Richard S. (Richard Sutton) Rust (1815-1906) was a Baker family friend. He befriended Mary Baker Eddy's father, Mark Baker (1785-1865), while Rust was serving as the principal of the New Hampshire Conference Seminary, Northfield, New Hampshire, (known today as the Tilton School, Tilton, New Hampshire). In the mid-1840s, Rust employed Eddy as a teacher at the Seminary and in 1849, he wrote the obituary for Mary Baker Eddy's mother, Abigail Baker (1784-1849). He later transferred to the Cincinnati Conference, working for the Freedmen's Bureau of the Methodist Episcopal Church, where he played a role in founding two schools for African-Americans: Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio, and Rust College, Holly Springs, Mississippi. Rust and Eddy remained dear friends throughout their lives. Eddy sent Rust a first edition of Science and Health in 1875. He visited her at her Pleasant View home in 1902 and they spent their time talking and singing hymns.

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