Who was Elizabeth Towne?

Tough Beginnings

Elizabeth was married extremely young and by 17 she was already a mother. Her marriage was an unhappy one and soon she was divorced and raising two little children on her own - at the turn of the 20th century, mind you. You can imagine how tough that must have been for her!

Her schooling had been interrupted because of her marriage. Without any work skills she took a loan from her father to start a publishing business; $30 dollars a month during 6 months to start her own business.

Making Dreams Come True

She started a publication she named The Nautilus where she wrote about her experiences in home making, money, health, and spirituality. She began to teach principles of abundance and prosperity and success through her newly adopted philosophy of New Thought.

In 1900, at 35 she decided to move to Holyoke, Massachusetts and formally established her publishing company, The Elizabeth Towne Company. Here she would marry her second husband William E. Towne and together they would build Mrs. Towne's business.

Her company published metaphysical, self-help, and self-improvement books written by her as well as by other well-known authors of the day such as Wallace Wattles (The Science of Getting Rich), Helen Rhodes-Wallace, William Walker Atkinson, Kate Atkinson Boehme and her husband, William E. Towne.

Fifty-five Years of Success

The Nautilus Magazine grew by leaps and bounds, becoming the premier journal of the New Thought Movement that ran from 1898 until 1953, when Mrs. Towne retired and closed it due to her age - 88!

She shared her success secrets through her many inspirational writings on abundance and prosperity. She played a major role in the New Thought movement of the early 20th century as a teacher and healer.

The quote below shows just how much she was admired by the people who knew her.

"Besides her editorial, book making and home making life, she is a lecturer of note, having crossed the continent on lecture tours. She has a generous paragraph in 'Who's Who?' the standard American Hall of Fame.

"People who meet her are at once impressed with the qualities that have created her success.

"She has a message and the brains to present it well. She has high courage, rare judgment, a most attractive personality and with all these an immense capacity for hard work.

These qualities mean success in any path in life."

Resource: http://www.holyokemass.com

Mrs. Towne's wrote many books about abundance and prosperity principles and practical living. Here are just a few.

• Joy Philosophy
  

• Experiences in Self-Healing
  

• Just How to Concentrate
  

• Life Power and How to Use It
  

• Health Through New Thought and Fasting -Wallace Wattles and Elizabeth Towne co-authored this book.
  

Side note: In her magazine The Nautilus, Elizabeth Towne published the articles by Wallace D. Wattles in almost every issue in the early 1900's and until his untimely death in 1911.

• Health and Wealth from Within: How to Apply New Thought to the Attainment of Health, Success, and the Solving of Everyday Problems by her hubby, William E. Towne!
  

• How to Grow Success, my personal favorite, you can download it here. When you download her book you will receive The Nautilus Ezine once a month. Take a peek at some back issues!
  

The title page of Towne's book The Life Power and How to Use It is shown in the opening sequence of the 2006 movie The Secret. The film presents many of the ideas that she promoted, along with those of Wallace D. Wattles and William Walker Atkinson.

Related Topics

More great self-help books here.

For a look at chapters from one of Mrs. Towne's book, click here.

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