Mary A. "Addie" Spofford (1845-1920), who later became Mary A. Solberg, was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, and died in Washington, D.C. She was an early student of Mary Baker Eddy's, studying with her in Lynn in 1870. She was the first wife of Daniel H. Spofford (1842-1924), who was also an early student of Eddy's. After studying with Eddy, she moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where she set up a healing practice, advertising as a "Scientific Physician." Correspondence with Eddy and testimonies of healing published in the Knoxville Daily Chronicle suggest that she ran a successful practice. Mary A. Spofford's interest in Eddy's teachings seems to have waned not long after this, and by July 1875, she was also no longer living with her husband. In 1876, Daniel H. Spofford sued his wife unsuccessfully for divorce. In 1880, Mary A. Spofford received a divorce from her husband on the grounds of abandonment. On August 1, 1880, she married Thorvald Solberg, who was the first Register of Copyrights (1897-1930) in the United States Copyright Office. Records suggest that she continued to heal and teach in Washington, D.C., and she later became affiliated with the General Church of the New Jerusalem.

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