Part of a Series on Vincentian Heritage Places

Staten Island, New York

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Summers on Staten Island

• Elizabeth stayed summers at her father’s home on Staten Island (1800–1801).
• Her father (Dr. Bayley’s) quarantine hospital was located on Staten Island
• Staten Island was the birthplace of her daughter Catherine Charlton Seton (28 June 1800).

The Bayley summer estate on Staten Island provided more than escape from city life— it became a spiritual retreat where Elizabeth found solace in prayer and nature, especially during times of loss.

The year 1800 brought fresh disasters at sea, which completely overwhelmed Mr. Seton financially. In the Summer, as their Craigdon property was now sold, Elizabeth’s father, Doctor Bayley, brought Elizabeth and her family to his house at the Quarantine Station on Staten Island, and there in June, Elizabeth gave birth to her fourth child, a daughter, who received the name of Catharine, in memory of Elizabeth’s mother.

In the summer of 1801, Elizabeth and the children stayed with her father, who was still the health officer for the Port of New York on Staten Island. The arrival on Staten Island that June was a joyous affair, and gave no warning of the tragic event which lay ahead (her father’s death on August 17, 1801). The welcome the Setons received was “such as dispelled all the gloom of my heart.” Elizabeth was in such high elation that the simple gift of fine garden strawberries from a neighbor seemed more than she could bear. The house looked so neat; the birds, the garden, the sunshine were so cheerful. “How the heart did melt before Him the giver of all.” Source: Elizabeth Seton: Foundress of the American Sisters of Charity; Her Life and Work by Agnes Sadlier

Dr. Bayley’s quarantine station near Tompkinsville on Staten Island

Relatives of Elizabeth Bayley Seton Marker at St. Andrew’s Church (see text below)

In Memory of the Relatives of
Elizabeth Bayley Seton who are buried in this churchyard

Reverend Richard Charlton, D.D.
her grandfather,
Rector of St. Andrew’s Church from 1747 until his death in 1777.

Mary Bayeux Charlton,
her grandmother,
Wife of Reverend Richard Charlton, date of death unknown.

Dr. Richard Bayley,
her father
Distinguished Physician, first officer of the Port of New York. Died 1801.

Catherine Charlton Bayley,
her mother.
Died: 1777.

Mary Bayley Post,
her sister.
Died: 1856.

Erected by Sisters of Charity, Mount Saint Vincent on Hudson, New York,
in honor of their foundress, venerable Mother Elizabeth Bayley Seton.

All Vincentian Places in this Series

Red = Vincent de Paul, Blue = Frederic Ozanam, Teal = Elizabeth Seton

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