John W. Bruce (1816-1912) was born in New Boston, New Hampshire, and died in Reading, Massachusetts. He was married to Margaret J. Rand until her passing in 1871. He married his second wife, Susan T. Eames, in Wilmington, Massachusetts, in 1872. He worked as a school teacher in New Hampshire for 20 years before moving to Massachusetts, where he worked as a farmer. While residing in Massachusetts, he was a member of the Reading Congregational Church. Bruce wrote to Mary Baker Eddy in 1885, inquiring about attending the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, although there is no record of him studying with Eddy. He received Christian Science treatment through prayer from Augusta E. Stetson, a student of Mary Baker Eddy's. Bruce joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 30, 1894, and was listed as a member through 1899. He was identified as a Congregationalist in his obituary when he passed away in 1912.

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