P00270
Women physicians who wrote to Mary Baker Eddy
Numerous women practicing medicine corresponded with Mary Baker Eddy and inquired about her teachings. Some wrote one letter and may have ordered Science and Health, but we don't know anything else about their interest in Christian Science. Others had a more sustained interest, with a few even taking Christian Science class instruction. All saw an important connection between spirituality and healing.
Articles:
Read a survey of some of the women physicians and healers that
wrote to Eddy. Some were traditionally trained and others informally treated
patients in the community.
Read about one of the first women MDs in America--and her
interest in Mary Baker Eddy's teaching.
Documents:
S. A. Bombeck to Mary Baker Eddy, December 23, 1881 (L08752)Click link to view "S. A. Bombeck to Mary Baker Eddy, December 23, 1881"
Bombeck wrote that she received a copy of Mary Baker Eddy's
book, Science and Health, and found in it what she had
been gravitating towards for the past twenty years. She wrote at length about
some of her life experiences and encounters with various forms of alternative
medicine, including her study of the water-cure system. She asked Eddy her
terms for class instruction in Christian Science.
Alice Bunker Stockham to Mary Baker Eddy, September 12,
1883 (714B.86.033)Click link to view "Alice Bunker Stockham to Mary Baker Eddy, September 12,
1883"
Stockham is credited with being the fifth female M.D. in the
United States. She was also an advocate for gender equality, birth control, and
total abstinence from alcohol. She authored several books on women's health and
wrote to Eddy for information on Christian Science.
Lucretia W. Hart to Mary Baker Eddy, March 31, 1884 (675B.75.030)Click link to view "Lucretia W. Hart to Mary Baker Eddy, March 31, 1884"
Dr. Lucretia W. Hart wrote to Mary Baker Eddy on March 31, 1884,
to inquire how she could learn more about Christian Science. She wrote, "I have
Practiced Medicine 31 years in the State of Wisconsin during which time have
born and raised 9 children..."
Elmina Roys Gavitt to Mary Baker Eddy, 29 June, 1884 (673B.74.056)Click link to view "Elmina Roys Gavitt to Mary Baker Eddy, 29 June, 1884"
Elmina M. Roys Gavitt graduated from the Woman's Medical College
of Pennsylvania in 1867 and was the first known practicing female physician in
Toledo, Ohio. She was the founder and editor of Woman's Medical Journal
(1893-98), which later became the Medical Woman's Journal. In 1884, she wrote
to inquire about the price of Eddy's works.
Helen Densmore to Mary Baker Eddy, 5 August, 1884 (662A.71.054)Click link to view "Helen Densmore to Mary Baker Eddy, 5 August, 1884"
Helen Densmore wrote to Eddy in August 1884, to say that she had
read the first volume of Science and Health after meeting Eddy some weeks prior
and now she wanted to see its author again so she could ask her questions about
it. Densmore was a physician, author, and entrepreneur. She authored several
books on natural food as well as simplicity in living and diet; and the
Stillman Remedies Co., which manufactured herbal remedies.
Eliza F. Stillman to Mary Baker Eddy, 6 August, 1884 (714B.86.027)Click link to view "Eliza F. Stillman to Mary Baker Eddy, 6 August, 1884"
Eliza F. Stillman was a homeopathic and magnetic physician who
practiced in Washington, D.C., and New York, New York. She wrote to Eddy in
1884, seeking an appointment to call and an invitation to study with
Eddy.
Bettie L. Heegard, mentioned in Mary Baker Eddy to Ellen Brown
Linscott, 7 September, 1884 (L08752)Click link to view "Bettie L. Heegard, mentioned in Mary Baker Eddy to Ellen Brown
Linscott, 7 September, 1884"
Bettie L. Heegard graduated from the Chicago Homeopathic Medical
College in 1880 and was granted an Illinois state license to practice in 1881.
She attended the last five days of Mary Baker Eddy's May 1884 Primary class in
Chicago and is mentioned in Eddy's letter to Linscott amongst others that Eddy
hoped would join the Christian Scientists' Association.
Bedell, Leila G., mentioned in a letter from Sarah F. Bickford
to Mary Baker Eddy, 2 October, 1884 (482.55.015)Click link to view "Bedell, Leila G., mentioned in a letter from Sarah F. Bickford
to Mary Baker Eddy, 2 October, 1884"
Leila G. Bedell was a medical doctor who graduated from the
Boston University School of Medicine in 1878 and practiced in Chicago after
graduation. In 1885, she published The Abdominal
Brain, a book discussing the workings of the nervous system. Bickford
wrote to Eddy that Bedell had praised Christian Science and referred several of
her own patients to Bickford.
Margaret A. Pray to Mary Baker Eddy, 9 December, 1884 (703A.83.056)Click link to view "Margaret A. Pray to Mary Baker Eddy, 9 December, 1884"
Margaret A. Pray was a practicing physician in Oswego, New York,
for almost 50 years. Pray came to Christian Science through A. J. Swarts and,
as a result of his recommendations, she ordered Science and
Health from Eddy in 1884, hoping to cure her own "Nervous
depression."
Alice F. Mills, mentioned in a letter from Elizabeth Tregaskis
and Ruth Collings to Mary Baker Eddy, 20 January, 1885 (658B.70.025)Click link to view "Alice F. Mills, mentioned in a letter from Elizabeth Tregaskis
and Ruth Collings to Mary Baker Eddy, 20 January, 1885"
Alice F. Mills was a physician who graduated from the Boston
University School of Medicine in 1880. After graduation, she practiced in
Binghamton, New York, for nearly 30 years before retiring. She must have been
sympathetic to Christian Science because, in 1885, sisters Elizabeth Tregaskis
and Ruth Collings wrote to Eddy to order Science and
Health, asking that it be mailed to Dr Mills.
