- 9 October 1880 (doubtful)the-abdullah-investigation-the-hidden-teacher-of-neville-goddard-part-2-obelisks-lodges-ethiopian-mystics.txt — "This man was brought from Egypt by Lieutenant Commander Gorringe. His name is Abdallah."
- 9 October 1880 (probable)'The corner stone of the foundation for the obelisk was laid in Central Park, near the Museum of Fine Arts, yesterday afternoon' — no year appears anywhere in the recovered text
A robed, turbaned man named Abdallah, brought from Egypt by Lieutenant Commander Henry Gorringe, stood motionless atop the foundation stones during the Masonic cornerstone ceremony for Cleopatra's Needle; the article speculates (without proof) that he may prefigure Neville's teacher Abdullah.
Place: Central Park, New York, NY
Person: Abdallah (obelisk ceremony figure)
Ruling: accepted as doubtful, Rudi 2026-07-23
Newspaper clipping (node 4090) confirms the scene in the article's own words: 'a tall, swarthy-featured man habited in a long robe and wearing a turban stood out against the sky on the highest stone of the foundation. Long and studious observation could not detect the slightest movement in his limbs or features. This man was brought from Egypt by Lieutenant Commander Gorringe... His name is Abdallah.'
A second and much fuller contemporary report (article node 4081, media 155) adds the setting: the Grand Lodge gathered at the Masonic Temple in Twenty-third Street and began its march about noon, carriages were drawn up two blocks deep along the east side, and the streets between Fifteenth and Twenty-third were thronged with spectators. The report is datelined only 'yesterday afternoon' and carries no year, so it fixes the day of the week relative to its own issue but not the date.