From the Papers: Mildred Nettie Hall McQuaid

On August 15, 1885, Caroline D. Noyes, a Christian Science practitioner, wrote to Mary Baker Eddy, sharing details regarding some of her patients in Chicago:

There is a Lady Boarding in the House with me from Denver, she is having treatment of Dr Sherman I am treating her two Daughters, they seem wealthy People She is not healed yet…It is Lameness but she is gaining rapidly- her name is Hall if she comes to you it will be through Dr Sherman– ¹

Not only did that woman, Mary Melissa Hall (1838–1899), have a full recovery through Noyes’s prayers. The healing also brought her family into the study of Christian Science.² Before leaving Chicago, she and her older daughter, Minnie B. Hall De Soto (1863–1952), took Christian Science class instruction with Eddy’s student Bradford Sherman. Returning to their home in Colorado, the family soon devoted themselves to the study and practice of Christian Science. De Soto studied in Eddy’s Normal class in May 1886 and opened the Colorado Christian Science Institute a few months later. Her younger sister, Mildred Nettie Hall McQuaid (1869–1945), took Primary class with Eddy in January 1887.

Of the three Hall women, Minnie De Soto’s contributions to Eddy’s new religion are probably most well-known. At Eddy’s request, she was one of the first people to start a Christian Science Institute, at the age of 23. In 1899 she became a Christian Science practitioner and teacher, roles she would fill for the rest of her life. Although De Soto is most often credited with the early establishment of Christian Science in the Denver area, and in other parts of Colorado and the West where she traveled to teach classes, it is valuable to know about the contributions of other members of the close-knit Hall family.³

Known to her family as “Nettie,” Mildred Nettie Hall McQuaid—Minnie’s sister—was a teenager at the time their mother was healed. However, it seems that even at a young age she showed promise in understanding and communicating the teachings of Christian Science. A few months after taking Eddy’s Normal class, her sister Minnie wrote to Eddy on August 13, 1886:

Mama wants to ask a favor of you she would like to join your next class – but feels that some one else would do better in teaching C.S. being better able to express them selves. so she wants to send Nettie (my sister)…⁴

Before Nettie McQuaid attended Eddy’s Primary class in January 1887, her mother wrote to Eddy:

With the mingled feelings of a mother’s joy & sadness in the parting, I send to your loving care & tuition my “blessed baby”– Nettie. The pureness of her mind & sincerity of her devotion to Christian Science, will, I feel assured, win your favor; and the inspired droppings from your lips will be gathered into her heart, already filled with a desire to know & understand the Truth.⁵

McQuaid’s mother wanted her to stay in Boston for a Normal class as well. But Eddy—although impressed—felt McQuaid needed more time to prepare. She wrote in response on January 23:

She is a lovely young lady full of promise to us all. But I should wrong her and myself to put her in my next Normal. lLet the seed just sown have time to ripen I shall be pleased to have her in this class in due time⁶

Returning home, McQuaid joined the Christian Scientist Association on February 2, for students of Eddy, and she also became involved in Christian Science activities in Denver, alongside her mother and sister. A letter she wrote to Eddy, published in the October 1887 Journal, shared a gift to Eddy of three dollars from her Sunday School class in Denver.⁷ Eddy responded, “Your bequest from your little pupils…is very precious.”⁸

On June 28, 1887, Eddy wrote to Minnie De Soto, responding to some difficulties in Denver regarding inaccurate teaching of Christian Science. She gave permission for McQuaid to teach at her sister’s institute, even though she hadn’t taken a Normal class: “If your sister is a better teacher than others that I have had only in a Normal Class let her teach.”⁹ Further correspondence suggests that Eddy and De Soto both wished for McQuaid to take over the teaching at the institute, due to De Soto’s upcoming marriage.¹⁰ McQuaid taught some classes, but it does not appear that she took over the Christian Science institute.

In 1888 and 1889, McQuaid wrote two letters to Eddy, inquiring about attending a Normal class and reporting on a prominent Colorado businessman who had taken an interest in Christian Science and wanted to meet Eddy.¹¹ She added, “The good work goes on in Colo. despite the persecutions which only make some stronger.”¹²

McQuaid and her mother had a shared listing in the Journal in 1890 and 1891. At some point during those years, McQuaid left her public practice of Christian Science to take up a career on stage with a traveling theater company. In May 1891 several articles from Colorado newspapers mention her promising acting career; she was performing at the time in Colorado with the Lillian Lewis dramatic company. A May 20 article in The Aspen Daily Chronicle reported that “additional interest will be taken in this presentation, as Mildred Hall [McQuaid], of Denver, will play the part of Madamoiselle Vouloir.”¹³ Since her father, Charles L. Hall, was a state senator and businessman, the Hall family was well-known in Denver society. Therefore it is not surprising that a subsequent article referred to her as a “a young lady well known in Denver society circles.”¹⁴ The article continued: “The young lady is talented and will no doubt make rapid progress in her profession.”¹⁵ Several articles mentioned that McQuaid’s mother or sister traveled with her as chaperone while the theater company was on tour. A letter from DeSoto, likely written around this time, reported on her sister’s involvement in theater and noted how she was bringing Christian Science to that work: “My sister “Nettie Hall” is on the stage and takes the Truth into that field is always busy.…”¹⁶

In subsequent years, McQuaid lived in Denver with her family when she was not touring. Continuing her involvement with Christian Science, she joined The Mother Church (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston) on June 3, 1899. In 1904, when First Church of Christ, Scientist, Concord, New Hampshire, was dedicated, she appeared as one of the signatories in a letter from her church in Denver, published in the Christian Science Sentinel:

From the small meetings held at Mrs. Hall’s home in 1885, which were conducted in obedience to your directions, our church has advanced to the largest and most beautiful church building in our city.¹⁷

McQuaid had been one of the leads in a company performing during the summer of 1903 in Pueblo, Colorado.¹⁸ This engagement was noteworthy for a few reasons. The other lead was George Wessells, whom she would marry the following year, living in New York City for a period of time.¹⁹ Also her niece, Christian Scientist Antoinette Perry, joined her there and got her start in theater as a member of the supporting cast.²⁰ Perry went on to have her own theater career, and the Tony Awards are named after her.

A letter to her brother, Charles A. Hall, that McQuaid wrote from New York during this time mentions briefly how much Christian Science meant to her: “However I do try to hold C.S. in thought all the time for without that help I don’t know where I should be.”²¹ They later moved to Denver, where they were living with De Soto when Wessells passed away in 1908.

In 1911 she married Thomas F. McQuaid, a Colorado cattleman, and they resided at the Hall family’s ranch in Park County, Colorado, which belonged to McQuaid and DeSoto after their father’s passing. The McQuaids lived at the ranch, with Thomas expanding and managing the land, for the rest of their lives. The Hall family ranch is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Through stories like those of Mildred Nettie Hall McQuaid, we discover how Christian Science is woven into the rich tapestry of individual lives and American history. The correspondence on the Mary Baker Eddy Papers site often reveals new facets of this story, in the words of the individuals themselves.

Please note: Quoted references in our “From the Papers” article series reflect the original documents. For this reason they may include spelling mistakes and edits made by the authors. In instances where a mark or edit is not easily represented in quoted text, an omission or insertion may be made silently.