Ibrahim Kheiralla was a Syrian Christian who declared his Baha'i allegiance in 1890, and quickly convinced his friend and business partner, Anton Haddad, to declare as well. In search of ways to promote their inventions and business, the two left Cairo, Egypt, in 1892. Haddad went directly to the United States, arriving in the summer of 1892 as the first Baha'i in the New World; Kheiralla joined him in December of the same year. Following unsuccessful business endeavours, they moved on, eventually arriving in Chicago, the "Windy City." (Contrary to popular opinion, the "Windy City" derives its name from its boasts of industrial and commercial accomplishments, Will C. van den Hoonaard, p. 25) Chicago exercised a magnetic attraction for other reformers. In the 1880s it was the fastest growing city in America (D. Smith, 1981:88). In the 1830s there were 100 people living in the middle of a "stinking wild onion swamp," but by 1880 half a million could already be found in the city, growing by some 50,000 every year. The high percentage of those with foreign parentage (80%) illustrates the far-reaching magnetism of the city.
Soon after their arrival, Kheiralla provided study classes, leading interested seekers to accept the Baha'i religion. In February 1894, the first five Westerners converted. (The first five Baha'is are William James, Marion Miller, Edward Dennis, Thornton Chase, and Kate C. Ives, Robert Stockman, Baha’i Faith in America, vol. 1, pp. 35-36). By May 1896 there were sixteen Baha'is in Chicago. Of middle-class background, these early converts were primarily white-collar workers; no factory workers could be found among them. They were of liberal religious backgrounds, namely, Christian Scientists, Spiritualists, and Theosophists … (Will C. van den Hoonaard, ‘The Origins of the Baha'i Community of Canada, 1898-1948’, pp. 16-17)