Seton, << SEET uhn, >> Saint Elizabeth Ann (1774-1821), was the first person born in the United States to be recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. She was canonized (declared a saint) in 1975. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, who is also called Mother Seton, founded the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (now often called Sisters of Charity), the first Catholic religious community that originated in the United States. She also pioneered in Catholic education in the United States.
Mother Seton was born Elizabeth Ann Bayley in New York City on Aug. 28, 1774. In 1794, she married William M. Seton, a wealthy New York City shipping merchant. The couple had five children. William Seton died in 1803, and Elizabeth became a member of the Catholic Church two years later.
In 1808, Elizabeth Seton settled in Baltimore and established the Paca Street School, the first Catholic elementary school in the United States. She took religious vows in 1809 and founded the Daughters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland, that same year. In 1814, she established the Orphan Asylum of Philadelphia, the nation’s first Catholic child-care institution. She died on Jan. 4, 1821. Her feast day is January 4.
