Melville C. Spaulding (1836-1920) was born in Massachusetts and died in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1860 with a degree in business and worked in real estate. He was a Civil War veteran, serving as a private in Company A, 44th Regiment Iowa Infantry of the Union Army. He married Elvira W. Spaulding in 1866. Spaulding took Christian Science class instruction with Bradford Sherman, and in 1885, Sherman proposed Spaulding and his wife for the Chicago branch of the Christian Scientist Association. There were plans for the Spauldings to attend Mary Baker Eddy's October 1886 Normal class, however records indicate that only Elvira did so. Spaulding joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, in July 1893. In 1896, Spaulding was elected president and served as First Reader of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Columbus, Ohio. He was a practitioner listed in the directory of The Christian Science Journal from 1903 until 1918.

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