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In Part 4 of The Abdullah Investigation: The Hidden Teacher of Neville Goddard – Part 4: Abdullah Identified – The Baritone Mystic of Atlantic City and 30 West 72nd Street we traced Abdullah from Atlantic City to 30 West 72nd Street in New York City. We thought his Atlantic City chapter closed in 1923. With the evidence we had at the time, it looked that way, we hadn’t considered more name changes. But a bunch of fresh clippings, address records and a “stress marker” extend his Atlantic City life through 1927. Now. there is a lot more detail on how and why he gets to Manhattan.

So, we’ll slow down a bit and show you exactly what changed, what we found, and what it does to the Abdulla/Abdoullah/Abda’llah story.

Ab left a long paper trail of classified ads, phone numbers and addresses. He also left a bunch of aliases that read like a spy novel. We’ve chased down most of them clipping by clipping and the puzzle pieces start to come together.

Let’s now, take a look at the move from the Bel Canto studios of Atlantic City to the Spiritualist groups of West 72nd Street. We’ll unpack the Houdini scandal from 1926-1929 that scorched his early church in Atlantic City, look at the “ancient sage” persona that might have inflated his age by a couple decades, and why Neville’s memories are correct on the geography and bit fuzzy on the little details.

It’s a wild ride. So let’s get into what we found.

Early Traces (1905–1919)

If you remember from the previous part of this series, the search started in Atlantic City because of Neville Goddard’s quote in the lecture, “I AM in You” (1968)

“My friend Abdullah once said to me that this elderly lady…he was an old, old gentleman and he was in Atlantic City…and someone told her that he could do something to a man in her neighborhood and destroy him. So she came and offered Ab $300. Ab said, “My dear, whoever advised you this way is silly. God is love, just love.”

In Atlantic City, at 1708 Arctic Avenue we found an Abdullah in City directories from 1905 onward. In those directories and newspaper clippings were ads for a Bel Canto Conservatory of Music, run by a baritone with many versions of his name: M. Abdallah Guillaume, Dr. Modeste Abda’llah Guillaume, G. Modeste Abdullah. Concert notices from 1911 and 1914 give us two photos. We also found an ad of a sharply-dressed man with a full beard, opera-ready posture, and the deep gaze that could command a room.

The only civil records close to that name spelling are is in the 1920 U.S. Census at 1708 Arctic Ave., Apartment 89:

• Name: G. M. Abdallah (head of household)
• Age: 49 (implying birth around 1870–1871)
• Birthplace: Algiers (speaks English; parents also from Algiers)
• Arrival: 1898 (claims naturalized in 1902—unverified)
• Occupation: Music teacher (own account)
• Household: Wife Cora Contee Guillaume (born ~1885, Washington, D.C.)

This was our baseline of an Algiers-born immigrant pushing 50 and still teaching music. Math forward, he’d be about 61 when Neville starts studying with him (1930–1931) and around 86 in 1954 when Neville reported seeing him last.

(See: Are we supposed to believe a 113-year-old man was hopping on a plane to Ethiopia in 1957?). On Censuses ages drift a few years; naturalization dates are self-reported but this one pretty much aligns with his stamina: running studios, lecturing weekly and pivoting careers.

Phones, Addresses, and the Shift to Mystic

In Part 4 we examined the ads from the Bel Canto music teacher up until the shift to mystic up until 1923, which was where we thought he moved to New York.

Ads from 1921–1922: at 1708 Arctic carry Phone 1009-M “readings,” “seances for the elite,” aliases like A. H. Le-Amshi, Abd’allah Halladba Leamshi, Halladba/Halladra, G. N. Abdallah. Sunday services float to Eastern Star Hall (3 S. South Carolina Ave.) under the Church of the Religion of Love and of Spiritualistic Phenomena which was his first formal spiritual buisness incorporated February 4, 1920.

Late 1923: The phone flips to Marine 5110, still at 1708 Arctic. His branding flips around metaphysical themes such as “Messianic Psycho-Metaphysical Doctrine,” “School of Light and Metaphysics,” “Psychologist and Metaphysician.” By December 1924, he’s at 1331 Pacific Avenue with the Marine 5110 phone number that follows him, proving it’s the same operator. Now he’s “Dr. G. Mahmud A. Abdoullah,” hosting “Rosicrucian Theosophy” and “Spiritual meetings” as an “Egyptian high priest.”

Why move? In 1925, 1706–1708 Arctic is redeveloped into the Sunnyside Apartment Hotel (for “colored tenants only”). This forced relocation but the phone follows him.

