Biography
MARY F. EASTAMAN was critically ill when her husband, Captain Joseph Eastaman, returned to Boston from his final sea voyage. In this hour of great need, a friend suggested that he try Christian Science for his wife. When Joseph turned to Mrs. Eddy for help, to his surprise she suggested that he heal his wife himself — by first learning how to heal. Captain Eastaman duly entered Mrs. Eddy’s December 1884 class at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, immediately putting into practice what he was learning, and Mary was healed through his work. She entered Mrs. Eddy’s class in February 1885, and in December was listed as a practitioner in The Christian Science Journal. In February 1887, Mrs. Eastaman completed Mrs. Eddy’s Normal class and became a teacher of Christian Science. Like her husband, she, too, was active in the early church, serving as Treasurer for many years, and she was also one of the 12 chosen by Mrs. Eddy to help organize The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, in 1892. Mary Eastaman would later serve on the Bible Lesson Committee and teach in The Mother Church Sunday School.