Martha J. Creighton to Mary Baker Eddy, 2 February, 1885 (660A.70.016)Click link to view "Martha J. Creighton to Mary Baker Eddy, 2 February, 1885 "
Martha J. Creighton was a homeopath who graduated from The
Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital in 1884 and then practiced in Chicago
for nearly 30 years. She wrote to Eddy in 1885 that she was trying to heal
metaphysically but having mixed success so she wished to learn more.
Eliza A. Gillett, mentioned in Frances J. Babcock to Mary Baker
Eddy, 25 February, 1885 (479.54.021)Click link to view "Eliza A. Gillett, mentioned in Frances J. Babcock to Mary Baker
Eddy, 25 February, 1885"
Babcock wrote to Eddy in 1885 that she had converted her
sister-in-law, Amelia E. Walker, to Christian Science, along with Walker's
family physician, "Mrs Dr Gillett". Eliza A. Gillett was a physician who
graduated from Eclectic Medical Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1857.
Afterwards, she practiced in Colorado, California, and Washington.
M. Augusta Fairchild to Mary Baker Eddy, April 18, 1885 (667A.72.013)Click link to view "M. Augusta Fairchild to Mary Baker Eddy, April 18, 1885 "
Augusta Fairchild was a medical doctor who graduated from the
New York Hygeio-Therapeutic College, New York, New York, in 1861. Fairchild was
also an author, writing on the subject of women's health, with her most notable
works being How to be Well (1879) and Woman and Health (1890). She studied Christian Science with Silas
J. Sawyer, a student of Mary Baker Eddy's, and her letters indicate that she
healed others through what she learned.
Laura A. Hutchinson to Mary Baker Eddy, 12 July, 1885 (680B.76.044)Click link to view "Laura A. Hutchinson to Mary Baker Eddy, 12 July, 1885 "
Laura A. Hutchinson maintained a medical practice in Forestdale
and wrote to Mary Baker Eddy in July 1885, asking for information about
studying Christian Science, as she would "like to be able to cure by your way
of curing."
Marilla R. Nutter to Mary Baker Eddy, 19 September, 1885 (564.59.004)Click link to view "Marilla R. Nutter to Mary Baker Eddy, 19 September, 1885 "
Marilla R. Nutter first wrote to Mary Baker Eddy in 1885, that
she had studied with Melissa J. Smith and wanted to now study with Eddy. She
did so, completing Primary class in November 1885 and Normal class in February
1886. But she then went into allopathic medicine, graduating from the College
of Physicians and Surgeons in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1891, and practicing in
Boston, Massachusetts, and Riverdale, Maryland.
Julia A. D. Adams to Mary Baker Eddy, 2 October, 1885 (216.36.042)Click link to view "Julia A. D. Adams to Mary Baker Eddy, 2 October, 1885 "
Julia A. D. Adams was a medical doctor who graduated from the
Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1871. Adams first
wrote to Eddy in October 1885 for literature and information about studying
Christian Science. She proceeded to take classes with Eddy in 1886, completing
her Primary in August and her Normal in October of that year, and was active in
Christian Science in California.
Harriet A. Leonard to Mary Baker Eddy, 3 October, 1885 (688A.78.017)Click link to view "Harriet A. Leonard to Mary Baker Eddy, 3 October, 1885 "
Harriet A. Leonard was a doctor who graduated with a medical
degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Keokuk, Iowa (today known
as the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa). She went on to
practice medicine in Denver and Manitou Springs, Colorado. Leonard wrote to
Eddy in 1885, saying she had read about Eddy in the Boston
Journal and would like to study with her.
M. Augusta De Forrest Brown to Mary Baker Eddy, 17 October,
1885 (342.47.007)Click link to view "M. Augusta De Forrest Brown to Mary Baker Eddy, 17 October,
1885 "
M. Augusta De Forrest Brown graduated from the Women's Medical
College in Chicago in 1883. In this first letter from Brown to Eddy, Brown
introduces herself and talks about her past "mission work" including with
cholera patients, saying that reading Science and
Health brought her "an illumination of Soul" and a desire to know
more. She subsequently took both Primary (1885) and Normal (1886) classes with
Eddy.
Ellen L. Kilburn mentioned in Ellen E. Cross to Mary Baker
Eddy, 29 March, 1886 (194.32.006)Click link to view "Ellen L. Kilburn mentioned in Ellen E. Cross to Mary Baker
Eddy, 29 March, 1886 "
Ellen L. Kilburn worked as an electric physician, using
electricity for the treatment and cure of disease. Cross wrote to Eddy in 1886
that Kilburn had been to see her twice to ask about studying Christian Science.
Clementine C. Bigelow to Mary Baker Eddy, 4 January, 1887 (523.57.004)Click link to view "Clementine C. Bigelow to Mary Baker Eddy, 4 January, 1887 "
Clementine C. Bigelow was listed as a physician with a practice
in Chicago, Illinois, in Polk's Medical Register and Directory
of the United States and Canada (1890). Bigelow initially reached
out to Eddy in 1885 about studying with her, but a Primary class she was
enrolled in was postponed. In this 1887 letter, Bigelow writes to Eddy for
advice on how to proceed and Eddy writes a note for a reply that if Bigelow
takes a Primary class with Sarah H. Crosse, she will be allowed to take Eddy's
Normal class. Bigelow does so in February 1887, later taking Eddy's Primary in
May 1887.