February 22. On this date in 1847, Thornton Chase was born.

February 22. On this date in 1847, Thornton Chase was born.

Chase converted to the Bahá'í Faith in 1894 after attending lessons taught by Ibrahim George Kheiralla in Chicago. Although not the first Bahá'í convert chronologically, Thornton Chase was the first the remain a Bahá'í and is therefore often referred to as the first American convert to the Bahá'í Faith.

In 1898, Kheiralla undertook a Bahá'í pilgrimage to Palestine to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá with other American pilgrims, including Phoebe Hearst, Lua Getsinger and May Boles. In Akka, Kheiralla witnessed first hand the conflict between 'Abdu'l-Bahá and his brothers.   Ultimately, in the conflict between 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Mírzá Muhammad 'Alí, Kheiralla sided with the latter for which he was declared a Covenant-breaker. 

Chase was able to go on pilgrimage in 1907, by which time he had emerged as the principal organizer of the Chicago Bahá'í community until moving out of Chicago in 1909.

Thornton Chase died on September 30, 1912 in Los Angeles, of complications following unsuccessful surgery.  'Abdu'l Bahá was on a train en route to California at the time and went to visit Chase's grave on arrival. There he praised Chase's qualities highly, instructed the Bahá'ís to hold a commemoration of Chase annually at his grave, and encouraged Bahá'ís to visit the gravesite.