The Story
In late 1865, after a series of moves, Mrs. Eddy and her second husband, Daniel Patterson, rented an apartment on the second floor of this house on Paradise Road. Daniel Patterson joined a dental practice in the booming nearby city of Lynn. They both joined in the life of the community — especially Mary, writing for the newspapers, attending church, and participating in Temperance meetings.
In February 1866, on her way to one such meeting, Mary fell on an icy sidewalk. The fall caused severe internal injuries, according to the physician who was called. When he brought her back to this apartment, she was in critical condition, barely able to move, let alone walk. His prognosis was dire: If she survived, she might never live a normal life. But it seemed she might not survive.
Friends kept a watch day and night. Her minister was called for. On Sunday, lying helplessly on a cot near the heated stove in the kitchen, she prayed and sought help from her Bible. An account of Jesus healing the sick inspired a moment of profound insight. She pulled herself up from the cot and crossed the room unaided, to sit in a chair. Her friends were amazed. “This is all through prayer,” she assured them. When Mrs. Longyear located this house in 1920, she found a witness who, over fifty years later, still recalled vividly the events of that weekend.
Soon after her remarkable recovery the house was sold. The Pattersons moved to a succession of rented rooms. During these months Daniel Patterson deserted her. Mrs. Eddy found herself impoverished, still frail, and alone. But this healing, here, marked such a turning point in her thought that she once referred to this house as the “birthplace of Christian Science.”
