The Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph from Emmitsburg, MD

The Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph from Emmitsburg, MD. . , In 1793, after the dreaded Yellow Fever Epidemic of that year, The Trustees of Holy Trinity Church established a residence for orphans they found wandering on the streets. In 1807, the orphanage was legally incorporated as "The Roman Catholic Society for Educating and Maintaining Poor Orphan Children.", In October, 1814, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Charity came to Philadelphia to work in the orphanage. These Sisters had been founded by Mother Elizabeth Ann Bailey Seton in 1809. It was the first new community for religious women to be established in the United States. And this was the first mission for these Sisters outside of Emmitsburg., The orphanage, first established in a simple wooden house near Holy Trinity Church at 6th and Spruce Streets, was eventually located at 702-704 Spruce Street, where it remained until 1945. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Charity not only ministered to the orphans, but were called upon by the City of Philadelphia to assist in nursing during the 1832 cholera epidemic. Several of the Sisters are buried here along with at least one of the orphans.