Massachusetts Metaphysical College

the Christian Science textbook

The College's founder, Mary Baker Eddy, in the preface to her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which is the fundamental doctrinal Textbook on Christian Science, outlines a short history of the College as follows:

In 1881, she (Mary Baker Eddy) opened the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in Boston, under the seal of the Commonwealth, a law relative to colleges having been passed, which enabled her to get this institution chartered for medical purposes. No charters were granted to Christian Scientists for such institutions after 1883, and up to that date, hers was the only College of this character which had been established in the United States, where Christian Science was first introduced. During seven years over four thousand students were taught by the author in this College. Meanwhile she was pastor of the first established Church of Christ, Scientist; President of the first Christian Scientist Association, convening monthly; publisher of her own works; and (for a portion of this time) sole editor and publisher of the Christian Science Journal, the first periodical issued by Christian Scientists. She closed her College, October 29, 1889, in the height of its prosperity with a deep-lying conviction that the next two years of her life should be given to the preparation of the revision of SCIENCE AND HEALTH, which was published in 1891. She retained her charter, and as its President, reopened the College in 1899 as auxiliary to her church.

Mark Twain in his book, "Christian Science"

Mark Twain, in his critical and humorous book Christian Science, which was published in January, 1907, mentions an ad run in the Christian Science Journal for September, 1886:

MASSACHUSETTS METAPHYSICAL COLLEGE

REV. MARY BAKER G. EDDY, PRESIDENT
571 Columbus Avenue, Boston

The collegiate course in Christian Science metaphysical healing includes twelve lessons. Tuition, three hundred dollars.

Course in metaphysical obstetrics includes six daily lectures, and is open only to students from this college. Tuition, one hundred dollars.

Class in theology, open (like the above) to graduates, receives six additional lectures on the Scriptures, and summary of the principle and practice of Christian Science, two hundred dollars.

Judge Septimus J. Hanna

Upon Eddy's decease in December 1910, the By-laws of her church stipulated that the vice-president of the College would replace her as the College's President. This person was Judge Septimus J. Hanna who, with his wife, had been early students of Eddy and who occupied more positions of trust in the Christian Science Church than any other individual.

The Massachusetts Metaphysical College 1882-1889

While Eddy stated that she taught over 4000 students at her College, she might have actually meant the sum total of all students taught under her authority as president as the College including the thousands of students taught when the College was reopened as an auxiliary to her Church in 1899 under the Church's Board of Education. By that time, other teachers such as Eddy's adopted son, Ebenezer Foster-Eddy, Edward Ancel Kimball and Judge Septimus J. Hanna had taught many subsequent classes. Kimball, for example, himself, taught over 150 classes. By 1889, her Normal (teachers class) students had also been teaching under her authority and under her signed certificates in the US and overseas. In any case, John V. Dittimore, former director and clerk of her Church and later Eddy critic, gives a far shorter list in his fairly negative biography on Eddy published in 1932. His list is probably limited to those students, at the College, personally taught by Eddy alone, until she turned over the teaching to Kimball and Hanna. In Dittemore's book, Mary Baker Eddy - The Truth and the Tradition, Dittemore's appendix lists the following students:

According to Dittemore, Mary Baker Eddy personally taught the following students at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College from 1882-1889:

