Biography
GENERAL ERASTUS NEWTON BATES was a lifelong student of the Bible. After graduating from Williams College in 1853, he studied law and moved to Minnesota, where he was elected to the State Senate. When his term ended in 1859, he moved to Illinois to practice law, but during the Civil War, he put his career on hold to enlist in the Union Army. In 1863, “Newton,” as his family and friends called him, was captured and sent to Libby Prison, and his health would be seriously impaired from that experience for the next 20 years. After the war, he served one term in the Illinois state legislature and two terms as state treasurer. In the mid-1880s, he reluctantly agreed as a favor to a relative to give her his opinion of Science and Health. As he read, his health improved and the eyeglasses he wore were discarded. General Bates began healing others right away. He received Primary class instruction from Mrs. Eddy in 1888 at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, and enrolled in Normal class the following year. When Mrs. Eddy left Boston for Concord, New Hampshire, in 1889, she put General Bates in charge of instruction at the college, before closing it permanently. In later years, he continued healing and teaching in Kansas City, Missouri, and was also instrumental in helping to establish Christian Science in Cleveland, Ohio.