Stress hits in April 1927: a storage auction at 1808–1812 Baltic Avenue sells “G. M. Abdallah’s household goods, boxes, trunks” for non-payment.

Atlantic City is winding down.

Phones & Addresses (the continuity proof)

Phone evolution

Address move & context

The Houdini Scandal: The “Allicia Bunck” Certificate and the Birth of a new Signature Style (1926–1929)

Here is a thrilling part, Harry Houdini’s crusade against fraudulent mediums peaks with the Washington hearings in May 1926. [1] His investigator, Rose Mackenberg, goes undercover, collecting bogus ordinations. In 1929, her syndicated exposés splash nationwide and the first installment features a full reproduction of a certificate from Abdullah’s Atlantic City church:

Church of the Religion of Love and of Spiritualistic Phenomena (Mother Church, incorporated Feb. 4, 1920)

Ordaining “Rev. Allicia Bunck of Philadelphia” (Mackenberg’s pun: “all is bunk”)

Signed: “G. Mahmud Ahmad Abdoullah, Prophet-Priest”

But look closer: the certificate is one of our earliest print of the “Mahmud Ahmad” layering that will define his New York phase.

One certificate, four traditions

The visuals seal his syncretic genius: Eye of Providence (occult), Star of David (Jewish), Hebrew words (Judaic motifs), New Testament quotes (Christian, like John 14:12 on “greater works”), Spiritualist phrasing (“phenomena, healing, revealing”) all under a Muslim-coded name. One certificate, four traditions.

The Church of the Religion of Love and of Spiritualistic Phenomena

Founded at: Atlantic City, New Jersey

Dates on diploma: January 25th, 1913 (founding date shown in header line) and Incorporated February 4th, 1920 (right side).

Certificate text: “Certifies that Rev. Alicia Bunch of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania [hand-filled] being duly ordained as a minister of Truth, Love and Light by our Divine Prophet-Priest G. Mahmud Ahmad Abdullah, is authorized to hold Divine Spiritualistic meetings under the above name, being subject to the Constitution and By-Laws of said Religious Society, as a member of the Mother Church at Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Ministry consists of voicing, healing, helping, revealing, teaching, creating, and making Peace by the Power, the Truth, the Love and the Light of the Spirit of God and of the Angel…” (the last phrase trails in the print; this is the sense)

Signature: “G. M. A. Abdullah” (lower right).

Seal: round embossed/printed seal at lower left (illegible text).

All-seeing eye between the words “and” / “of.”

Magen David (Star of David) at center; inside the star are the Hebrew letters יה (Yah, a divine name).

Hebrew around the star

Right of the star:ישוע (Yeshua, “Jesus”).

Left of the star:השם (HaShem, “The Name,” a reverent stand-in for the Tetragrammaton).

Together with יה in the star, this blends Jewish and Christian nomenclature “occult-syncretic” like the church’s title.

Hebrew motto line (above the scripture refs)

This line is a chain of short nouns/virtues (read right-left). In this scan, the clearest words are:

אמת (Emet – Truth)

צדק (Tzedek – Righteousness/Justice)

שלום (Shalom – Peace)
The rest of the string is faint; it likely continues with additional epithets/phrases.

Scripture references printed along the bottom

The references are much clearer than the tiny body text and line up with healing/mission themes used by spiritualist-healing churches:

Matt. 10:8 (heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils…) may list a range in Matthew 10.

Luke 10:19–20 (authority over serpents/spirits; names written in heaven).

Mark 16:15–18 (“Go into all the world… these signs shall follow them that believe… they shall lay hands on the sick…”)

John 14:12 (“He that believeth on me… greater works than these shall he do.”)

Transition Beginnings: May 1927 – Waldorf Astoria – New York City

Arrival on West 72nd Street: Two Addresses, One Ecosystem (1927–1935)

Ab’s New York debut didn’t start at a single door. West 72nd is a city block alive with a surprisingly large amount of esoteric traffic. Abdullah appears here post-auction blending into a scene of singers, Spiritualists, and Anthroposophists.