Primary Course

May 12, 1882

Mrs. Maria Brown

Mrs. George Horne

Mrs. Hattie D. Jones

Miss Susie M. Lang

Mrs. Delia S. Manley

Seabury T. Manley

Mrs. Mary J. Tucker

August 16, 1882

Rev. Charles D. Barbour

Mrs. Clara E. Choate

George D. Choate

Mrs. Sarah J. Crosse

Miss Alice Sibley

October 23, 1882

Mrs. Mary F. Berry

Miss Jennie P. Davis

Perley Green

Miss Mary B. Mourn

Mrs. Amelia Wheeler

Mrs. George W. Whiting

Mrs. George S. Williams

Mrs. Mary E. Wood

January 22, 1883

Mrs. Janet T. Coleman

Mrs. Elsie Grosse

Edward H. Hammond

Edward N. Harris

Mrs. Mary E. Harris

Alfred Lang

Miss Susie M. Lang

Mrs. Annie V. C. Leavitt

Mrs. Janet Marchant

Mrs. (Note 2) Mitchell

Mareelus M. Munroe

Mrs. (Note 2) Smith

----- 1883

Miss Ellen Brown

Richard Palmer

Mrs. Alice B. Poole

Mrs. Laura A. Rand

Mrs. Lydia M. Roaf

Mrs. Rose A. Wigglesworth

----1883

William H. Bradley

Solomon W. North

Mrs. Thomas Patterson

Mrs. Melissa J. Smith

Mrs. Mary J. Tucker

August 20, 1883

Mrs. Mary E. Chandler

Mrs. Montgomery Hunt

Luther M. Marston

S. D. Walker

Mrs. S. D. Walker

November 12, 1883

Mrs. Rachel Bradley

Mrs. L. A. Chipman

Mrs. E. P. Clark

Miss Kate L. Colby

William T. Seaver

Miss Hester Varney

December 27, 1883

Albert B. Dorman

Mrs. Emma C. Hopkins

H. E. Jepson

Mrs. H. E. Jepson

Mrs. Nellie Morton

John M. C. Murphy

Mrs. Jennie Sawyer

Silas J. Sawyer

February 25, 1884

Mrs. Sadie I. Bertram

William H. Bertram

Miss Nellie M. Cate

Levi A. Childs

Mrs. Susan E. Crocker

Mrs. Mary D. Fuller

Mrs. S. E. Heywood

William B. Johnson

C. T. Lord

Mrs. Caroline Dorr Noyes

Miss Sara A. Platt

Horace N. Poole

Mrs. Mary A. Poole

Bradford Sherman

Mrs. M. E. Sherman

Roger Sherman

Mrs. Fannie M. Silsbee

Mrs. Mattie Williams

May 13, 1884 (In Chicago)

Mrs. Olive L. Avery

S. J. Avery, M.D.

Mrs. E. Beach

Miss Isabel A. Beecher

Miss Libbie Berger

Miss Sarah Bickford

J. B. Crocker

Mrs. E. S. Cousen

Mrs. Ursula N. Gestefeld

Mrs. Emma A. McDonald

Mrs. Lovina Milledge

C. F. Morrill

Mrs. C. F. Morrill

Mrs. Mary H. Philbrick

Mrs. Laura E. Sargent

Rev. H. Slade

Benjamin Smith

Mrs. E. P. Vail

George B. Wickersham

In the last five days of the course there were also enrolled

Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Swarts

Mr. and Mrs.S. J. Sawyer

Mr. Emerson,

Mrs. Dr. Heegard (Note 2)

September 2, 1884

Mrs. Etta French.

Joseph W. French

Miss Mary A. Gersham

Miss Carrie B. Graham

Miss S. Emma Grey

Mrs. Janette h. Robinson

Mrs. R. J. Robinson

Miss Mary E. Smith

Miss Kate Taylor

November 3, 1884

Henry P. Bailey

Mrs. Mary A. Flagg

Eugene H. Greene

Mrs. Grace A. Greene

Mrs. T. H. Hale

John A. Linfield

Mrs. John A. Linfield

Mrs. P. F. Lynch

Mrs. Dora G. Mayo

Miss Dora M. Mayo

Miss E. P. Peck

George E. Ricker

Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson

December 22, 1884

Mrs-. H. P. Bailey

Mrs. Elizabeth S. Bangs

Herbert H. Bangs

Mrs. George B. Drake

Joseph S. Eastaman

Mrs. Frances A. Freeman

Charles M. Howe

Mrs. Charles M. Howe

F. R. Kimball

Ira 0. Knapp

Mrs. Ira 0. Knapp (Flavia Stickney Knapp)

