David J. Chaffee (1835-1923) was born and died in New York. In 1863, he married Louisa Chaffee (b. Broadwell), a descendant of Alexander Hamilton. Chaffee graduated from the Western Homeopathic Medical College in Cleveland in 1863, then served as a military doctor in the Civil War before becoming a civilian homeopathic physician. In 1886, he wrote to Mary Baker Eddy to order Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. He wrote in subsequent years to order literature for associates and to express interest in studying Christian Science.

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