Image Gallery
Stoughton, Mass.: A Refuge for Writing
The Wentworth home
In late 1868, Mary B. Glover (the future Mary Baker Eddy) arrived at Alanson and Sally Wentworth’s rural home south of Boston. Deserted by her husband, Daniel Patterson, Mary had reverted to the name of her late first husband, George Washington Glover.
For the next year and a half, this house would be a refuge for Mrs. Glover, as she studied the Bible and wrote her early, foundational manuscript on Genesis. The house had been built around 1840, starting with the small wing at the rear. The larger Greek-revival wing was added a few years later.
Sally Wentworth and the healing art
Sally Wentworth was known as a kindly woman who frequently nursed the sick. She invited Mrs. Glover to live here in exchange for instruction in the art of healing through Christian prayer — which Mrs. Glover was later to name “Christian Science.” Sally then took up the healing work on her own, which provided her with a purpose and an income for the rest of her life.
Mrs. Glover’s bedroom
In the seclusion of this second-floor room, Mrs. Glover’s days were spent writing pages of notes on the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures. Here she wrote her earliest works on Christian Science, a teaching manuscript titled The Science of Man, and notes on Genesis from the Bible.
Many changes over the years
When Mrs. Longyear located this house in 1920, its appearance had changed drastically since the Wentworths had occupied it. The owners were unwilling to sell the house to Mrs. Longyear in 1920, but forty years later, in 1960, it was donated to Longyear Museum. It has since been restored to represent the period when Mrs. Glover lived there.
Alanson Wentworth: farmer, shoemaker
Like some of his neighbors, Alanson Wentworth was a farmer and shoemaker. His shoemaking shop still stands beside the driveway — one of the few local examples of a cobbler’s shed (approximately 10 feet [3 meters] square) from that cottage-industry era.
A shoemaker in winter
In summer Alanson farmed. In winter he made heels, soles, uppers, and other parts on a piece-work basis for the shoe factories in nearby Taunton and Brockton.
The furnishings of a 19th-century parlor
The Wentworths’ restored home has been furnished with items typical of the period when Mrs. Glover lived there. Her stay at the Wentworths’ was a year-and-a-half respite from the years of moving from one home to another in Lynn and Amesbury. She devoted her time here to research and writing.
Gathering around the dining room table
In the evenings Mrs. Glover happily joined in the Wentworth family life — dinner-table conversations, singing, reading, and playing games with the children.
The children were close at hand
The Wentworths’ son Charles probably slept in the half-room outside Mrs. Glover’s door. His sisters shared a room next to him. At the end of her workday Mrs. Glover often invited the children into her room, where they played games and read stories together.
The girls’ room
The two Wentworth girls, Celia and Lucy, slept in this cozy room under the eaves. Both girls admired their guest. Lucy, in particular, recalled Mrs. Glover (later Mrs. Eddy) fondly for the rest of her life.