Mrs. Emma A. McDonald

Mrs. Almeda G. Pendleton

Mrs. Laura E. Sargent

Mrs. Victoria Sargent

Mrs. Josephine C. Woodbury

March 2, 1885

J. Allen Campbell

Mrs. J. Allen Campbell

Miss A. A. Chevailler

Mrs. Mary F. Eastaman

Mrs. Jennie B. Fenn

C. C. Foster

Mrs. C. A. Jones

Mrs. Hannah A. Larminie

Mrs. B. D. Marshall

Miss L. A. Proctor

E. Frank Woodbury

Mrs. E. A. Wyman

April 20, 1885

Edward E. Allen

Mrs. Harriet G. Atwood

C. M. Charter

Mrs. Frank Converse

Rev. A. N. Henry

H. E. Hosley

Mrs. H. E. Hosley

Mrs. Charlotte Ingalls

Mrs. A. D. Kennedy

Mrs. Eldora E. Murphy

Mrs. Samuel Seward

Mrs. B. J. Swett

Charles A. S. Troup

Mrs. Charles A. S. Troup

Rev. Eliza T. Wilkes

Rev. J. W. Winkley

September 14, 1885

Mrs. Mary W. Adams

Edward A. Bailey

Mrs. Mary A. Batchelder

Mrs. J. P. Beckworth

Miss C. Lulu Blackman

Miss Sue E. Bradshaw

James E. Brierly

Mrs. James E. Brierly

Miss Julia M. Burnham

Miss Sarah J. Clark

Miss Mary E. Clements

Mrs. Charles H. Foye

Mrs. Sarah E. Heywood

Mrs. Mary E. Hill

Miss Susan R. Kenny

Ira 0. Knapp

Mrs. Ira 0. Knapp

Mrs. Laura Lathrop

Miss Ella Long

Mrs. Myra M. Phelon

Mrs. Mary H. Plunkett

Mrs. Helen L. Swan

Mrs. Virginia Vaughn

Mrs. Elizabeth Webster

November 16, 1885

Edward P. Adams

Mrs. Edith D. Bailey

Mrs. M. Bettie Bell

William H. Bertram

Mrs. Mattie Bowen

Miss Ellen E. Cross

Mrs. M. A'. De Forest-Brown

Francis J. Fluno, M.D.

Mrs. Francis J. Fluno

Mrs. 0. P. Gifford

Rev. 0. P. Gifford

Mrs. Grace A. Green

Miss M. Emma Morse

Mrs. M. R. Nutter

Miss L. A. Proctor

George E. Ricker

J. Newton Stone

Mrs. J. W. Winkley

March 29, 1886

Rev. Joseph Adams

Mrs. Emma D. Behan

George H. Bradford

Mrs. George H. Bradford

Mrs. Anna Chamberlin

Miss Fanny L. Clark

Miss Lucy A. Clarke

Erwin L. Colman

Charles W. Crosse

Mrs. George B. Day

Rev. George B. Day

John P. Filbert

Mrs. John P. Filbert

Rev. William I. Gill

Miss Mary E. Hampson

Mrs. Anna Maria Harvey

Mrs. Harriet W. Jones

Mrs. Pamela J. Leonard

Miss Katie H. Malone

Miss Martha E. S. Morgan

Gideon P. Noyes

Miss Sarah A. Pine

Mrs. Julia E. Prescott

Turner N. Seward

Mrs. Turner N. Seward

George W. Wheeler

Mrs. George W. Wheeler

Mrs. Mary R. Whitson

August 30, 1886

Mrs. J. A. D. Adams, M.D.

Mrs. David Austin

Mrs. Mary V. Blain

Mrs. Margaret C. Burgess

Mrs. S. L. Davidson

Mrs. Ruth B. Ewing

Mrs. Frances A. Freeman

Elizabeth J. French

Miss Mary E. Graves

Mrs. Malinda J. Lancaster

Mrs. Mary J. Lewis

John A. Moore

Mrs. John A. Moore

Rev. J. S. Norvell

Miss M. Anna Osgood

Mrs. Kate S. Peirce

Mrs. Mary D. Porterfield

Mrs. Jane M. Rand

Fremont D. Snider

Mrs. Fremont D. Snider

Mrs. F. E. Stich

Mrs. Emma A. Thompson

Rev. J. H. Veasey

Rev. H. C. Waddell

Miss Lucinda Willsie

Mrs. A. G. Wilson

January 10, 1887

Mrs. Addie M. Allen

Edward P. Bates

Mrs. Edward P. Bates

Mrs. Lucy K. Bissell

Henry Bradley, M.D.

