Frances Thurber Seal, C.S.B.

Portrait from life by Arpad de Paszthory. Original Longyear Collection.

Biography

FRANCES THURBER SEAL was introduced to Christian Science in 1896 while attending a testimony meeting in New York City. She met Laura Lathrop, the First Reader — a Christian Science teacher and practitioner, and a student of Mrs. Eddy’s — and by reading Mrs. Eddy’s book, No and Yes, was healed of an internal disorder and threatened blindness. Shortly thereafter, Frances had class instruction with Mrs. Lathrop. Mary Beecher Longyear was instrumental in helping Mrs. Seal go to Germany in order that she might begin Christian Science work there. From December 1897 through 1906, Mrs. Seal worked in Germany, and her healing work — and later, teaching — resulted in the establishment of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, in Dresden, and another in Berlin. In 1898, Frances Seal traveled to the United States to attend a Normal class held under the Board of Education. On her return to Dresden she taught a class, which prepared her students to carry on the work in that city, as she had been asked by the Christian Science Board of Education to teach in Berlin. She would later return to the U.S. and write a book about her experiences, Christian Science in Germany.

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