Thomas W. "Dorr" Phillips (1843-1877) was born and died in Lynn, Massachusetts. He worked as a clerk and married Hattie L. Ashton in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1874. Mary Baker Eddy befriended the Phillips family in about 1864 while living in Lynn, and she remained close with the Phillips family for several years until practicing and teaching Christian Science began to take up most of her time. One of her first healings was Phillips of a bone felon in 1866. Eddy notes that Phillips helped her when she was exposing spiritualists as frauds. Although there is a teaching agreement between Phillips and Eddy, it seems unlikely that a class occurred.

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