Mary "May" Maxwell (née Bolles; born 14 January 1870 in Englewood,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

; died 1 March 1940 in

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Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

) was an early American member of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

Early life

Mary Ellis Bolles was born to John Bolles and Mary Martin Bolles, in Englewood,

. She was nicknamed 'May' to distinguish her from her mother. May was of English ancestry. The Bolles family were distinguished in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, owning a successful bank in the city. When she was fourteen May was sent to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to live with her English cousins. For one year May lived in Kensington. May became very spiritually minded; she was given a gift of a

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

in 1885, which she studied and read daily. As May approached her late teens, her family saw it was the time for her to be married.

Phoebe Hearst Phoebe Elizabeth Apperson Hearst (December 3, 1842 – April 13, 1919) was an American philanthropist, feminist and suffragist. Hearst was the founder of the University of California Museum of Anthropology, now called the Phoebe A. Hearst Mu ...

, who was a close friend of her mother, funded May's extravagant debutante ball. She was 'brought out' in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. May was considered a great beauty with a petite figure, blue eyes and long fair hair attracting several suitors who courted her. The rejection of several marriage proposals frustrated her family. She was bought out again into Newport society in the hopes of finding a husband. May fell in love during this period and became engaged, but it was broken off. May plunged into depression, and it was around this time that her health seriously deteriorated. In late 1894, May moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

with her mother and brother; who was attending the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

. May's mother still hoped for her to marry, but May resented the Parisian high society. She went through periods of deep depression and

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

and even considered entering a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

. In 1897 May lost both her grandmother and cousin whom she was very close to. At 27 May became obsessed with mortality and became bedridden leading to many of her family members believing she was going to die.

Pilgrimage to Acre

In November 1898, Phoebe Hearst, accompanied by her nieces and other Baháʼís like

Lua Getsinger Louise Aurora Getsinger (1 November 1871, Hume, New York – 2 May 1916, Cairo, Egypt), 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 Thornt ...

, stopped off at Paris before concluding their journey to the East. Hearst was shocked to see 28-year-old May bedridden with the chronic malady which had inflicted her. She invited May to sojourn to the East with her believing the change of air to be conducive to her health. Getsinger also disclosed to May the purpose of the journey; a pilgrimage to visit the head of the Baháʼí religion

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: ‎, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás ( fa, عباس), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh and served as head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was later canonized as the ...

.Nakhjavani, p.70 May arrived in Acre in February 1899. She wrote of the first time she met ʻAbdu'l-Bahá as "of that first meeting I can remember neither joy nor pain nor anything that I can name".

As a Baháʼí

May returned to Paris and began teaching her new faith and played a significant role in introducing the religion to several people while in Paris. She helped convert several new believers, including

Charles Mason Remey Charles Mason Remey (15 May 1874 – 4 February 1974) was a prominent member of the early American Baháʼí community, and served in several important administrative capacities. He is well-known for an attempted schism of 1960, in which he cla ...

, Hippolyte Dreyfus, Laura Barney (Dreyfus), Englishman

Thomas Breakwell Thomas Breakwell (1872–1902) was the first Englishman to enter the Baháʼí Faith and the first to make the pilgrimage to Acre, Israel ( ʻAkká). He was also the first western Baháʼí to give the Huqúqu'lláh "Right of God", a voluntary c ...

and

Juliet Thompson Juliet Thompson (1873–1956) was an American painter, and disciple of Baháʼí Faith leader ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. She is perhaps best remembered for her book ''The Diary of Juliet Thompson'' though she also painted a life-sized portrait of ʻAbdu'l-Ba ...

. On her return five of the younger female pilgrims had a photograph commissioned and sent to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. On receiving the photograph he wrote a tablet addressed to the five, whom he named the "Five Holy Leaves". She met a close friend of her brother's,

William Sutherland Maxwell William Sutherland Maxwell (November 14, 1874 – March 25, 1952) was a well-known Canadian architect and a Hand of the Cause in the Baháʼí Faith. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to parents Edward John Maxwell and Johan MacBean. Lif ...

, a Canadian of Scottish background, and the two married in 1902 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. William had been introduced to the religion before their marriage but he did not become a Baháʼí until 1909, after meeting ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. The couple had one child, a daughter named

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

. The couple moved to Montreal, and May set up a Baháʼí center in her home. Prior to 1912, she supported a Children's Court for Montreal, and her efforts were chief in maintaining the Colborne Street Milk Station. In about 1914, she brought a Montessori teacher from New York to their home in Montreal to start the first school of this type in Canada. In Montreal May continued to convert people such as Arthur Armstrong, Rose Henderson and her husband's cousin Martha MacBean. In 1912

visited Canada and stayed with the Maxwells. She was an early participant at

Green Acre Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

, the first Baháʼí training facility in the United States. In 1927 she was a member of the US and Canada

National Spiritual Assembly Spiritual Assembly is a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith. Because the Baháʼí Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community. In addition to existing at the local level ...

. In 1937, her life changed dramatically after her daughter,

, was married to

Shoghi Effendi Shoghí Effendi (; 1 March 1897 – 4 November 1957) was the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, appointed to the role of Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957. He created a series of teaching plans that over ...

, then head of the Baháʼí Faith.

Death

Despite poor health, on January 24, 1940 May chose to leave New York on a steamship to Brazil, ultimately to land in Argentina to teach the Faith with her niece, Jeanne Bolles. She arrived in Buenos Aires on February 27 with elation; however on March 1, May died of a heart attack.

gave her the status of martyr and cabled the following: "ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's beloved handmaid, distinguished disciple May Maxwell (is) gathered (into the) glory (of the) Abhá Kingdom. Her earthly life, so rich, eventful, incomparably blessed, (is) worthily ended. To sacred tie her signal services had forged, (the) priceless honor (of a) martyr's death (is) now added. (A) double crown deservedly won. (The) Seven-Year Plan, particularly (the) South American campaign, derive fresh impetus (from the) example (of) her glorious sacrifice. Southern outpost (of) Faith greatly enriched through association (with) her historic resting-place destined remain (a) poignant reminder (of the) resistless march (of the) triumphant army (of) Baháʼu'lláh. Advise believers (of) both Americas (to) hold befitting memorial gathering.".

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, May American Bahá'ís 1870 births 1940 deaths Converts to the Bahá'í Faith 19th-century Bahá'ís 20th-century Bahá'ís