Margaret Haughery was known as "the mother of the orphans" among the thousands who attended her funeral in New Orleans, Louisiana, including the archibishop, the governor, and the mayor. She never learned to read or write, but her excellent business skills allowed her to fully support the Female Orphan Aslyum of the Sisters of Charity (built in 1861 in response to the needs of the many orphans during the Yellow Fever epidemic, later known as St. Vincent's and now restored as a guesthouse). She also fed the poor and strongly assisted in financial support for many causes, including the building of St. Teresa's Church.
Margaret immigrated with her parents, Charles and Margaret O'Rouk Gaffney, from Ireland to America, where the parents died in Baltimore in 1822. Orphaned herself at age 9, she married Charles Haughery in 1835 and moved to New Orleans with him. Her husband and their newborn infant died in the cholera epidemic within a year. She found employment in the orphan aslyum, began her remarkable journey as a advocate of the poor and orphaned, and stated a dairy. She delivering the milk around in a horse-drawn cart, then opened the first steam-operated bakery in the South, which became famous. One source states: "During the yellow fever epidemic in the 1850s, she went about from house to house, without regard to race or creed, nursing the victims and consoling the dying mothers with the promise to look after their little ones."
Margaret Haugherty was buried in the same grave with Sister Francis Regis Barret, a Sister of Charity (died 1862), with whom Margaret had cooperated in early work for the poor. In 1884, "Margaret's Statue" was dedicated in a little park, officially named Margaret Place. For a long time this was called the first public monument erected to a woman in the United States, but the monument to Mrs. Hannah Dustin on Dustin Island, New Hampshire, was built ten years earlier. However, it is the first to honor a businesswoman.
Margaret immigrated with her parents, Charles and Margaret O'Rouk Gaffney, from Ireland to America, where the parents died in Baltimore in 1822. Orphaned herself at age 9, she married Charles Haughery in 1835 and moved to New Orleans with him. Her husband and their newborn infant died in the cholera epidemic within a year. She found employment in the orphan aslyum, began her remarkable journey as a advocate of the poor and orphaned, and stated a dairy. She delivering the milk around in a horse-drawn cart, then opened the first steam-operated bakery in the South, which became famous. One source states: "During the yellow fever epidemic in the 1850s, she went about from house to house, without regard to race or creed, nursing the victims and consoling the dying mothers with the promise to look after their little ones."
Margaret Haugherty was buried in the same grave with Sister Francis Regis Barret, a Sister of Charity (died 1862), with whom Margaret had cooperated in early work for the poor. In 1884, "Margaret's Statue" was dedicated in a little park, officially named Margaret Place. For a long time this was called the first public monument erected to a woman in the United States, but the monument to Mrs. Hannah Dustin on Dustin Island, New Hampshire, was built ten years earlier. However, it is the first to honor a businesswoman.
Margaret Haughery was known as "the mother of the orphans" among the thousands who attended her funeral in New Orleans, Louisiana, including the archibishop, the governor, and the mayor. She never learned to read or write, but her excellent business skills allowed her to fully support the Female Orphan Aslyum of the Sisters of Charity (built in 1861 in response to the needs of the many orphans during the Yellow Fever epidemic, later known as St. Vincent's and now restored as a guesthouse). She also fed the poor and strongly assisted in financial support for many causes, including the building of St. Teresa's Church.
Margaret immigrated with her parents, Charles and Margaret O'Rouk Gaffney, from Ireland to America, where the parents died in Baltimore in 1822. Orphaned herself at age 9, she married Charles Haughery in 1835 and moved to New Orleans with him. Her husband and their newborn infant died in the cholera epidemic within a year. She found employment in the orphan aslyum, began her remarkable journey as a advocate of the poor and orphaned, and stated a dairy. She delivering the milk around in a horse-drawn cart, then opened the first steam-operated bakery in the South, which became famous. One source states: "During the yellow fever epidemic in the 1850s, she went about from house to house, without regard to race or creed, nursing the victims and consoling the dying mothers with the promise to look after their little ones."
Margaret Haugherty was buried in the same grave with Sister Francis Regis Barret, a Sister of Charity (died 1862), with whom Margaret had cooperated in early work for the poor. In 1884, "Margaret's Statue" was dedicated in a little park, officially named Margaret Place. For a long time this was called the first public monument erected to a woman in the United States, but the monument to Mrs. Hannah Dustin on Dustin Island, New Hampshire, was built ten years earlier. However, it is the first to honor a businesswoman.
Margaret immigrated with her parents, Charles and Margaret O'Rouk Gaffney, from Ireland to America, where the parents died in Baltimore in 1822. Orphaned herself at age 9, she married Charles Haughery in 1835 and moved to New Orleans with him. Her husband and their newborn infant died in the cholera epidemic within a year. She found employment in the orphan aslyum, began her remarkable journey as a advocate of the poor and orphaned, and stated a dairy. She delivering the milk around in a horse-drawn cart, then opened the first steam-operated bakery in the South, which became famous. One source states: "During the yellow fever epidemic in the 1850s, she went about from house to house, without regard to race or creed, nursing the victims and consoling the dying mothers with the promise to look after their little ones."
Margaret Haugherty was buried in the same grave with Sister Francis Regis Barret, a Sister of Charity (died 1862), with whom Margaret had cooperated in early work for the poor. In 1884, "Margaret's Statue" was dedicated in a little park, officially named Margaret Place. For a long time this was called the first public monument erected to a woman in the United States, but the monument to Mrs. Hannah Dustin on Dustin Island, New Hampshire, was built ten years earlier. However, it is the first to honor a businesswoman.
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