Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (28 August 1774 - 4 January 1821) was the first United States-born canonized Saint in the Roman Catholic Church. She was the foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph's, the first community of religious women founded in the United States. Her establishment of Saint Joseph's Academy and Free School for girls paved the way for parochial school system in the United States later in the nineteenth century.
Born in New York City, Mother Seton came from a Protestant background, converted to Roman Catholicism, and was a co-worker with John Carroll in the formative years of the Catholic Church in the new nation of the United States. She was one of the most influential Catholic women in the early nineteenth century; her legacy and influence continues in the twenty-first century.
She was canonized by Pope Paul VI on September 14, 1975. Her feast day is January 4.