The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1907-01-18
MIS- fDDY REPLIES I'd ATTACK
DENIES Statements Published as
- 10 Her Eahy Life. 81 n

u ass -: flsa EEFv 4
Her DutJ 10 iIcr Father and As the
Leader of Christian Science Com
hpeIs Her TO Contradict Erroneous
Statements. H -
Il 2 t,. saf-.- Ia
! bConcord, n. H. January 4-The
January issue Of McClure's Magazine.
which undertakes to publish the his
tory OF the early life of the Reverend
Mary Baker Eddy, leader OF the Chris
tan Scientists. and her family. has
been brought TO the attention of Mrs.
Eddy She has taken the pains 10 cor
rect this matter. and has sent out the
following statement over her OWL sig
nature: IT,. 81. .
IL Is a calumny on Christian Science
TO say that man is aroused to thought
or action only by ease. pleasure. or re
ooanpense. Something higaer, nobIer.
more imperative, impeis the impulse
of Soul.
1t becomes my duty 10 be Just 10 the
departed and TO tread not ruthlessIy
on their ashes. The attack on NE and
my late father and his family in Nc
Clnres Magazine, January, 1907, COM
peis me as a dutiful child and the
cad Of Christian Science TO speak
McClure's Magazine refers to 10y
fathers tall, gaunt frame and pic
lures the old man tramping doggedly
along the highway regularly beating
the ground with a huge walking stick"
My fathers person was erect and re-
bBst. He never used a waIking-stick.
To illustrate: One time when my
father was visiting Governor Pierce,
President Franklin Pierce's father. the
governor handed him a goid-headcd
Walking-Stick as they We're about to
start for church. My father thanked
the governor, but declined to accept
the stick, saying: Il never use a cane"
Although McC4ure'S Magazine attri-
butes to my father language unseem-
ly, his household law, constantly en-
forced, was 10 profanity and no slang
phrases. McC4ure's Magazine also de-
clares that the Bible was the only book
in his house. On the contrary. my
father was a great reader.
The man whom McClure's Magazine
eharacterizes as ignorant, dominat-
inc, passionate, fearless,' was uniform
1y dignified-a well-infoTmed, intel
lectual man, cultivated in mind and
manners. He was called upon to do
much business for his town making
out deeds, settling quarrelS, and even
acting Is cOupsel in a lawsuit involv-
ing a question of pauperism between
the towns of LoudOn and Bow, y. H.
Franklin Pierce, afterward president of
the United States, "a the counsel for
LOudOn and Mark Baker for Bow. Both
entered their pleas, and my father won
the suit. After it was decided. Mr..
Pierce bowed to my father and on |
graduated him. For several years,
father was chaplain of the New Hamp-
shire state militia, and as | ~recoliect
it, he was justice of the peace at one
time. Ny father was a Strong be
lever in states rights, but slavery he
regarded as a great sin.
Mark Baker was the youngest of his
fathers family. and inherited his
fathers READ estate, an extensive farm
situated in Bow and Concord. \. II.
1t is ON record that Mark Bakers faith
er paid the largest tax in the colony.
McClure's Magazine says describing
the Baker homestead at Bow. The
house itself was a small, square box
structure of rudimentary architecture.
My fathers house had a sloping roof
after the prevailing style of architect
ure of that date.
McClure's Magazine states: Alone
of the Bakers, he (Albert) received a
liberal, education. = = Mary Jake
passed her first fifteen years at the
ancestral home at Bow. It was a lone
ly and discriminating existence. The
church supplied the only social diver
sion. the district school practically all
the intellectual life"
Let us see what are the fruits of
this lonely and unstimulating exist
ence." All Of my fathers daughters
were given an academic education, sui
.ficient1y advanced so that they all
taught school acceptably at various
times and places.
Ny brother Albert was a distinguish
ed LAWYER. In addition to my academic
training, l was privately tutored by
him. He was a member of the New !
Hampshire legislature, and was nOHl-
mated for congress but died before the
election.
McClure's Magazine sayes that the
est brother George Sullivan Bakef, "a
workman in a TiltOn WOODEN mill.
AS a matter of fact, he was Joint
partner with Alexander TiltOn, ana
together they owned a large manufac--
uring establishment in TiltOn, \. II.
His military title Of Colonel came from
on the staff of the govern
of New Hampshire.
Ny Oldest brother, Samuel ID. Baker,
on a large business IN Boston,
Mass.
Regarding the allegation by Nc
Clure's Magazine that all the family,
Albert. died with cancer
will saw that there was never a death
in my family reported by physician or
Dost-mortem examination as caused by (
cancer.
McClure's Magazine sails that the
between Mary, a child of ten