Mrs. Henry Bradley

Miss Mary B. Bull

Stephen A. Chase

Mrs. Stephen A. Chase

Joseph L. Churchill

Mrs. Joseph L. Churchill

Miss Emma A. Estes

Miss M. Nettie Hall

B. W. Hight

Mrs. Lillia S. Hight

Miss Flora M. Lamson

(one lesson)

Mrs. Maria B. Newsomb

Mrs. Ann M. Otis

Mrs. Elizabeth A. Shepherd

(one lesson)

E. W. Ticknor

Miss Josephine Tyter

Miss Florence Whiteside

May 2, 1887

Thomas A. Benbow, M.D.

Mrs. Elconora B. Benford

Mrs. Sarah E. Benford

William H. H. Benford

Mrs. C. C. Bigelow

Mrs. Cemantha A. D. Brown Mrs. J. A. Brown

H. C. Buhl

Mrs. Elizabeth Buswell

Ezra M. Buswell

Mrs. Chloe Ann Dow

Herbert L. Dunbar

Mrs. Mary E. Dunbar

Alfred Farlow

William S. Farlow

Winslow C. Fiske

Mrs. Winslow C. Fiske

Mrs. H. D. Jones

Frances 0. Leonard

John F. Linscott

Miss Mary Macmillan

Frank E. Mason

George A. Miles

Mrs. Mary S. Moore

Mrs. Maud E. Morton

Henry A. Reynolds, M.D.

Mrs. Louisa Scribner

William A. Smith

Mrs. William A. Smith

Mrs. Emma G. Strong

Charles A. S. Troup

W. H. Walling

Mrs. W. H. Walling

Mrs. Margaret A. Watts

November 7, 1887

David Anthony

Joseph Armstrong

Mrs. Mary E. Armstrong

A. M. Crane

E. J. Foster, M.D.

Robert C. Hannon

J. C. Light

William H. Perkins

Mrs. William H. Perkins

Miss Mary C. Piper

Henry A. Reynolds, M.D.

Miss Elizabeth Saville

Mrs. Adell Seymour

Abbot E. Smith

Mrs. Abbot E. Smith

Walter J. Vinall

Mrs. Ella E. Williams

March 5, 1888

Miss Marie M. Adams

Mrs. A. L. Ames

Erastus N. Bates

Mrs. Erastus N. Bates

Mrs. Harriet L. Betts

Mrs. Elizabeth C. Burcbard

Miss Jennie.L. Chaffee

Graves Colles

Mrs. Graves Colles

C. R. Courtney

Mrs. Nellie Courtney

Mrs. Harriet S. Cowan

Miss Ella M. Craig

Mrs. E. W. Crawford

Miss Anna Dodge

Mrs. Marie Fancher

Mrs. Christiana D. Frye

Mrs. Caroline W. Frame

Mrs. Eldora 0. Gragg

Mrs. Mary E. Keeley

Edward A. Kimball

Mrs. Edward A. Kimball

Charles F. Kinzel

Mrs. Hannah A. Larminie

B. A. Lillie

Mrs. B. A. Lillie

Miss Mary K. Lincoln

Mrs. Emily M. Meadcr

Miss Phebe A. Mendenhall

Miss Mary E. Miller

Mrs. Sarah A. Moore

Mrs. T. Emily Moore

J. H. Murray

Mrs. Sarah E. Murray

Mrs. Nellie H. Parker

Mrs. Belle Pew

Miss Lila F. Scbaffenburg

Mrs. Elizabeth P. Skinner

Mrs. Helen A. Smith

(one lesson)

