Horace Holley was a prominent follower of the Bahá'í Faith

Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....

, having been elected to several Spiritual Assemblies

Spiritual Assembly

Spiritual Assembly is a term given by `Abdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Bahá'í Faith. Because the Bahá'í Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community...

, appointed by Shoghi Effendi

Shoghi Effendi

Shoghí Effendí Rabbání , better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957...

 in 1951 to be a Hand of the Cause

Hands of the Cause

The Hands of the Cause of God, Hands of the Cause, or Hands were a select group of Bahá'ís, appointed for life, whose main function was to propagate and protect the Bahá'í Faith...

, and later elected to be one of the nine Custodians

Custodians

The Custodians is terminology in the Bahá'í Faith, which refers to nine Hands of the Cause assigned specifically to work at the Bahá'í World Centre in attendance to the Guardian of the Faith...

 who stewarded the religion from 1957-1963.

Holley was born in Torrington, Connecticut

Torrington, Connecticut

Torrington is the largest city in Litchfield County, Connecticut and the northwestern Connecticut region. It is also the core city of the largest micropolitan area in the United States. The city population was 36,383 according to the 2010 census....

 in 1887. He was introduced to the Bahá'í Faith in 1909, and later served as a member and secretary to the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada, first being elected in 1923. He also became editor of World Unity Magazine. He was elected by his fellow Hands of the Cause to be a Custodian in 1959. This being announced on Christmas Day of 1959 in the New York Times:

"The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais announced today that Horace Holley had resigned as secretary to become chief steward of the faith at international headquarters in Haifa, Israel."

He and his wife Doris moved to Haifa, Israel, where he died July 12, 1960. He is buried at the foot of Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...

 in Haifa.

External links

• • Read-Aloud Plays (1916). A collection of stories involving the Bahá'í Faith
• Biography by R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram