Alfred Farlow (1859-1919) was born in Orange, Illinois, and died in Los Angeles, California. After growing up working on his family's farm, he attended a Lutheran College in Knoxville, Tennessee. Farlow left college to help his family back home in Orange when they fell on hard times, and he worked as a salesman and teacher. The family, consisting of parents William and Perlina Farlow and their eight children, moved to Beatrice, Nebraska, in 1879. At 23 years old, Farlow was offered the nomination for the office of County Superintendent of Schools, which he declined. Along with his brother, William S. Farlow, they started a broom factory and also organized the Farlow Family Band, which gave concerts throughout the Midwest until the late 1880s. In 1885, a neighbor gave Farlow's mother a copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. A reading of the book healed his brother William from tobacco addiction, as well as Farlow himself from a life-threatening ailment. The family became interested in Christian Science and would study the book around the dining room table together during the evening. Soon after, in March 1886, Farlow and three of his siblings (William, Emma L., and Sarah A.) enrolled in Primary class with Janet Colman, a student of Mary Baker Eddy's, who taught in Nebraska. Farlow's parents would also become students of Colman's, later enrolling in her November class. Farlow then became a student of Eddy's himself, completing the Primary class with his brother William in May 1887, the Normal class by himself in October 1887, and the Primary class again with his brother William and sisters Emma and Sarah in February 1889. He became a member of the Christian Scientist Association in 1887 and was also a member of the National Christian Scientist Association. The family moved to Topeka, Kansas, in 1888, and Farlow organized an institute for Christian Science instruction called the Kansas Christian Science Institute where both he and his brother William taught. Along with William and their sister Sarah, Farlow joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 1, 1893. That same year, he was one of twelve chosen by Eddy to address the Christian Science Congress of the World's Parliament of Religions at the Chicago World's Fair. The family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, that year and organized the Mission Church of Christian Science (also known as Third Church of Christ, Scientist) in 1895. The Mission Church was later invited to unite with First Church of Christ, Scientist, Kansas City, and Farlow was elected First Reader. Farlow was appointed to, and served on, the Christian Science Board of Lectureship from October 1898 to June 1899, and on February 28, 1899, he was elected as an Executive Member of The Mother Church. He had kept in frequent contact with Eddy ever since his first Primary class, and in March 1899, Farlow, Septimus J. Hanna, and Irving C. Tomlinson were appointed by the Christian Science Board of Directors and approved by Eddy as the Publication Committee. This structure was soon altered, and in January 1900, Farlow became the sole Manager of the Christian Science Committee on Publication for The Mother Church, helping to correct misstatements about Christian Science and defend it in the press and public. In this position, Farlow served as a liaison with the media and established a network of assistant Committees on Publication in the U.S. and abroad. He wrote numerous articles for daily newspapers and national periodicals addressing public misconceptions of Christian Science. Many of his writings were published, including the pamphlet Christian Science: Historical Facts (1902). Farlow served as President of The Mother Church from 1904 to 1905. When he eventually retired from his work as Committee on Publication in October 1913, the family moved to Los Angeles, where he continued his work as a practitioner and teacher. He was listed in the directory of The Christian Science Journal as a Christian Science practitioner and teacher from 1890 until his death. As an official spokesman, Farlow was one of the most significant and well-known figures of the early Christian Science movement.

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