In 1928 are the ads for 100 West 72nd Street (the Papae Building): Remodeled in 1925, it had street-level stores, and offices/meeting rooms above and was routinely leased to clubs and unions. Abdullah books the “Addison Room” for Sunday lectures in January–April 1928:

• “Who I Am Truly Is and How We Should Unveil Her” (Jan 15, 3 PM, billed as “The Egyptian Mystic”)
• “What Is Truth?” (Jan 29, 3 PM)
• “The Unity” (Feb 12, 2 PM)
• “The Ancient Way Restored” (Apr 8, 2 PM)
• “Detaching Mind from Self” (Apr 22, 2 PM)

This is a neutral, rentable hall for open metaphysical talks, the kind where David could drag a skeptical Neville in late.

A few doors east: 30 West 72nd Street, the former Morgenthau townhouse. Bought in 1923 by baritone Henri W. Zay (a Lamperti-line singer and Anthroposophist), which became a singers-esoteric campus: voice studios, “Hall No. 1” auditorium, eurythmy classes. Zay dies in 1927; his widow, strained financially, advertises rooms for rent by 1931. The house opens to short-term tenants and Spiritualists flood in:

• First Spiritualist Church programs (recurring from 1929)
• Robert Hector, billet-reader and message services from Room 2 (1929–1930)
• Arthur Ford, trance medium, hosting from the address (1929–1943)
• Frank Decker, evidential medium, later billed from 30 W. 72nd (1940s)

This is Houdini’s target scene: mediums, circles, séances in rented rooms. Abdullah overlaps the audience his Atlantic City church was Spiritualist-adjacent but keeps his syncretic lane: metaphysics, theosophy, “ancient wisdom.”

The Islam Angle and the Turban

Source of Reality Magazine excerpt

Late 1928 adds a twist: an interfaith panel at St. Bartholomew Community House bills “G. Ahmad Abdoullah for Islam.” The name (from his 1920 certificate) fits the “Islam” angle.

Let’s not get fooled because we are talking about the same person, same name (one of Ab’s aliases) on a the Houdini spy’s certificate above from 1913/1920 Atlantic City shown above.

Neville’s Geography: Basement on 75th, Ab on 72nd

Neville recalls in “Abdullah Q&A“

“I didn’t have a job, I had no money, and I was living in a basement on 75th Street and he (Abdullah) lived on 72nd Street, in a very lovely home that was owned by Morgenthau, whose son (Henry Morgenthau Jr) was then the treasury (sic) of our country, a cabinet member (US Secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt), but his father owned this house, but he didn’t live there, and he rented the first floor to my friend Abdullah.”

Neville (Five Lessons, 1948):

“You know what he did. He was as black as the ace of spades, my old friend Abdullah, with his turbaned head. As I sat in his living room he rose from his chair and went towards his study and slammed the door, which was not an invitation to follow him. As he went through the door he said to me, “I have said all that I have to say.”

Neville’s address: 154 West 75th Street (basement).

From there to West 72nd is a quick walk and only minutes to the Papae Building’s Addison Room at No. 100 or the Zay/Spiritualist groups at No. 30. Neville is on the right block; the Morgenthau slip is memory drift (Sr. built it; Zay bought it in 1923; widow rented after 1927).

But he’s right about the mileu: a singers-esoteric campus, where Anthroposophy’s early New York core (tiny, musician-heavy groups like Zay’s Emerson and St. Mark’s) bridged voice training, spiritual science, and esoteric practice which echo Abdullah’s baritone roots.

As an aside see also: Rosicrucian Fellowship’s New York headquarters was located at 210 W. 72nd Street too in our article (1931) New Evidence: Neville Goddard Was Teaching in Rosicrucian Circles Before Abdullah

The 1935 “Past 90” Note

A Catskills blurb in New Jersey press: “G. Ahmad Abdoullah… the Arabian philosopher, composer and poet… past 90 years of age… teaches singing and conducts classes in philosophy at his home in New York City,” accompanied by secretary Miss Zaida Roberts.

Finally the name of the secretary from Neville’s quote Q&A section: (3/10/1964)

“Abdullah? Lived to be over a hundred and had one consuming desire, to put the body back where he picked it up which was in Ethiopia. The last time I met Abdullah was about eight years ago in New York City.

About seven years ago I met his secretary and she voiced that request of his, and said he was planning to return to Ethiopia. I haven’t seen or heard from Abdullah or the secretary since.”

It’s Abdoullah: name variant, NYC base, singing-philosophy blend, named aide.

Again read: Are we supposed to believe a 113-year-old man was hopping on a plane to Ethiopia in 1957?)

Recap

This short detour through Abdullah’s extended Atlantic City chapter, along with these multiple aliases (sometimes on the same certificate) gives us clearer map.

