In the old "Upside-down Book," carefully preserved in Bow, New Hampshire, the name of Mary Morse Baker, later Mary Baker Eddy, first appears in written history. The worn leather volume has been affectionately called the "Upside-down Book" because, a century and a half ago, the town clerk started one set of records at the beginning and another set from the opposite end. On page 347, in reverse upside-down, appear the statistics for the Mark Baker family.
"Mr. Mark Baker Abigail his wife, their Children," runs the list: "Samuel, Albert, George, Abigail, Martha." And then—perhaps the brown ink made from the bark of the swamp maple was thicker than usual, since the last inscription on the page stands out from the others—"Mary Morse Baker."
Mary Morse Baker, who became Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, lived all of her childhood in Bow, and two thirds of her ninety years in her native state of New Hampshire. Replying to a testimonial from the city council of Concord, she once wrote: "My home influence, early education, and church experience, have unquestionably ripened into the fruits of my present religious experience, and for this I prize them. May I honor this origin and deserve the continued friendship and esteem of the people in my native State." The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 366;
Although Mrs. Eddy's years (18211910) covered most of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, her life-style must have had some impress of the eighteenth century for as long as she lived in Bow. The old farmhouse of her childhood, sitting on top of Baker's Hill, had been built by her grandfather Joseph Baker before the American Revolution, and was one of the earliest houses here on the west side of the Merrimack River. The Founder of Christian Science was brought up, as Dr. Joseph P. Baird, architectural historian, once pointed out, in one of the most representative of early American homes.
The two-story Baker farmhouse, built with a great center chimney and a sloping rear roof, was a "saltbox house," so called because the pitch of the roof was similar to that of the cover of the small boxes in which salt was stored. It was furnished in colonial as well as nineteenth century style.
Mary's mother still did her own spinning and weaving, and her girls were taught these homely domestic duties. The wool came from sheep raised on the farm. From town tax records we know that Mr. Baker usually had a dozen or more sheep.
Little money was exchanged because most of the household necessities were raised on the farm or made at home. Bartering or trading with neighbors, storekeepers, and craftsmen took care of the rest.
The dresses worn by the Baker sisters were similar to today's peasant fashions. They were made at home of homespun wool or calico, with puffed sleeves, rounded necklines, and long gathered skirts.
Young people today who are concerned with ecological problems, who are grinding their own grain, making bread, learning to weave, and growing natural foods, would have felt at home with many of the activities of the Baker farm. Mrs. Eddy referred to it as "the dear old farm and this with all its cares and toil." Quoted in The Golden Days by Jewel Spangler Smaus, p. 70;
Not all her brothers and sisters felt this way about the farm. Samuel, the oldest, went into the building trade. Albert, the talented brother who became a lawyer, a state legislator, and a close friend of Franklin Pierce, fourteenth President of the United States, did not conceal his dislike of farm chores. George, the red-headed youngest brother, rebelled at the family assumption that he would take over the farm. He left home without warning, making it necessary for Albert, home on a visit from Pierce's law office, to stay on and help his father harvest the potato crop. Abby, the oldest sister, was delighted when the family eventually left the farm and moved to the Sanbornton area—to what is now Tilton.
The father, Mark Baker, was not at heart a farmer. He was by nature more suited to the law or ministry. He did very well as a lay lawyer, helping the townspeople with their legal problems and holding the position of Coroner. This involved the serving and executing of writs and processes.
The Union (later Congregational) Church in Bow had no settled minister, and Mr. Baker was one of the more active members, as well as Clerk of the church. The Union Church was made up of Congregationalists, Baptists, and Methodists. Because the Bakers' relatives and friends held these differing doctrines, and the various ministers were entertained in the home, Mary Baker was raised in an atmosphere of vigorous theological discussion.
Describing her mother, Abigail Ambrose Baker, Mrs. Eddy quotes the words of the Reverend Richard S. Rust of Tilton: "She possessed a strong intellect, a sympathizing heart, and a placid spirit. Her presence, like the gentle dew and cheerful light, was felt by all around her. . . . Her life was a living illustration of Christian faith." Ret., p. 5;
You find others of Abigail Baker's type mentioned in town histories. Deeply religious, unobtrusively carrying piety and love into every facet of life, they made their mark on home and community.
