SETON, ELIZABETH (1774–1821), was the first American-born Christian saint, and first founder of a sisterhood in the United States. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton was born probably in New York City, the second daughter of Richard Bayley by his first wife, Catherine Charlton. Little is known of her formal education save that she attended a school called Mama Pompelion's, learning to play the piano and to speak French.

On January 25, 1794, at the age of nineteen, she married William Magee Seton, a young New York merchant. The union produced five children. In 1797 she cooperated with Isabella Marshall Graham in forming a society to aid destitute widowed mothers. In 1800 she came under the influence of John Henry Hobart, an assistant at Trinity (Episcopal) Church in New York City, and under his guidance her spiritual life deepened perceptibly.

The next nine years tested these spiritual resources to the full. Her husband's...