"Among the earliest of the New England settlers, the Bakers and Ambroses were pioneer families of marked distinction, as the almost forgotten local histories of Massachusetts and New Hampshire attest in many ways" (The Ancestry of Mary Baker Eddy, by William Montgomery Clemens, Editor of Genealogy Magazine). Mrs. Eddy's parents were from these families.
One of Mrs. Eddy's first cousins was Hildreth H. Smith. Their mothers were sisters. He was born at Deerfield, New Hampshire, on February 17, 1820, one year before she was, and became a distinguished educator and scholar.
After attending common schools and the Foxcroft Academy, Mr. Smith graduated from Bowdoin College in 1842, where he made an excellent record. Between terms at Bowdoin, he taught school to help pay his expenses there. From this college, he received the degree A.B. in 1842 and the degree A.M. in 1845.
