 The factory was part-owned by his uncle Thomas Frederick Bancroft.In 1870 he became interested in Christian Science after hearing about it from Daniel Spofford, another early student of Eddy's, and he then studied under Mary Baker Eddy himself.His uncle, a deacon of the First Congregational Church, was not supportive of his association with Eddy and once commented "My boy, you will be ruined for life; it is the work of the devil."