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Mountfort Mills

From Bahaipedia
Mountfort Mills
BornDecember 27, 1874
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
DiedApril 24, 1949
New York City, New York, USA
NSA memberBahá’í Temple Unity
1909 - 1915
1920 - 1925
United States & Canada
1925 - 1927
1935 - 1938
 Works •  Media

Mountfort J. Mills (December 27, 1874 – April 24, 1949) was an early American Bahá'í from Chicago who served on the Bahá'í Temple Unity and the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada. He was an international lawyer and represented the Faith in some important legal cases.[1]

He was able to make several Pilgrimages to the Holy Land meeting both 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi, and assisted 'Abdu'l-Baha during his time in New York City.

Life[edit]

Early service to the Faith[edit]

Mountfort was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1874.[2] He became a Bahá'í in 1906[3] and in 1909 he was elected as the inaugural President of the Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity, the first administrative body for the American Bahá'í Community, at the first Bahá'í National Convention of the United States.[4] A few days after the Convention he was appointed to a three member committee tasked with securing land upon which a Bahá'í Temple could be built alongside Albert Hall and Bernard Jacobsen and the Committee secured twelve lots of land on May 17.[5] Mountfort visited the Holy Land shortly after the Convention and he met with ‘Abdu’l-Baha in ‘Akka.[6] He returned to ‘Akka and met ‘Abdu’l-Baha a second time before the end of 1909.

When ‘Abdu’l-Baha began his tour of the West in 1911 Mountfort travelled to London from his home in Chicago in anticipation of his arrival[7] and met with ‘Abdu’l-Baha during his stay there.[8] When ‘Abdu’l-Baha visited America in 1912 Mountfort greeted him when he first arrived in New York by ship[9] and escorted Him from the ship to his automobile with Howard MacNutt. ‘Abdu’l-Baha was escorted throughout New York City by Mountfort, and driven to several meetings by Mountfort’s chauffeur. ‘Abdu’l-Baha reportedly said “You will learn of the value of this automobile later because it will be said that the servants of the Blessed Beauty sat in it.”.[10] Mountfort served on the committee that arranged ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s talks during his time in New York. ‘Abdu’l-Baha gave a talk at Mountfort’s home in New York on April 14. The talk was attended by several clergymen, professors and dignitaries[11] and a transcript of the talk was recorded and later published in Promulgation of Universal Peace.[12] Mountfort introduced ‘Abdu’l-Baha to the Bishop of the Church of the Ascension on April 15 and ‘Abdu’l-Baha gave a talk at the Church.[13] Mountfort also gave a talk before ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s talk at the Masonic Temple’s Drill Hall in Chicago.[14]

In 1921 Mountfort made a third pilgrimage to the Holy Land and again met with ‘Abdu’l-Baha. After returning to America Mountfort delivered a message from ‘Abdu’l-Baha to a Convention on race unity held in Washington, D.C. on the instructions of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.[15]

Service on the National Spiritual Assembly & to the Guardian[edit]

Shoghi Effendi summoned Mountfort and Roy C. Wilhelm to the Holy Land following the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Baha in 1922 and Mountfort remained on pilgrimage for one month.[16] Shoghi Effendi had instructed the Bahá'í Temple Unity to reconstitute itself as a National Spiritual Assembly and told Mountfort to help facilitate the transition during his pilgrimage.[17] Mountfort delivered a talk on his pilgrimage, and impressions of Shoghi Effendi, to the fourteenth American Bahá'í Convention in April 1922.[18] Mountfort was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of the United States as its Chairman in 1923, although in practice it was just the Bahá'í Temple Unity under a new name and did not become a properly constituted National Assembly until 1925.[19]

In 1924 Mountfort was appointed as the Chairman of the first Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, tasked with facilitating and supervising the publication of Bahá'í literature.[20] In late 1924 he represented the American Bahá'ís at the Conference of Some Living Religions at the Imperial Institute in London and delivered a talk on the Faith.[21]

In 1926 he drew up a draft of a Declaration of Trust for and by-laws for National Spiritual Assemblies at a meeting of the Assembly of the United States and Canada held from April 29 to May 2.[22][23][24] The Assembly of the United States and Canada adopted them in April 1927[25] and Shoghi Effendi reviewed them, asked that they be sent to every existing National Spiritual Assembly and had them published in the book Bahá'í Administration.[26][27]

Mountfort visited Paris in 1926, before being instructed by Shoghi Effendi to travel to London and deliver a series of talks with Martha Root.[28] He then went on pilgrimage to Haifa with Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney in the winter of 1926, having been invited there by Shoghi Effendi for consultation.[29] He left Haifa for Cairo before returning to America on the instructions of Shoghi Effendi for the American National Convention of 1927 held in Montreal, Canada.[30][31] He consulted with the National Spiritual Assembly on issues concerning the Faith internationally, but his return to the United States was temporary and he was not re-elected to the Assembly for 1928.[32] In September 1928 Mountfort represented the Faith at a Universal Religious Peace Conference held by the Church Peace Union in Geneva, Switzerland.[33]

Shoghi Effendi entrusted Mountfort with the task of securing the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad for the Bahá'í Community in the late 1920's[34] and he prepared legal papers and represented the Faith in the legal appeal to the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and he lived there from at least 1930.[35][36] Shoghi Effendi wrote the following regarding his efforts in January, 1929:

