Edwin Philbrook (1837-1890) was born in Granville, Ohio, and died in Decatur, Illinois. He graduated from Illinois State Normal University in 1860 and was an American Civil War veteran, serving as a Private in Company H, 8th Regiment, Illinois Infantry of the Union Army. He married Ellen C. Pilsbury, Mary Baker Eddy's niece, in Macon, Illinois, in 1871. He was principal of the schools of Sabetha and Blue Rapids, Kansas, for eight years before returning to Illinois and teaching in Decatur schools along with his wife from 1879-1885. Philbrook was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization composed of Civil War veterans.

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