The new clippings and addressees show a man who reinvented himself under pressure. Houdini spys where nipping at his heels. The building his church was in was razed and reborn. The famous baritone in sleek suit slowly costuming himself as an “Egyptian high priest” and later a turbanned Islamic representative.

The Houdini/Mackenberg exposure, with that wicked “Allicia (all is bunk)” certificate, doesn’t seem to phase him.

That certificate reveals one very interesting core method: a fearless, syncretic collage of an occult eye, Hebrew letters, New Testament lines signed in a Muslim-coded name. One paper with four traditions.

He gets to NYC after speaking at the Waldorf-Astoria for a Woman’s Press Club in May 1927 and even ends up speaking on an interfaith panel at St. Bartholomew’s Community House in December 1928 alongside Paramahansa Yogananda.

On West 72nd Street this infamous block….singers, Spiritualists, and Anthroposophists crisscrossed daily. The Addison Room at 100 West for Sunday talks, 30 West for circles and séances. Neville’s memory is imperfect on the landlord but this is right on about the place and the traffic of seekers. And then that 1935 society Catskills blurb, that “past 90” with the secretary (finally) Zaida Roberts in tow. That’s the moment we believe this “ancient-sage” persona hardens into print. Was it deliberate theater? Either way, it shaped the lesson a hungry dancer Neville Goddard on 75th Street absorbed from a turbaned teacher on 72nd.

We’re closer now to the baritone-mystic who tuned Neville’s imagination, but a few strings still ring unresolved. How much did the Atlantic City scandal fuel the New York reinvention? Did the often-whispered Ethiopia epilogue ever happen? In Parts 5 and 6, we’ll chase the paper and the final addresses. The picture is clearer, the story though, just get’s wilder and wilder.

Timeline

• c. 1905–1919: 1708 Arctic Ave., A.C.-Bel Canto studio; vocal ads as Modeste/Abdallah Guillaume.
• 1911–1914: Touring concerts; baritone photos.
• 1920: Census at 1708 Arctic, Apt. 89- G. M. Abdallah, 49, Algiers; music teacher; wife Cora.
• 1920: Church incorporated (Religion of Love & Spiritualistic Phenomena); weeknight lectures at 1708, Sundays at Eastern Star Hall.
• 1921–1922: Phone 1009-M; aliases Le-Amshi/Halladra/G. N. Abdallah.
• 1923: Phone to Marine 5110; School of Light & Metaphysics.
• 1924–1925: 1331 Pacific Ave.; Marine 5110; Messianic/Rosicrucian/Egyptian branding.
• 1925: 1706–1708 Arctic turns into Sunnyside Hotel.
• 1926–1929: Houdini hearings; Mackenberg’s 1929 expose prints “Allicia Bunck” certificate signed G. Mahmud Ahmad Abdoullah.
• 1927: April Storage auction sells G. M. Abdallah goods.
• 1927: May 21, 1927: Waldorf-Astoria talk as G. Madrud Ahmad Abdoullah.
• 1928: January-April 100 W. 72nd, Addison Room—Sunday lectures.
• 1928: December 15, 1928 Interfaith panel -“G. Ahmad Abdoullah for Islam.”
• 1929–1943: 30 W. 72nd Spiritualist tenants (Hector, Ford, Decker, First Spiritualist Church).
• 1931: Zay widow advertises rooms at 30 W. 72nd.
• 1935: Catskills note  – “G. Ahmad Abdoullah… past 90”; secretary Zaida Roberts.
• 1966: Tax sale – G. M. Abda’llah a.k.a. Guillaume tied to 1709 Disston.

Abdullah’s aliases & spellings we’ve seen in the papers:

A. H. Le-Amshi / Leamshi
Abd’allah Halladba Leamshi
Halladba / Halladra
Abd’allah Hallabaleamshi
Abd’llah / Abda’llah
Abdallah / Abdoullah
G. N. Abdallah
Dr. G. M. Abdoullah (also G. M. Abdaullah)
G. Mahmud A. Abdoullah
G. Mahmud Ahmad Abdullah (normalized)
G. Madrud Ahmad Abdoullah
G. Ahmad Abdoullah
Idsigma A. Gsolamanusabda (ceremonial/garbled string)
G. M. Abda’llah ibn Ghaleym (Ghalym) ibn Allah
M. Abdallah Guillaume / Dr. Modeste Abda’llah Guillaume / Abda’llah Guillaume
Abda’llah Ben

Appendix 1

“Science of Applied Mind Control and Wealth of Abdoullahistic Metaphysiology” (1923)

Abdalla/Abdullah/Abdoullah was writing about wealth and applied mind control in 1923-1924 with copyrights.

