Part 4 5 Houdini To Yogananda Following Neville Goddards Abdullah From Atlantic City To Nyc

04 Oct Part 4.5 – Houdini to Yogananda: Following Neville Goddard’s Abdullah from Atlantic City to NYC

Foundation & Context

Atlantic City (1919–1923)

Which Abdullah? Sorting Evidence from Myth in Neville Goddard Research

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

Neville Goddard’s Abdullah: When ‘Modeste Guillaume’ Became G. Mahmud-Ahmad: The 1923 Pivot

NYC & The Music (1924–1935)

The Abdullah Investigation: The Hidden Teacher of Neville Goddard – Part 4: Abdullah Identified – The Baritone Mystic of Atlantic City and 30 West 72nd Street

The Final Link to 30 West 72nd: This Is Neville Goddard’s Real Teacher, Abdullah

The Music of “The Law”: How Abdullah Encoded Neville Goddard’s Teaching in Nine Lost Songs of 1935

This article is still undergoing minor edits and building reference section.

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.)