Did Mary Baker Eddy ever discuss the Shakers?

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Shakers and their communal, faith-based lifestyle were well-known in nineteenth-century America.¹ Inquirers often ask us if Mary Baker Eddy ever referenced the religion. We are often asked also about any possible contact between Eddy and its members.

The Mary Baker Eddy Library’s collections provide insight into this fascinating topic.

Eddy first mentioned the Shakers as a teenager, in an April 1837 letter she wrote to her brother George Sullivan Baker. She said that a friend “invited me to go to the shakers with him but my superiors thought it would be a profanation of the sabbathe [sic]; and I accordingly did not go.”²

Visiting the local Shaker community near Tilton, New Hampshire³ (where Eddy lived then), possibly to observe their distinctive public worship services, seemed to have been a common activity for her contemporaries. A Shaker community called Canterbury Village had been established south of Tilton in 1792. Remarkably, Shakers lived on this property until 1992, when the last living member of the community passed away.

Addie Towns Arnold lived in Tilton and knew Eddy’s family. She noted this in a reminiscence:

She [Eddy] undoubtedly knew the Shakers who had a colony at Canterbury not far from Tilton. They came to Tilton regularly all the time I lived there peddling things they had made. Everyone in Tilton knew them and was more or less acquainted with their doctrines and practices. No doubt the Baker family purchased things from them because the Shakers were noted for their yarns, and as everybody knitted in those days yarn was in great demand.⁴

In 1869, after reading an article from an unknown magazine related to the Shakers, Eddy wrote to Sarah O. Bagley, one of her first students: “There are gems of truth even in the Shaker medl[e]y.”⁵

Interestingly Georgine Milmine, a critic of Eddy, insinuated a connection between the religious beliefs of Christian Science and Shakerism, in an article published in the January 1907 issue of McClure’s Magazine (Milmine wrote a series of hostile articles on Eddy for the periodical). In response to this claim, Eddy stated in the January 1907 Christian Science Journal that “I never was especially interested in the Shakers….” Evidently she had read a copy of Milmine’s piece before its publication. That response is found in her book The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany.⁶

At the same time, it seems clear she respected the Shakers and their values.

Archibald McLellan commented on Eddy’s feelings toward other Christian denominations in his article “No Christian Psychology,” included in the January 11, 1908 Christian Science Sentinel. McLellan, who was then serving as the editor of the Christian Science periodicals, wrote: “Mrs. Eddy has shown that she loves all that tends towards Christianity; hence she loves Catholics and Protestants,—Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists, Quakers, Shakers,—all save those who stand still and entertain no desire for Christianity.”⁷ According to a draft of this article in our collection, Eddy revised this piece before it was published in the Sentinel.⁸

Interestingly, Eddy had several Shaker texts in her library at the time of her death in 1910. Her book collection included a 1908 Shaker Hymnal, gifted to her by the Shakers of East Canterbury—the same colony mentioned above. It includes this inscription: “To Rev. Mary Baker Eddy with Sincere Love and Best wishes of Shaker Friends.”⁹

Also included in her library was a copy of the Shaker pamphlet “Advent of the Christ in man and woman,” as well as sheet music for the Shaker hymn “My Home.”

Of note, a fire broke out in early 1900 at the Canterbury Shaker community near Concord, New Hampshire, destroying a building on their land. Eddy was then living in Concord, and she donated $100 for the Shakers’ rebuilding efforts—worth about $3,000 in 2024. According to the Concord Monitor of February 6, 1900, Eddy was the first individual to donate money after the disaster.¹⁰

It also appears the Shakers themselves had some interactions with Christian Science. In December 1887, a group of Christian Scientists organized a fair in Boston’s Horticultural Hall, to raise money for a church building.¹¹ According to an 1888 Journal article detailing this fair, Shakers also had made a contribution: “Particular mention must be made of the donation from the Shaker friends, which was especially enjoyed by children of all growths,—and appreciated by the thoughtful, as proving this fact, that Love breaks down all barriers which separate the children of God from one another.”¹²

We also discovered that a small group of Shakers in Mount Lebanon, New York, embraced Christian Science. In the article “Christian Science At Mt. Lebanon, ” included in the The Pittsfield (Massachusetts) Journal on December 3, 1907, some Shakers were holding regular Christian Science meetings there: “A circle of students find mutual help and encouragement in an evening class, to which those interested are welcome, and study of the textbook [Eddy’s book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures] is continuous.”

It seems Eddy was aware of this growing interest in her religion, as this article was pasted into one of her scrapbooks maintained by members of her household staff on her behalf.¹³

It appears as well that a Shaker Eldress was healed by Christian Science. According to the December 1907 Journal, Anna White was healed after a severe illness left her bedridden and near death. The provided account makes it clear that although Shakers had become friendly with local Christian Scientists, many were hesitant to adopt their method of healing. When it became apparent that Eldress White might die, those caring for her decided to turn to Christian Science:

The sisters, like Eldress Anna herself, were strongly inclined to Christian Science, but in a Shaker community, especially in the case of one so bound to everybody as is this revered and beloved leader, individual choice cannot always be followed. In such a matter as choosing Christian Science treatment some reference must be made, as in all important matters, to the Central Ministry or leading authority, nor is it the custom for one family or section of a family to move without the union of the others, and for these reasons there had been no action before; but emergency or necessity knows no law, and red tape was quickly dispensed with in this case. The physician had no sooner disappeared than the sisters remembered that thousands who had been given up to die by doctors, are now alive and well through Christian Science.¹⁴

After her healing, Eldress White indicated that she had become “a disciple of many years’ standing in the [Christian Science] faith and could state many remarkable instances [of healing].”¹⁵ White then compared the two faiths, noting that Eddy was “voicing forth the same testimony given through divine inspiration to our Mother Ann Lee [the founder of Shakerism], one hundred and thirty-seven years ago.”¹⁶

The Library’s collection also contains a letter from a Shaker. On May 27, 1893, Sister Jennie H. Fish wrote to Eddy, addressing her as “Esteemed Friend.”¹⁷ Sister Fish (1857–1920) was a resident of Canterbury Village. She was also a singer and, as a member of the “Shaker Quartet,” performed for both Shaker audiences and the general public.¹⁸

Photograph of Jennie H. Fish, n.d. W.G.C. Kimball. Courtesy of the Communal Societies Collection at Hamilton College.

Sister Fish’s correspondence makes it clear that the Shakers were aware of Eddy and had respect and admiration for her life’s work. For example, Fish wrote this:

We have, in days past, occasionally heard of your benevolent Christian work for the good of the human family…. We are children of our good Father above, who gives to us various gifts and places us in different portions of his vineyard to exercise the same faithfully…. To you, he has given means to travel and teach his love to the ends of the earth; while he bids us remain at home, to which he calls the lame, the halt, and erring, in such companies as we can care for….¹⁹

In her letter, Fish indicated a desire to meet with Eddy and extended an invitation to visit Canterbury. She even asked for copies of Eddy’s latest published works, “for the perusal of our Society.”²⁰ Unfortunately, Eddy’s response is not extant, and we have not found any evidence that she either ventured to Canterbury or provided the community with copies of her books.