Russell Cheney (1806-1874) was born in New Hampshire and died in Whitewater, Minnesota. He worked as a farmer and married Mahala Sanborn in Plymouth, New Hampshire, in 1845. Mary Baker Eddy's son, George Washington Glover, was sent to North Groton, New Hampshire, to live with the Cheneys in 1851. In 1856, the Cheneys moved to Minnesota, taking Glover with them. In 1860, Cheney aggressively attempted to obtain money from Glover's family, resulting in Mark Baker, Mary Baker Eddy's father, paying Cheney $200 (the equivalent of about $7,139 in 2021). After his wife's passing in 1866, Cheney married Ruth Turner in Lewiston, Minnesota, in 1867.

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