William H. Hoar, was a Chicago businessman who was born in Nova Scotia on 22 March 1856. He had been in the audience at the World's Parliament of Religions when the Reverend Henry Jessup's paper, which closed with a reference to Baha'u'llah, was read. The reference intrigued William, who searched for more information until he came across a reference to Ibrahim Kheiralla’s Baha’i class. He became a Baha’i in 1895, possibly the fifth North American to do so. While attending Kheiralla's classes, Hoar met Thornton Chase, whose close friend he became. About the end of 1897 William and Anna Hoar moved to Fanwood, New Jersey, a New York suburb, but he continued to communicate with Thornton Chase and eventually formed a business partnership with him.
Another Chicago believer who, like William Hoar, was among the first to move to New Jersey was Arthur Dodge. Arthur was a New Englander and a jack of all trades: a lawyer, magazine publisher, author and inventor. He was described by Thornton Chase as having a 'sweet soul'. Arthur Dodge and William Hoar became two of the most prominent Baha’is in greater New York and they were the first New York Baha'is to visit 'Abdu'l-Baha in the autumn 1900 when they undertook their pilgrimage,along with their wives, Elizabeth and Anna and in the company of Lua and Edward Getsinger. (Adapted from ‘The Baha’i Faith in America’, by Robert Stockman, vol.1, p. 39, and vol. 2, p. 31)