Thornton Chase

Thornton Chase (February 22, 1847 – September 30, 1912) was a U.S. businessman and writer; he was commonly recognized as the first convert to the Bahá'í Faith of Occidental background. During his life he organized many Bahá'í activities in Chicago and Los Angeles and was considered a prominent Bahá'í.

He was born James Brown Thornton Chase on 22 February 1847 in Springfield, Massachusetts to parents of English stock and Baptist religion. His father was a singer, amateur scientist, and wealthy businessman. Chase's father was a descendant of Aquila Chase who migrated from Chesham in 1630 and of many other colonial families (such as Thomas Dudley). Chase's mother, who was of similar pedigree, died eighteen days after he was born, an event that profoundly shaped Chase's subsequent development. Chase's father remarried three years later and the couple adopted three girls. Apparently three-year-old Thornton was not wanted; the United States 1850 census shows that he was living with a foster family in West Springfield. Chase himself describes his childhood as "loveless and lonely," and the inner vacuum he felt apparently set him on a quest for love, which culminated in his mystical interests.

For four years, aged thirteen to sixteen, Chase lived in Newton, Mass., with the Rev. Samuel Francis Smith, a prominent Baptist clergyman. In July 1863 Chase was accepted to Brown University, but instead of matriculating, in early 1864, just before his seventeenth birthday, Chase went to Philadelphia to attend a school for officers for black infantry units. By May, 1864 Chase was second in charge of one hundred men, Company K of the Twenty sixth United States Colored Troops. On July 5 and 7 the unit fought two battles south of Charleston, S.C.; Chase was wounded by an exploding cannon, permanently injuring the hearing in his left ear. In 1865 he was promoted to captain and commanded Company D of the 104th U. S. C. T.

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