Mrs. Helen P. Smith

Mrs. H. F. Stevens

Miss Nancy Stilson

Mrs. A. L. Stone

Mrs. Abbie B. Trego

Mrs. Hattie L. Vihitaker

Reuben Whitaker

September 17, 1888

Miss Lou Aldrich

Mrs. A. B. Austin

Mrs. E. M. Bacon

E. W. Baxter

Mrs. E. W. Baxter

Mrs. Ellen Bouton

Miss Jennie L. Bryan

Miss Alice C. Churchill

William Clark

Mrs. A. E. Connelly

Mrs. M. E. Crane

Mrs. M. A. Cummings

Mrs. Mary E. Dillingham

Paul Dillingham

Mrs. A. Dorland

Mrs. Kate E. Ewing

Mrs. Julia Field-King

A.P. French

Frank W. Gale

James M/ Gano

Mrs. Anna F. Gennet

Mrs. Ella W. Hoag

Mrs. Sarah E. Jones

Miss Eva Kellogg

Joseph G. Mann

Mrs. Mary E. C. McCoy

Mrs. H. G. McVicker

Rev. Lamson P. Norcross

Miss Myra Overman

Ira W. Packard

Mrs. Ira W. Packard

Oliver M. Parsons

Mrs. Oliver M. Parsons

Miss Clara M; S. Shannon

Mrs. C. H. Shipman

Mrs. Lillian E. Stoddard

Mrs. Harriet W. Tirrell

Miss Emelyn M. Tobey

P. N. Trahn

Mrs. P. N. Trahn

G. A. Walther

Mrs. E. R. Wertz

Mrs. Cordelia V. Willey.

November 12, 1888

Mrs. E. M. Bacon

Frank Bailey

Joshua F. Bailey

Mrs. Amanda J. Baird

Miss L. Ballinger

Mrs. Martha H. Bogue

Mrs. Margaret Bolter

Mrs. Sallie N. Chandler

Rev. J. F. Clymer

Mrs. Kate S. Corning

Mrs. H. M. Evans

Mrs. Sarah J. Holbrook

Mrs. Ella M. Holton

Mrs. Emilie B. Hulin

Mrs. F. E. Mason

Miss Emma McLauthlin

Miss Laura C. Nourse

Mrs. Fannie L. Pierce

Mrs. Anna H. Rogers

Ward B. Rogers

Mrs. Kate E. Rousseau

Mrs. Emma K. Sawyer

Mrs. A. C. Sellers

M. B. Sellers

Rev. E. F. Strickland

Mrs. Julia W. Tryon

Mrs. J. N. Ward

William H. Wing

February 25, 1889

Frank Bailey

Joshua F. Bailey

Mrs. Helen A. Baker

Miss Hannah A. Balkam

Mrs. Sarah C. Barney

Edward P. Bates

Mrs. Edward P. Bates

Mrs. Emma D. Behan

Mrs. Amanda D. Belcher

Mrs. Eleonora B. Benford

Mrs. Helen W. Bingham

Rev. Jesse B. Broadbent

Fred W. Bunnell

Mrs. Nina Bunnell

Mrs. Martha E. Burns

Mrs. Lydia J. Calhoun

Mrs. Henrietta E. Chanfrau

Miss Lydia R. Chase

Edward C. Clarke

Mrs. Myra F. Clymer

Miss Mary E. Collier

Miss Mary E. Crawford

Miss Mary Alice Dayton

Rev. D. A. Easton

Miss Emma Easton

Mrs. Margaret E. Easton

Alfred Farlow

Miss Emma L. Farlow

Miss Sarah A. Farlow

William S. Farlow

Mrs. Jennie B. Fenn

Mrs. Mary E. Hardy

Thomas W. Hatten

Mrs. Mary B. Hinckley

Mrs. Susan R. K. Hoyt

Edward A. Kimball

Mrs. Edward A. Kimball

Mrs. Martha L. Lambert

Mrs. Julia M. Landon

Mrs. Catherine G. McBean

Mrs. Alma S. Metcalf

Ralph Moody

James A. Neal

Mrs. Helen A. Nixon

Paul Nixon

William G. Nixon

Mrs. J. C. Otterson

William H. Perkins

Mrs. William H. Perkins

Mrs. Mary E. Pope

Henry L. Putnam

Charles A. Roberts

Mrs. Charles A. Roberts

Miss Nemi Robertson

John C. Ryan

Mrs. John C. Ryan

Mrs. Rebecca L. Stebbins

Miss (Note 2) Stebbins

Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson

Mrs. H. F. Stevens

Mrs. Estella W. Stimpson

Mrs. Carrie H. Snider

Sampson D. Stiles

Miss Marguerite F. Sym

Miss Lucretia A. Veazey

Miss Elizabeth T. Wendland

Miss Gwendoline Woodbury

(one lesson)

