Ella S. Rathvon (1863-1923) was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and died in Brookline, Massachusetts. She married William R. Rathvon, a Colorado businessman, in 1883. The couple became acquainted with Christian Science during a visit to Chicago, Illinois, in 1893. While there, they had class instruction with Mary M. W. Adams, a student of Mary Baker Eddy's. They returned to Florence, Colorado, where they helped establish Christian Science, and then moved to Boulder, Colorado, where they joined First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boulder. They joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 31, 1894. Rathvon had further instruction under the Christian Science Board of Education in 1903. She was listed in the directory of The Christian Science Journal as a Christian Science practitioner from 1904 until her death. When her husband went to serve in Eddy's household at 400 Beacon Street in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, in the fall of 1908, Rathvon continued her practice in Boulder. She moved to Newton, Massachusetts, in 1909 to be closer to William, and was soon invited to serve in Eddy's Chestnut Hill home as well, remaining there until Eddy's passing in 1910. The couple returned to Colorado, settling in Denver. William's appointment to the Christian Science Board of Directors in 1918 brought them back to Boston, where Ella continued her healing work until her passing in 1923.

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