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Imparting a Fresh Impulse: Mary Baker Eddy's Class of 1898
Longyear special exhibit: Mary Baker Eddy’s last class
In May 2006 a new exhibit titled 
A commitment to teaching
Mary Baker Eddy began teaching Christian Science with a single student soon after her discovery of Christian Science. She established the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in 1881. Eight years later she moved to Concord, New Hampshire, and closed the college. This step surprised some, but it allowed her to complete a major revision of her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures for publication in 1891. Equally surprising was her instruction in 1897 to suspend all Christian Science teaching for one year, in order that her newly published Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 might prepare readers to better understand Science and Health. In a notice in The Christian Science Journal, she wrote: “The Bible, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and my other published works, are the only proper instructors for this hour.”
Signed copy of Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, by Mary Baker Eddy Gift to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Kimball from Mary Baker Eddy, 1897 Longyear Museum collection.
A confidential call to seventy students
In late September 1898, Mrs. Eddy founded the Board of Education to prepare new teachers of Christian Science. She also decided to teach again. In November letters and telegrams went out to seventy selected participants, requesting simply that they be present at Christian Science Hall in Concord, New Hampshire, on Sunday afternoon, November 20, to receive “a great blessing.” No further information was given. The invitations were strictly confidential. Of the seventy, all but two or three were able to come.
Mary Baker Eddy to Dr. Alfred E. Baker, November 15, 1898 Original letter, Longyear Museum collection.
Where they came from
There was an almost equal number of men and women, from diverse regions of the United States, as well as Canada, Scotland, and England, and from various walks of life, including clergymen, physicians, teachers, judges, and businessmen. Two members of the press also were invited to observe.
What kind of students
The students Mrs. Eddy called to Christian Science Hall represented varying levels of experience in their practice of Christian Science. Some were more experienced than others in the practice of Christian Science. Some were quite young. Some had had class instruction from Mrs. Eddy herself, who then had given them countless hours, guiding their progress and practice. Some had worked closely with her on church business. Still others were known to Mrs. Eddy only by their inspired and steadfast work in the rapidly growing Christian Science movement.
Photograph, Christian Science Hall, Concord, N.H. (exterior), c. 1898. Longyear Museum collection.
Christian Science Hall, Concord, New Hampshire
Mrs. Eddy had purchased a property in the city and had remodeled it to accommodate meetings of local Christian Scientists. They had held their first services in the new hall December 5, 1897. On Sunday morning, November 20, 1898, the congregation swelled, due to the presence of many of the nearly seventy students coming to town for the meeting in the same hall that afternoon. Christian Science Hall was later taken down to make way for the granite structure of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Concord, also a gift of Mrs. Eddy. Photograph. Christian Science Hall, Concord, N.H. (interior), c. 1898 Longyear Museum collection.
“…to impart a fresh impulse”
The invited students gathered at 4:00 on Sunday afternoon, November 20. Edward A. Kimball read Mrs. Eddy’s words of explanation: “You have been invited hither to receive from me one or more lessons on Christian Science…. This opportunity is designed to impart a fresh impulse to our spiritual attainments, the great need of which I daily discern. I have awaited the right hour, and to be called of God to contribute my part towards this result.”Stained glass window from Christian Science Hall, Longyear Museum collection.
Their teacher
The class members rose to their feet as their teacher entered and took her seat at the head of the hall. George Wendell Adams recalled: “She was vigorous and vivid and appeared much younger than her years, but there was also great meekness and holiness in her bearing.” This portrait of Mrs. Eddy shows how she looked around the time of the 1898 class. The artist consulted photographs of Mrs. Eddy and observed her on her daily drives through the streets of Concord.Portrait, Mary Baker Eddy, pastel on paper by William Baxter Closson, c.1899. Original, Longyear Museum collection.
A course of two lessons: experience lifted to a higher ground
The class consisted of two lessons, the first on Sunday. The next morning, Monday, November 21, at 10 o’clock, the second lesson began. In both sessions Mrs. Eddy was examining the spiritual fitness of the students, taking them higher in their understanding of God, and preparing them for the work that lay ahead. In We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Emma C. Shipman (above) writes: “When the lessons were finished, we were fully convinced that Mrs. Eddy had broken the bread of Life with us; that she had given us more in those two lessons than any other teacher on earth could give in any number of lessons.” Photograph, Longyear Museum collection.
The purpose of the gathering
Of the “last class” Irving C. Tomlinson wrote: “The purpose of the gathering was not to teach the letter of Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy said, for the members were supposed to possess that knowledge. It was rather to spiritualize the Field, and she remarked to me afterward that her work with that class changed the character of the entire Field.” Tomlinson, a clergyman when he found Christian Science, had joined The Mother Church the previous year, in 1897. Mrs. Eddy had promptly appointed him to the Christian Science Board of Lectureship, formed in January 1898. One month later, in Lynn, Massachusetts, he had given the first lecture under the auspices of the Board. In 1900 he would answer the call to be an associate secretary in Mrs. Eddy’s household. Later he would publish his reminiscences, Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy.