Practically no documentation exists concerning Abigail Baker because women had no official role in the community. However, a fragment bearing on her capabilities was found recently in a rare bound volume of the Concerns of the New Hampshire Cent Institution, in the basement of the Concord Library. It records that Mrs. Baker headed the "Institution" in Bow for several years, a position that was filled in most communities by a minister's wife.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Baker were well informed for their day, and there was a good selection of books in the home. Mr. Baker was always active on the School Committee for District Three, and the Baker children went to Number Three school. Albert and Abby also attended Pembroke Academy across the river.
The Baker family moved in a circle that included not only Bow and the state capital, Concord, but East Concord and Pembroke. Mrs. Baker's cousins were prominent in Concord. One was Deacon of the Congregational church, another a merchant in East Concord. Mrs. Baker's father was Deacon of the Congregational church in Pembroke.
The Baker farm overlooked this entire area. Mrs. Eddy later described it in a chapter of "Autobiographic Reminiscences" in her book Retrospection and Introspection. She mentions the "broad picturesque view of the Merrimac River and the undulating lands of three townships . . . broad fields of bending grain waving gracefully in the sunlight, and orchards of apples, peaches, pears, and cherries . . . green pastures bright with berries, singing brooklets, beautiful wild flowers."p. 4;
"But change has been busy," she notes. And she describes the desolation that came over the scene with the disappearance of the simple rural society, which she knew there as a child, and which she left in 1836.
The Baker farm and saltbox were reproduced for Mrs. Eddy in 1899 by a cousin, Rufus Baker, who made an engraving of the old homestead. It is our most authentic picture, along with the oil done in 1914 by the American artist, Edward L. Henry, called "The Uplands at Bow."
Not far from the old saltbox there was another Baker house, which had been transferred in direct line from Mary's uncle James to his grandson John Baker, father of Rufus. Mrs. Eddy enjoyed a visit in this house with her cousin John and his family, probably when she lived on State Street in Concord. She also revisited the hilltop site. She is reported to have said that she would have built her own home there instead of settling in Concord, except that the hill was too steep for convenience.
By this time John had moved what was left of the Baker saltbox down the old Baker Road to his place, and was using it as a storage barn. Boston lawyer Sherman Saltmarsh remembers playing there as a boy. Minus the great center chimney, the stairway and entrance hall, as well as the saltbox portion, it was just one room, about 18 by 20 feet, with a ladder leading to what remained of the second story.
Old-timers also recall that the ragged shell of the saltbox was later shown, for twenty-five cents, as "the birthplace of Mary Baker Eddy"—which may account for the inaccurate stories that have circulated over the years regarding the size and appearance of her childhood home.
Both of the old Baker homes were eventually destroyed in a fire.
A few residents of Bow still remember seeing Mrs. Eddy on drives through the town. Mrs. Eva Alexander remembers the Founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist, as a gracious friend who drove by the school on the River Road at recess time, in her open carriage, and waved to the children at play. Tom May, who was a child at the time, recalls Mrs. Eddy's smile and friendly greeting.
In 1903 Mrs. Eddy learned that the Methodist Meeting House at Bow Bog was attempting to raise funds for a bell. She contributed a donation that made it possible for the church to buy one. It still rings in the squared-off steeple of the classic white building.
Methodists and Baptists formed separate churches when the Union Church disbanded. Though the Bakers were Congregationalists, attending services in Pembroke and Concord, ministers of other denominations were welcome guests at their home. Mrs. Eddy speaks of a Baptist minister and a Methodist elder as among the "grand old divines" Message to The Mother Church for 1901, p. 31; who contributed to her education.
When the Methodists built a new church in 1951, a group of Bow preservationists took over the restoration and maintenance of the old Bow Bog Meeting House. Christian Scientists in various parts of the United States have helped support the project. First Church of Christ, Scientist, Concord, sponsors at least one service or lecture there each year. Several other denominations participate in its use and support.
Prayer offered recently in the Meeting House by the Reverend Richard F. Beyer of Bow, summarizes its new ecumenical mission. Mrs. Eddy could have recognized in it something of the united worship of the old Union Church in Bow.
"We gather this day in this house, made sacred through these long years by the worship of faithful people. Here they have come to pray and sing their hymns and dedicate their lives to holy purpose. Now, although this church is no longer in continual use, we give thanks that a new mission is being fulfilled there; we rejoice that the bell rings freely for people of varying creeds and communions."
In Pulpit and Press Mrs. Eddy says: "All Christian churches have one bond of unity, one nucleus or point of convergence, one prayer,—the Lord's Prayer. It is matter for rejoicing that we unite in love, and in this sacred petition with every praying assembly on earth,—'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.' " Pulpit and Press, p. 22.
