A. J. Swarts (c.1839-1898) was born in Lexington, Michigan, and died in Seattle, Washington. In the late 1860s he became a Methodist preacher in Peru, Nebraska, preaching alongside his father, Simon P. Swarts. He later moved to Evanston, Illinois, in the 1870s, where he continued his work as a preacher. In May 1884, he, alongside his second wife, Katie, attended the last five days of a Primary class taught in Chicago by Mary Baker Eddy. Soon afterwards, he established his own metaphysical healing and teaching practice called the Spiritual Science University. In 1885, he began publishing a monthly periodical called The Mind Cure and Science of Life (later renamed Mental Science Magazine), which regularly published articles repudiating the teachings of Eddy. In early 1888, he visited Maine and Massachusetts where he met with Warren Felt Evans and George A. Quimby, the son of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby. In the April 1888 edition of Mental Science, he published an article accusing Mary Baker Eddy of plagiarizing the works of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby. In late 1888, Swarts transferred ownership of Mental Science to his wife Katie, so he could focus solely on teaching and healing. In the spring of 1889, Mental Science was sold to Ida A. Nichols, who owned the rival Chicago publication, Christian Science. After selling Mental Science, Swarts continued to teach and lecture in the Midwest and on the West Coast until his passing.

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