, who lived from 1821 until 1910, was a formidable character by all accounts. During a time not known for its enlightened views about the capabilities of women, she devised a method of healing disease, taught that method to others and founded a church, which continues to this day, Christian Science.
And, the critical event of her life occurred while she was living at 23 Paradise Road, in Swampscott.
This last bit of information I learned from Mary and Ron Beerman and Joan Eaton, the friendly and informative employees of the Longyear Museum, which owns and runs the Swampscott property. The Paradise Road house is one of 8 Longyear properties that trace Mary Baker Eddy’s life from her childhood in New Hampshire, to her death in Chestnut Hill.
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Baker Eddy was married to her second husband, a dentist named Patterson who had served in the Civil War and had been imprisoned in the notorious Andersonville Prison, while she lived in Swampscott, from the fall of 1865 until the spring of 1866.
According to my tour guide, the key event occurred in February, 1866. On Feb. 3, The Lynn Item reported that Mrs. Mary Patterson fell on the ice in Lynn while on her way to a Temperance Meeting. Taken to Samuel Bubier’s house that night, the next morning she was brought home by sleigh. By the following day, Sunday, she was in critical condition and her minister arrived from Marblehead to see her.
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After the minister left she asked for the Bible and read the accounts of Jesus’ healing, particularly the words, “I am the way the truth and the light.” She decided God was her only life, and that her life was in God. She then rose, dressed, and greeted the minister at the door when he arrived to check on her after Sunday services.
Health might have been enough for most people, but Mary Baker Eddy took the experience further. For the next 3 years she searched the scriptures, asking if Jesus and his followers could heal, why couldn’t she. She came up with a method, called Christian Science, started healing people, taught others to do it, and started a church around her healing.
The house was bright and sunny on the day I visited. Baker Eddy’s western exposure room upstairs was particularly cheerful, with a view to the half-acre yard, a lot that was 2 and a half acres in Eddy’s time, complete with orchard, weeping willow, fountain and brook, called “The Jordan.”
Noticeable too was the stitch work framed on the wall, “Do Right and Fear Not.”
All furniture and wall paper is true to the period. Postcards and books about Baker Eddy’s life and work and philosophy are for sale.
Entrance is free.
Two museum employees, Mary and Ron Beerman, live in the back of the house. Originally from Chicago, the Beermans moved into the house this summer after Ron retired, and plan to stay for a few years. Their nephew plays football for Harvard, and they look forward to watching him play.
The Mary Baker Eddy House is open from May to October on Wed-Sat from 10-4, and on Sundays from 2-5. Between Nov. and April, the house is open by appointment only by calling 781-599-1865.
On Sept. 16, 17 & 18, the house is a stop on the Essex County National Heritage Area’s Rails and Sails Program, a two weekend event that includes dozens of places to visit in Essex County. Go to www.essexheritage.org for a complete list of places to visit.
