Louise Aurora Getsinger (1 November 1871 – 2 May 1916), known as Lua, was one of the first Western members of the Baháʼí Faith, recognized as joining the religion on May 21, 1897, just two years after Thornton Chase.
Born into the rural countryside of western New York state and initially with a heterodox understanding of the teachings of the religion, by her fervor she corrected many understandings and grew to become a prominent disciple of Abdu'l-Bahá with an international reputation, being named “Herald of the Covenant” and "Mother of the believers" by Abdu'l-Bahá, head of the religion 1892-1921, and “mother teacher of the American Bahá‘í Community, herald of the dawn of the Day of the Covenant" by Shoghi Effendi in 1942, head of the religion 1921–1957. Nevertheless, she faced trials of reputation among the Bahá'ís in America during a time when rumors arose if a woman traveled with a man other than her husband, which she did in promotional tours across America, into Canada and Mexico. Her husband grew doubtful, their relationship changed, and he sought a divorce. She was defended by the leadership of the religion and her reputation increased after her sudden death in Egypt.
A number of later leaders of the religion were directly affected by her, including members of the high office of the religion, the Hands of the Cause, Louis George Gregory, and John Henry Hyde Dunn, as well as May Maxwell, another prominent woman of the religion and mother of another Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Khánum, who had her own direct effect on Agnes Alexander, William Sutherland Maxwell, and Mason Remey and thus had an effect on the promulgation of the religion in America, (including across the color line,) England, France, Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina, in addition to her own direct contact with thousands of people before the end of the first World War.
Biography Early life
Lua was the sixth of 10 children born to Ellen McBride and her husband Reuben D. Moore in Hume, New York, a rural small town located in western New York State's Allegany County, about 90 kilometers south of Lake Ontario. Reuben (Reuden) D. Moore (Nov 1, 1818 in Wales, NY - August 19, 1898, Hume, NY) was the son of Welcome Moore who died 1831. Reuben married Ellen, daughter of Scott Andrew McBride and Hannah E. Brown, in 1860; and both Reuben's parents - Lua's paternal grandparents - had already died by then. Reuben was born in Erie County and most of Lua's siblings were born in Wyoming County.* The Moore-McBride family had been living in nearby Java as farmers.
In 1872 the family moved to Mills Mills Rd north east of Hume in Allegany County just south of Wyoming County off of the Genesee River, and bought a farm of 150 acres in 1873. The town had been organized in 1822.* Siblings Alta and Alice were twins. The Moore family had attended the Baptist Church since 1844 though his mother had been a Quaker. Pastors of the First Baptist Church of Hume as Lua was growing up included: Horton, Langmade, Reed, Bogart, and Robinson. Moore was a fairly well off farmer with a herd of over 3000 sheep at least once. Daughter Donna F. married Howard Blakely of Harriman, Tennessee.
The region was known as the Burned-over district which had had religious revivals and later gained a reputation of burning out the people's capacity for religious excitement. There is a story of mother Ellen with a reputation of asking questions in the Church that were the object of a visit of the pastor talking to Reuben to try to get her to stop bringing up such questions. There was and is a Seventh Day Baptists church in her home town area. Years later Lua described an experience of her youth to her friend May Bolles Maxwell of being baptized - dunked in water in a ritual - and expecting to see or feel a direct gift of the spirit from a new church in town and being disappointed.Kindle:656
Schools were founded across the county by 1825. Granger township to the east had one by 1819. Hume township had 14 oneroom elementary schools by 1869, but it wasn’t until 1894 that school attendance was mandated for children 7 to 14 yrs old. Sixth grade was the usual last grade of students in the county that did go until circa 1900 when higher grades were added. Parental permission was needed to attend high school by law before 1900 and it wasn’t until 1916 that lacking attendance was fined. The first high school wasn't founded in the township until circa 1901-2. Lua would probably have finished her schooling at least by about 1882, if she had gone to school and continued through sixth grade, around age 10-11.