Photograph, Longyear Museum collection.
Mothers and daughters: A shared experience
In the class there were some close family relationships — mothers and daughters, a mother and son, and sisters. Abigail Dyer Thompson (left) attended with her mother, Emma Thompson (right). Of the experience, Abigail recalled: “Through the influence of my mother’s deep appreciation of Mrs. Eddy as God-inspired in her leadership, I was prepared to follow with absorbing interest every word of her teaching.”
Photographs, Longyear Museum collection.
Marjorie Colles, Effie Andrews: “old grand soldiers”
Mrs. Eddy came to rely on workers in the Christian Science movement who were strong and steady in the immense work to be done. She had once referred to two of these stalwart individuals, Marjorie Colles (left) and Effie Andrews (center), as “old grand soldiers.” Their deep Christian foundations, ability to stand in the face of battle, and untiring efforts to move the Cause forward, were a joy to her leadership. Mrs. Andrews’ daughter, Rose Cochrane (right), representing the next generation, attended with her mother.
Photograph and oil portraits, Longyear Museum collection.
Preparing the next generation
A number of the invited students were young — several, like Emma Gould Easton (above), in their twenties. Mrs. Eddy explained that her purpose in selecting so many young people to partake in the class was to have her teaching carried on.
Oil portrait, Longyear Museum collection.
A “Quartette” of young scientists
In a thank-you note that year, acknowledging their gift of a parasol, Mrs. Eddy addressed four particular young students as “My beloved Quartette.” They were Daphne Knapp, Carol Norton, John Lathrop, and James Neal. Earlier, she had recommended that these four young people become First Members, an early governing body for her church, seeing it as both a recognition of their faithfulness in the field and an opportunity for growth.
Daphne Knapp
Daphne was the daughter of Ira and Flavia Knapp. For a brief time in 1891, Mrs. Eddy lived across the street from the Knapps and their four children in Roslindale, Massachusetts. Mrs. Eddy had known Ira and Flavia Knapp since December 1884, when Mr. and Mrs. Knapp were members of her Primary class in Christian Science at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College.
Photograph, Longyear Museum collection.
Carol Norton
Carol had received seven lessons in Christian Science from Mrs. Eddy in 1894. Recognizing his gift for writing and speaking, she had appointed him as one of the first five lecturers on the newly formed Christian Science Board of Lectureship earlier in 1898.
Photograph, Longyear Museum collection.
John C. Lathrop
In the 1880s Mrs. Eddy had taught John Lathrop’s mother, Laura, who became an ardent worker for the Cause in New York. Working closely with mother and son, she perceived John’s noble character and potential, calling him “one of the best truest strongest young students in the field.”
Photograph, Longyear Museum collection.
James A. Neal
Mrs. Eddy recognized James Neal’s special fitness for the healing work. She had written him the year before: “A real scientific Healer is the highest position attainable in this sphere of being. … Darling James, leave behind all else and strive for this great achievement.”
Photograph, Longyear Museum collection.
Judge Septimus and Camilla Hanna
Camilla Hanna’s healing through Christian Science prayer persuaded her husband, Judge Septimus Hanna, to take up the study of Christian Science. At the time of their invitation to attend the 1898 Class, the Hannas were editors of The Christian Science Journal, which gave them a close working relationship with Mrs. Eddy. She had given them private instruction in Christian Science and much guidance in the execution of their duties, which were many. Judge Hanna was the first to serve as First Reader at The Mother Church. When his term concluded in 1902, he became a lecturer. In 1907 he taught the Normal class in the Christian Science Board of Education.
Oil portraits, Longyear Museum collection.
Edward and Kate Kimball with their daughter Edna
The Kimballs were from Chicago, where Edward had managed a successful business for some twenty years. His healing through Christian Science had changed the course of their lives, which became devoted to working for the Cause. Edward was one of the first members of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship in 1898. He is said to have delivered over 1,000 lectures in nine years. He was the first teacher in the Christian Science Board of Education.
Photograph: Edward A. Kimball (center), Mrs. Kate Kimball (right), Miss Edna Kimball (left), Longyear Museum collection.
Daisette and William McKenzie
The McKenzies married several years after attending the 1898 Class, but had known each other since a gathering of friends in 1891, at which Daisette introduced Christian Science to William. He had been prepared for the ministry and possessed exceptional poetical and rhetorical abilities. Mrs. Eddy early perceived his talents and deeply Christian character, and appointed him as one of the first members of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship in 1898.
Photographs, Longyear Museum collection.
Joseph Mann
Joseph had become a Christian Scientist through his healing of a gunshot wound to the chest, which was diagnosed by doctors as fatal. Not only he, but family members as well, became adherents of Christian Science and also workers in Mrs. Eddy’s household at Pleasant View.
Photograph, Longyear Museum collection.