We finally found him in print in 1923–24 with four clean copyright clippings/ Three of the titles read like a starter kit for Neville’s Bible interpretations and “The Law” and many Hebrew letters surround this find. One title is quite obscure.

We are thinking it is possibly:

TROI = “The Rites Of Initiation”
OOTMSSOML = “Order Of The Master Students, School Of Mind-Light.”

Here are the entries in the U.S. Copyright directory:

Abdoullah (G. Mahmud-Ahmad) Book of peace; or, Bible of the master student. chap 1. Atlantic City, N.J., Order of the master students, 1923. [4] p. illus. 8vo. © Oct. 5, 1923; 2 c. and aff. Oct. 6; A 757954; G. Modeste Abdoullah, Atlantic City. 41858

Abdoullah (G. Mahmud-Ahmad) T R O I Ootmssoml. cover-title, [8] p. 8vo. © Feb. 28, 1924; 2 c. and aff. Mar. 3; A 779489; G. M. Abdoullah, Atlantic City. 18

Abdoullah (G. M.) — Abdoullah (G. Mahmud-Ahmad) T R O I Ootmssoml. 18

Abdo-ullah (G. Mahmud-Ahmad)
phrases הברית החדשה (ha-brit ha-ḥadashah = “the New Covenant”) and ברית שלום (brit shalom = “covenant of peace”). Those headings mirror the English titles
New covenant of peace. chap. 1. [4] p. illus. 8vo. © Nov. 28, 1923; 2 c. Nov. 28; aff. Dec. 20; A 763913.
Science of applied mind control and wealth of Abdoullahistic metaphysiology. [4] p. 8vo. © Nov. 27, 1923; 2 c. Nov. 28; aff. Nov. 30; A 763912.
© G. Modeste Abdoullah, Atlantic City. 47674, 47675

Read more: Neville Goddard Research: Abdullah published “Science of Applied Mind Control and Wealth of Abdoullahistic Metaphysiology” (1923)

References

Library of Congress, Copyright Office, Catalogue of Copyright Entries. Part 1, Group 2: Pamphlets, Leaflets, Contributions to Newspapers or Periodicals, etc.; Lectures, Sermons, Addresses for Oral Delivery; Dramatic Compositions; Maps; Motion Pictures, New Series, vol. 20, no. 11 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1923).

Library of Congress, Copyright Office, Catalogue of Copyright Entries. Part 1, Group 2: Pamphlets, Leaflets, Contributions to Newspapers or Periodicals, etc.; Lectures, Sermons, Addresses for Oral Delivery; Dramatic Compositions; Maps; Motion Pictures, New Series, vol. 20, no. 11 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1924).

References

U.S. Congress, House, Committee on the District of Columbia. Fortune Telling—Hearings Before the Committee on the District of Columbia on H.R. 8989, February 26; May 18, 20–21, 1926.
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1926. PDF, 226 pp. (accessed October 4, 2025).

Library of Congress. “Harry Houdini Goes to Washington.”Headlines & Heroes (blog), August 28, 2018. (accessed October 4, 2025).

“Guest Blog: Mr. Houdini Goes to Washington (Part I).”Wild About Houdini, February 26, 2015. (accessed October 4, 2025).

Society for Psychical Research.“‘Fortune Telling’ and Handcuff Secrets.” SPR (article), n.d. (accessed October 4, 2025).

“Rose Mackenberg.”Wikipedia, last modified September 2025. (accessed October 4, 2025).

Kreuger, Lyz.“The Ghost-Busting ‘Girl Detective’ Who Awed Houdini.”Atlas Obscura, October 31, 2016. (accessed October 4, 2025).

“Category: Rose Mackenberg.”Spookology (site collection), n.d. (accessed October 4, 2025).

“The Park & Tilford Bldg – 100 West 72nd Street.”Daytonian in Manhattan (blog), June 26, 2017. (accessed October 4, 2025).

“The Henry Morgenthau House – 30 West 72nd Street.”Daytonian in Manhattan (blog), February 2, 2021. (accessed October 4, 2025).

Corcoran. “100 West 72nd Street (The Park & Tilford).”Corcoran (building overview), n.d. (accessed October 4, 2025).

“Abdullah Identified: The Baritone Mystic of Atlantic City and 30 West 72nd Street (Part 4).” Cool Wisdom Books, 2024. (accessed October 4, 2025).