St Elizabeth Ann Seton

The child of a prominent physician, Dr. Richard Bayley, who was first Health Officer in New York City. At the age of 20 she married William Seton,  and had 5 children with him.  In 1797 she was one of the founders of the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children which was the first charitable organization in New York.  Her husband suffered bankrupcy and poor health, so the family travelled to Italy in 1803 where he died of tuberculosis.  When she returned to New York, she converted to Catholicism and was shunned by most of her friends and relatives.  Consequently she had trouble earning a living.

The Sisters of Charity, the first American-based Catholic sisterhood.  They provided free education for the poor girls and was considered the be the beginning of Catholic parochial education in the United States.

She became the first person born in what would become the United States to be canonized by the Catholic Church