Isabella Graham (1742–1814)

Isabella Marshall grew up near Paisley, Scotland, in a pious Presbyterian family. In 1765, she married Dr. John Graham, an army physician, whom she accompanied on his postings to British colonies in North America and the Caribbean.
After his death, she returned to Scotland. In order to support herself and her family, she opened a small school in Paisley and later a boarding school for young ladies in Edinburgh.
With her friend Lady Glenorchy, a philanthropist and patron of the school, she organized a Society for the Relief of the Destitute Sick. In 1789, Isabella Graham moved to New York City. With Elizabeth Ann Seton, Graham organized the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children, one of the earliest charities in the USA, and also one of the first examples of American women organizing on their own. In 1802, the society was given a New York State charter.
Isabella Graham also served as president of the Ladies' Board of the Magdalen Society, established an adult school for young people working in factories, and helped her daughter Joanna Graham Bethune organize a group to provide employment for needy women. She believed that cultivating piety and Christian morality was the key to lifting widows out of poverty.