Part of the American History & Genealogy Project

Mother Mary Alphonsa 1851 ~ 1926

Mother Mary Alphonsa

Was the daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and in 1871 married George Parsons Lathrop. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lathrop were converts to the Catholic faith. Mrs. Lathrop became greatly interested in the cause of those unfortunate people afflicted with cancer, and took up a course of study of this disease and its treatment at the Bellevue Hospital, New York. She worked among the poor and labored assiduously in their homes and in the hospitals.

On the death of her husband she established in a house on Cherry street, New York City, a small hospital for these poor unfortunate creatures, who were turned out of other hospitals as incurable, or because they were too poor to pay for treatment In addition to this she established a home at Hawthorne, in Westchester County, and an order was formed to aid her in her work under a rule of the Third Order of St Dominic.

This charity is for those who are pronounced incurable, and is known as St Rose's Free Cancer Hospital, with the country house in Westchester County. To this work Mrs. Lathrop consecrated her life, and entered the order and became its head, under the name of Mother Alphonsa. She has written some poems under the title "Along the Shore," and, with her husband, was the author of "Memories of Hawthorne" and "A Story of Courage."

Women of America

Source: The Part Taken by Women in American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.