Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Seton, Saint Elizabeth Ann, or Mother Seton (1774–1821), first native-born U.S. saint. A devout Episcopalian, she was widowed at 28 with five children. In 1805, she converted to Catholicism. She opened an elementary school (1808), regarded as the basis of the U.S. parochial school system, and in 1813 founded the first U.S. religious society, the Sisters of Charity. She was canonized in 1975. Her feast day is Jan. 4.