Countess Annie Leary

Annie Leary, Countess of the Holy Roman Church (1832 – April 26, 1919) was an American Papal countess, prominent society figure, and philanthropist in late nineteenth and early twentieth century New York City.[1]

Annie Leary
Countess of the Holy Roman Church
Born1832
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedApril 26, 1919(1919-04-26) (aged 86–87)
New York City, New York, U.S.
OccupationPhilanthropist
RelativesArthur Leary (brother)

Early life

Annie was born in 1832 in New York City. She was the daughter of Catharine Leary (1803–1879) and James Leary (1792–1862), a hatter who was a childhood friend of William Backhouse Astor Sr. James later bought many beaver pelts from William's father, John Jacob Astor, and operated a shop in the basement of the original Astor House Hotel across from New York City Hall. She had three brothers Arthur, Daniel, and George who made a fortune in shipping during the U.S. Civil War. Arthur was a bachelor who Annie accompanied to society functions in New York City as well as Newport, Rhode Island.[2] It has been suggested that James friendship with the Astors is what led to Arthur, and in turn Annie, being the only Catholics to be included on Mrs. Astor's "The 400". When Arthur died she inherited his fortune as well as his social prominence.[3]

Her maternal ancestors were Dutch immigrants and her paternal grandfather came from Ireland to the United States while he was a boy.[1]

Philanthropy

After inheriting vast wealth, Annie Leary soon became an ardent philanthropist. Among her first projects was a predominantly Italian church in the Sullivan Street neighborhood where she taught a sewing class and increased the size of the congregation. She gave altars to a large number of churches, both in the United States and abroad. She built and outfitted several churches and brought an order of priests (the Order of the Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament) to the St. Jean Baptiste Church, and an order of sisters (the Sisters of the Order of the Reparation) to the U.S. to carry out her work.[4] She also donated the statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle.[5]

Among her notable bequests was $1,000,000 for the construction of the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament at Bellevue Hospital, the first Catholic chapel at Bellevue, which was donated in 1893 and dedicated in memory of her late brother Arthur in 1897.[6] The Chapel was razed 1938 in order to make way for a Bellevue administration building which encompassed a new chapel where the original stained glass panels including nine made in Munich remain today.[7]

In 1903, Pope Leo XIII created her a Papal Countess, the first such title to have been bestowed upon a woman in the United States.[8]

Personal life

Her closest friend was the businesswoman and financier Hetty Green,[9] who was known as "the richest woman in America" during the Gilded Age.[10] Leary, who did not marry, died at her home, 1032 Fifth Avenue in New York City, on April 26, 1919.[4] Her funeral was held at St. Ignatius Loyola Church on East 84th Street and Park Avenue.[4]

Estate

In her will, she allotted $200,000 to the Archbishop of New York for the erection of a sacristy for New York City's new St. Patrick's Cathedral as well as a vault for eight (the Countess and her family) to be placed beneath the altar. It turned out however that the management of her will was delegated to a niece of hers who was not fond of the departed philanthropist and the money was never given to the aforementioned clergyman. Legal action therefore followed, and by the time the will was resolved in 1926 there was no money left to pay for the vault. Consequently, the Countess's final resting place is in the catacombs of the Old St. Patrick's Cathedral.[9]

References
  1. "American Elite, Papal Aristocrat". Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  2. "ARTHUR LEARY IS DEAD. FOR YEARS HE WAS PROMINENT IN BUSINESS, POLITICS, AND SOCIETY" (PDF). The New York Times. February 24, 1893. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  3. McShea, M. (22 September 2014). "90 Fifth Avenue NYC - Arthur and Countess Annie Leary Cottage - 1890". ThisCulturalChristian. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  4. "PAPAL COUNTESS ANNIE LEARY DIES Philanthropist, Honored by Rome for Wide Charities, Expires in Fifth Avenue Home. BUILT BELLEVUE CHAPEL Helper of Thousands of New York's Poor Planned a University on Staten Island" (PDF). The New York Times. April 27, 1919. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  5. "A Stairway to Havens" (PDF). News & Views. NYU Langone Medical Center: 8. March–April 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  6. Americana: (American Historical Magazine). American Historical Company, Incorporated. 1912. p. 121. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  7. "Chapels at Bellevue Hospital - New York City". www.nycago.org. The NYC Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  8. McNamara, Pat (August 22, 2011). ""The Church Would Look Foolish Without Them": Countess Annie Leary, New York, New York". patheos.com. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  9. Cantwell, Mary (3 September 1990). "Editorial Notebook; Who Was Countess Annie Leary? Readers Were Happy To Supply the Answer". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  10. Rosenblum, Constance (December 19, 2004). "'Hetty': Scrooge in Hoboken". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-21. Hetty Green was that rarity, a woman who largely through her own efforts amassed a ton of money during the Gilded Age, a time when virtually everyone else getting rich -- Rockefeller, Morgan, Carnegie -- was a man. By nearly all accounts she was also a thoroughly unpleasant individual, greedy, petty and often downright nasty.
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