Samuel Putnam Bancroft Explained

Samuel Putnam Bancroft
Birth Date:19 July 1846
Death Place:United States
Nationality:American
Other Names:Putney Bancroft
Notable Works:Mrs. Eddy as I Knew Her in 1870

Samuel Putnam Bancroft (July 19, 1846 - October 11, 1929), also known as Samuel P. Bancroft, was an American Christian Scientist and an early student of Mary Baker Eddy.

Biography

As a young man Bancroft, who went by Putney,[1] worked as a shoe operative for Bancroft & Purington in Lynn, Massachusetts.[2] The factory was part-owned by his uncle Thomas Frederick Bancroft.[3] In 1870 he became interested in Christian Science after hearing about it from Daniel Spofford, another early student of Mary Baker Eddy's, and he then studied under Eddy herself.[2] His uncle, a deacon of the First Congregational Church, was not supportive of his association with Eddy and once commented "My boy, you will be ruined for life; it is the work of the devil."[4] [5]

For a short period, Bancroft tried unsuccessfully to establish his own practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts during 1874-1875. Bancroft advertised himself as a "Scientific Physician, Gives no Medicine."[6] Bancroft was generally loyal to Eddy,[7] but she had to warn him against idolizing her, telling him not to "make a Dagon of me" referring to the idol in 1 Samuel 5 in the Bible.[8] Bancroft helped Eddy organize the Christian Science Association in 1876 and the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in 1881.[9] He wrote of Eddy, "[she] showed to her early pupils the loving-kindness of a mother, or the faithful devotion of a sister." However, he eventually became inactive in the Christian Science movement.[10]

In 1923, Bancroft wrote and privately published the book Mrs. Eddy as I Knew Her in 1870.[11] The book was never officially endorsed by the church, but is still read by some Christian Scientists today, and is sold independently.[12] There have been some claims that it was suppressed;[13] [14] however, the Mary Baker Eddy Library, which is owned by the church, calls it "one of the most important reminiscences of Eddy's early years as a practitioner and teacher of Christian Science."[15]

Publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Peel . Robert . Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Trial . registration . 1971 . Holt, Rinehart and Winston . New York . 10. 978-0-03-086700-2 .
  2. Kennedy, Hugh A. Studdert. (1931). Mrs. Eddy as I Knew Her: Being Some Contemporary Portraits of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. The Farallon Press. pp. 168-172
  3. [Ernest Sutherland Bates|Bates, Ernest Sutherland]
  4. [Mary Baker Eddy|Eddy, Mary Baker]
  5. Tucker, Ruth A. (1989). Another Gospel: Cults, Alternative Religions, and the New Age Movement. Zondervan. p. 158.
  6. Schoepflin, Rennie B. (2003). Christian Science on Trial: Religious Healing in America. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 49.
  7. [Sibyl Wilbur|Wilbur, Sibyl]
  8. Book: Peel . Robert . Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Trial . registration . 1971 . Holt, Rinehart and Winston . New York . 17. 978-0-03-086700-2 .
  9. Book: Warneck . Robert . Christian Healer . 2009 . CSPS . 419–420 . Amplified.
  10. Book: Peel . Robert . Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Trial . registration . 1971 . Holt, Rinehart and Winston . New York . 123. 978-0-03-086700-2 .
  11. James, Edward T; James, Janet Wilson; Boyer, Paul S. (1971). Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 1. Harvard University Press. p. 561.
  12. Web site: Mrs. Eddy As I Knew Her In 1870 . The Bookmark . 10 March 2020.
  13. Bates and Dittemore, 1932. p. 4
  14. [Martin A. Larson|Larson, Martin Aldred]
  15. Web site: Samuel Putnam Bancroft . Mary Baker Eddy Papers . Mary Baker Eddy Library . 10 March 2020.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Samuel Putnam Bancroft".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.