"I cannot refrain from giving expression in this connection to my feelings of profound appreciation of the ceaseless vigilance and marked distinction with which our precious brother and fellow-worker, Mr. Mountfort Mills, has undertaken and is still shouldering this sacred and historic mission committed to his charge. His unremitting labors, despite ill-health and domestic anxieties and cares, are worthy of the highest praise and will be gratefully recorded in the annals of an immortal Cause."[37]

He travelled to Baghdad in person twice on fact finding missions during the case, and had an audience with King Feisal of Iraq. On one of his visits to Baghdad he was attacked and assaulted which had a long-lasting detrimental effect on his health. The League of Nations ultimately ruled in favor of the Bahá'ís.[38]

In 1934 Mountfort secured tax exempt status for the Holy Shrines on Mount Carmel through negotiations with the Palestine authorities, earning praise from Shoghi Effendi.[39] In the same year he requested that the American Bahá'ís not send letters to Shoghi Effendi during the summer in order to lighten his workload, this request was not official but was sent with Shoghi Effendi's approval.[40]

In 1935 he returned to America and attended the 27th Bahá'í National Convention of the United States and Canada and delivered a talk on Shoghi Effendi's plans for Mount Carmel, delivered a talk on firesides in New York, and was re-elected to the National Spiritual Assembly as Chairman for the first time since 1927.[41] He was last elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada in 1937, and regularly delivered talks on the Faith at Conferences across America, Green Acre Summer Schools and on the radio throughout the 1930’s. He assisted in booking non-Bahá'í speakers for the American celebrations of the Bahá'í Centenary in 1944.[42]

He passed away in New York City in 1949.[43]

Publications[edit]

Bahai.works has a related page: Author:Mountfort Mills
Bahai.media has a related page: Category:Mountfort Mills

Written[edit]

1938 – The World Crisis, Article published in World Order, Vol. 3, p 408 & 451

Glimpses of Abdul Baha, written with Roy Wilhelm

Knock and It Shall Be Opened to You, written with Roy Wilhelm

Compiled[edit]

1924 – Racial Amity, Quotes of Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha compiled with Mariam Haney.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Sobhani, Mohi, Maḥmúd’s Diary, George Ronald, Oxford, 1998, ISBN 978-0-85398-418-4, p 447
  2. ↑ http://bahaichronicles.org/montfort-mills/
  3. ↑ Sobhani, Mohi, Maḥmúd’s Diary, George Ronald, Oxford, 1998, ISBN 978-0-85398-418-4, p 447
  4. ↑ World Order, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1972, p 40
  5. ↑ Baha'i News (1987). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 673, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ Bahá'í Centenary Book, p 126
  7. ↑ Thompson, Juliet, Diary of Juliet Thompson, Kalimat Press, p 157
  8. ↑ https://bahai-library.com/blomfield_chosen_highway&chapter=3#2
  9. ↑ Gail, Marzieh, Arches of the Years, George Ronald, Oxford, p 118
  10. ↑ Sobhani, Mohi, Maḥmúd’s Diary, George Ronald, Oxford, 1998, ISBN 978-0-85398-418-4, p 106
  11. ↑ Sobhani, Mohi, Maḥmúd’s Diary, George Ronald, Oxford, 1998, ISBN 978-0-85398-418-4, p 42
  12. ↑ Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp 16-18
  13. ↑ Sobhani, Mohi, Maḥmúd’s Diary, George Ronald, Oxford, 1998, ISBN 978-0-85398-418-4, p 44
  14. ↑ Baha'i News (1987). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 673, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ Bahá'í Centenary Book, p 202
  16. ↑ Star of the West, Vol. 13, p 70
  17. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 848. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ Star of the West, Vol. 13, No. 4, p 2
  19. ↑ World Order, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1972, p 40
  20. ↑ Bahá'í Centenary Book, p 150
  21. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (December, 1924). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 1, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  22. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1949). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 10 (1944-1946), Pg(s) 313. View as PDF.
  23. ↑ World Order, Vol. 6, No. 3, p 40
  24. ↑ Baha'i News (1984). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 645, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  25. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 544. View as PDF.
  26. ↑ Gail, Marzieh, Arches of the Years, George Ronald, Oxford, p 304
  27. ↑ Bahá'í Centenary Book, p 40
  28. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (January, 1927). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 15, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  29. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (1927). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 16, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  30. ↑ https://bahai-library.com/dreyfus-barney_biography_hippolyte_dreyfus-barney
  31. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (1927). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 16, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  32. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (1927). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 17, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  33. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (1928). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 25, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  34. ↑ Baha'i News (1933). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 74, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  35. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (1930). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 37, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  36. ↑ Bahá'í Centenary Book, p 183
  37. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (1929). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 30, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  38. ↑ Ahdieh, Hussein; Chapman, Hillary, Abdu'l-Baha in New York, p 48
  39. ↑ Baha'i News (1934). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 84, Pg(s) 15. View as PDF.
  40. ↑ Baha'i News (1934). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 84, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  41. ↑ Baha'i News, No. 92, pp 1-4
  42. ↑ Baha'i News (1944). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 172, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
  43. ↑ Baha’i News, No. 221, p 12
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