St. Elizabeth Ann Seton & Family

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the daughter of Dr. Richard Bayley (1745-1801) and Catherine Charlton of New York City, came from a prominent family of French Huguenot and English settlers and married into the socially famed Seton clan by way of her husband Dr. William McGee Seton (1768-1803). As part of New York society, the connections to other famed and influential families expanded over subsequent generations including ties to the Roosevelt family. This is clearly evident in the legacy of the first Bishop of Newark, James Roosevelt Bayley (1814-1877) who was a nephew of Mother Seton and founder of Seton Hall College in 1856.

Other prominent figures in this family tree include daughter Catherine (1800-1891), the first American born member of the Sisters of Charity; William Seton II (1796-1868), a founding partner in the William Seton Company (later known as Seton, Maitland and Company) that specialized in mercantile imports-exports; Robert Seton (1839-1927), grandson to Mother Seton,Titular Archbishop o Heliopolis and College Trustee during the nineteenth century; and William Seton III ( 1835-1905), a noted novelist and popular science writer. The following links provide more details on this historic and prolific family.