Normal (Teachers) Courses

May 3, 1886

Edward A. Bailey

Mrs-. Elizabeth S. Bangs

Miss Isabel A. Beecher

Miss Sarah F. Bickford

Miss Sue E. Bradshaw

Mrs. Jennie B. Fenn

C. C. Foster

Miss Minnie B. Hall

Mrs. Sarah D. Howe

Mrs. Laura Lathrop

Seabury T. Manley

Mrs. Lovina Milledge

Mrs. Mary H. Philbrick

George E. Ricker

Mrs. Lydia M. Roaf

Mrs. Laura E. Sargent

Silas J. Sawyer

Mrs. Samuel Seward

October 4, 1886

Mrs. George W. Adams

Mrs. J. A. D. Adams

Rev. Joseph Adams

Mrs. Sarah G. Baker

Mrs. C. A. Beecher

Mrs. M. Bettie Bell

Rev. George B. Day

T. H. Donahue

Mrs. Elizabeth J. French

Mrs. Grace A. Greene

Mrs. Pamela J. Leonard

Mrs. Emma A. McDonald

Mrs. M. Anna Osgood

Mrs. Almeda Pendleton

Mrs. Victoria H. Sargent

Mrs. Jennie E. Sawyer

Sara W. Spaulding

A. G. Stahl

J. Newton Stone

Mrs. Elizabeth Webster

George B. Wickersham

February 7, 1887

Mrs. Sophia E. Avery

Mrs. Mary A. Bagley

Mrs. Emma Behan

Miss Antoinette P. Belden

Mrs. C. C. Bigelow

Mrs. Lucy H. Bissell

Mrs. D. Eloise Brownell

Mrs. E. P. Clark

Edward H. Collins

Mrs. Nellie Courtney

Miss Sarah M. Cowan

Miss Anna Crawford

Mrs. Mary A. Eastaman

Mrs. Clara M. Evans

John P. Filbert

Francis J. Fluno, M.D.

Mrs. Grace A. Greene

Mrs. Anna Maria Harvey

Mrs. Harriet W. Jones

Mrs. Susie E. Kirby

Mrs. Annie M. Knott

Mrs. J. H. Lewis

(two lessons)

John F. Linscott

Mrs. C. R. Marshall

Mrs. Mary P. Nichols

Rev. J. S. Norvell

Mrs. Emma L. Palmer

Miss Sarah A. Pine

Mrs. Mary D. Porterfield

Mrs. Adell Seymour

Mrs. Mary E. Spooner

Edward E. Springer

Mrs. Anna E. Warner

George W. Wheeler

October 30, 1887

Mrs. E. M. H. Ashton

Edward P. Bates

Mrs. Edward P. Bates

Mrs. W. F. Bennett

Mrs. C. L. Boyden

James E. Brierly

Mrs. K. W. Clark

Mrs. Nellie B. Eaton

Miss Emma A. Estes

Mrs. Ruth B. Ewing

Alfred Farlow

Mrs. Berenice H. Goodall

Mrs. C. A. Jones

Mrs. Malinda J. Lancaster

Miss E. L. Lane

Frank E. Mason

Mrs. Annie R. Michael

John A. Moore

Mrs. X. L. Otis

Mrs. Eliza Patterson

Horace N. Poole

Mrs. Mary F. Purple

Fremont D. Snider

Mrs. Fremont D. Snider

Miss Mary E. Southworth

Mrs. Ella P. Sweet

Mrs. Maria E. Tallman

Miss Emelyn M. Tobey

Miss Josephine Tyter

January 30, 1888

Miss M. D. Daniels

Mrs. Ella L. Dench

Charles M. Howe

Mrs. Frances A. Freeman

Mrs. H. Elizabeth Roberts

Mrs. Adelia P. Hanson

Miss Lizzie T. Harmony

Edward N. Harris

Mrs. Salome Harris

Mrs. Elizabeth P. Skinner

Mrs. Amanda L. Willoughby

Metaphysical Obstetrics

1. The name of Mrs. Abby H. Corner is omitted as it has seemed impossible to learn the exact class which she attended.
2. First name unrecorded

While the Bates-Dittemore book is largely critical of Eddy, Dittemore was at one time a Clerk and Director of the Mother Church in Boston and had access to the above information for almost ten years. Numerous individual dates and students have been verified by additional documentary evidence such as the Memoirs of Martha Harris Bogue and Janet Coleman published by Gilbert Carpenter.