jul 1933). "The story of the convention". Baháʼí News. pp. 1–6. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
^Willar P Hatch for the Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of Los Angeles (Dec 1937). "The grave of Thornton Chase". Baháʼí News. pp. 7–8. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved Sep 14, 2017.
^Compiled by the National Baháʼí Archives of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States (2005) [1983]. Guidelines for Baháʼí Archives (3rd ed.). National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States. p. 67.
^ abcompiled by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States and Canada (1944). "The Early years". The Baháʼí Centenary, 1844–1944. Baháʼí Publishing Committee. pp. 156–7.
^ ab"Centenary Book". Baháʼí News. Feb 1945. p. 4. Archived from the original on 2017-09-16. Retrieved Sep 14, 2017.
^Tom Mennillo (Aug 1, 1994). "Celebrating the Centenary: Chicago Banquet an opportunity to look back, forward". The American Baha'i.
^"An open invitation". The American Baha'i. Aug 1, 1994.
^Robert Sockett; Jonathan Menon (October 17, 2012). "The Last Days of Thornton Chase". 239Days.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved Sep 13, 2017.
Stockman, Robert H. (2009). "Chase, Thornton (1847–1912)". Baháʼí Encyclopedia Project. Evanston, IL: National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States.
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