Family oral history has Lua going to Chicago in the later 1880s. In the February 1892 New York State Census Lua is not listed living at the farm - and two other sisters known to have married, to Howard Blakeley, and to Dr. A. B. Harding, are also absent. Indeed Lua with her sisters has been identified in a newspaper clipping from July 1892 placing her arriving from Flint, Michigan, back to visit. Family oral history also had Lua attending the World Parliament of Religions of 1893 in Chicago during the World Columbian Exposition and, it is believed, would have heard of Bahá’u'lláh. William at least was there from 1895 and both were known to be there from knowledge of people in Allegany County before 1896. Lua chose dramatic arts training in Chicago rather than New York for intuitional reasons. Her brother William went there to study homeopathic medicine.Kindle:972
Chicago and encountering the Bahá‘í Faith
William was studying with Chester Ida Thacher, who then lived in the La Grange neighborhood of Chicago in 1897–1898* and Lua may have done housekeeping for Thacher. Thacher and Lua were listed as members of the Oriental Order of the Magi. Thacher had been active in Christian Science, and Thacher or others may have introduced the Bahá‘í Faith to Lua; however it came about, she joined a class on the religion led by Ibrahim Kheiralla, who had taught Thornton Chase, recognized as the first Bahá'í of the West. Lua had a dream October 17, 1896, which she felt important enough to record: "I dreamed I was in an old one story wooden house--whose roof was somewhat sunken in and broken--My Father and Mother seemed to live in this house only I did not see them--and I was there to do the work--which ever seemed behind hand. I thought it was afternoon and I had not yet made the beds--which I set myself to do--and by the bed--which I thought my Father occupied I found a lamp burning very low--which I extinguished and on going about the room I found other lights burning- which I blew out also! Presently an old man came in who looked very much like Mr. Guile, and said The King is here!" She received the end "lesson" of the class, learning the name of the founder of the Bahá‘í Faith on May 21, 1897, before actually finishing the regular course of classes Kheiralla offered. However in the eyes of Edward Getsinger, when he met them in early 1895, Lua and Thacher already were self-identifying as Bahá'ís or what they would later call "Bahá'í", as others may well have as well. Attendees of these classes at the time were called 'truthseekers'.
Edward was not into religion but accepted an invitation from Thacher to come out to his farm and Lua was there too.Kindle:1048 While there Edward was working on a presentation he was going to make when he had a series of three mystical visions.Kindle:1089-1124 He then developed a strong enthusiasm for religion which he now shared with Lua. We know little of their courtship and family meetings otherwise; we do know that Lua married Edward C. Getsinger May 26, 1897.* Lua's brother William finished the religion class June 18. However Edward later publicly cited a marriage certificate as of May 1896 to Ida Moore in Chicago though perhaps this was garbled in the newspaper reporting.
Lua returned to Hume to enthusiastically tell her family about the new religion. Local newspapers noted Lula in town July 6, 1897, accompanied by an unknown lady friend, and William returned as well on July 9. It is known her mother and four of her siblings joined the religion quickly. In particular her mother Ellen asked an unidentified 'truthseeker' to transcribe 16 pages of its writings. At least one sister of Lua, Ruby "Hebe" Moore, was there when Lua returned who went on to her own pilgrimage later, and variously lived in Washington DC, Baltimore, Worcester, Massachusetts, and finally Fryeburg, Maine, as an active member of the religion. After being joined by Edward they left Hume August 31, 1897, on their way to Ithaca, where Lua organized a study class. Edward himself also took a class in New York and finished it back on October 26, 1897. Six people graduated from Lua's when visited by Kheiralla in January 1898. More people passed it by February 3, 1898. Among those that passed the class was Edward Struven who then introduced the religion to his brother Howard who then went on to found a community in Baltimore along with others who had found the religion other ways and numbered 50 people by 1901. Lua also wrote of being lonesome with Edward away but filled with purpose from the new religion and excited to hear of the advancing work of the community in Chicago. Around this time her brother Orson was in the West Virginia infantry and William served in the medical corps at Fort Sheridan during the Spanish–American War in 1898.
First Pilgrimages
The first During their return to Hume the Getsingers had already spoken of moving to California. Edward had another mystical experience while reading a newspaper story about Phoebe Hearst, determined she had homes in a few cities that he tried to reach out to with letters before determining she had to be at her California homeKindle:1089-1124 and left in January 1898 for California to try to reach her. It is believed the newspaper coverage about Hearst being active in a national movement to develop colleges was the one he read.Kindle:1142-1162 He had been in San Francisco in February, and was visible again in later July.* Hearst family accounts credit Edward seeing her and her not paying attention to other guests at a receptionKindle: 1488 at her home, the Hacienda, at Pleasanton, California. Edward’s own account says the first meetings were not about discussing the religion until Lua came.Kindle:1501 She arrived by June.Kindle:1533 Lua in particular was successful igniting Hearst's interest in the new religion and as well as that of her butler, African-American Robert Turner, who overheard the conversations. Phoebe's response was enthusiastic and she arranged for Lua to being a class which started at the Hacienda and then moved to an apartment of hers in downtown San Francisco.Kindle:1566 Meanwhile a guest friend of Hearsts' at the Hacienda died July 31.Kindle:1622 This along with other stresses caused her to decide to go on a trip to Paris, Egypt and up to Istanbul by the end of August.Kindle:1639 She agreed to add stopping at what was then Ottoman Palestine to see Abdu'l-Bahá, and together they formed a party to go - with Hearst's butler Robert Turner, and some friends Ella Goodall Cooper and Helen S. Goodall and then adding Kheiralla and his wife. Turner would soon be the first African-American Baháʼí.
Lua's father Reuben died August 19,*