Perlina J. Farlow (b. McGrew) (1834-1915) was born in Indiana and died in Los Angeles, California. She married William Farlow in Knox County, Illinois, in 1854, and they operated a farm and then a mercantile business in Orange Township, Illinois. In 1879, the Farlows relocated to Beatrice, Nebraska, where they again went into farming. In 1885, Perlina was healed through Christian Science treatment, whereupon her whole family became interested in Christian Science. In 1886, Perlina, William, their sons Alfred and William S., and their daughters Sarah and Emma, took the Primary class with Janet Colman, a student of Mary Baker Eddy's. Subsequently Alfred, William S., Sarah, and Emma studied with Eddy at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College. The Farlow family moved to Kansas in the late 1880s, first to Topeka, then to Kansas City, where Alfred, William S., and Sarah were instrumental in establishing and operating the Kansas Christian Science Institute. Perlina and William joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts on June 30, 1894, and seven of their eight children also joined. In 1899, when Alfred was called by Eddy to work for the Christian Science movement in Boston, the rest of the Farlows followed and settled in Newton, Massachusetts. Perlina became a personal friend of Eddy's, frequently visiting her Chestnut Hill home. William died in 1909, and Perlina remained in Newton until 1914, when she joined Alfred in relocating to Los Angeles and remained there until her passing.

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