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Was the daughter of Captain Barry, who was the owner of a line of vessels plying between Baltimore and the West Indies. She married Thomas F. Ryan. She and her husband have been generous contributors to many of the charitable institutions and philanthropic work of the church, especially in Virginia. They furnished the interior of the Sacred Heart Cathedral of Richmond, which had been given to the city by her husband, at a cost of $500,000; built the Sacred Heart Church, Washington Ward, and Sacred Heart Cathedral School at Richmond; church and convent at Falls Church, Virginia; contributed to churches at Hot Springs and Harrisburg, Virginia, and Keyser, West Virginia; the chapel at Suffern, New York, where their summer home is located, and together gave Ryan Hall and a wing to Georgetown University, Georgetown, D. C. She was decorated with the Cross of St. Gregory and made a Countess by Pope Pius X for her philanthropic work.

Was the daughter of William Knox, a prominent banker and planter of Montgomery, Alabama, and Annie O. Lewis Knox, whose family was related to the Fairfaxes, Washingtons, and other families of Virginia. Her husband was Thomas J. Semmes, a distinguished jurist, prominent in the political affairs of Louisiana, and was a member of the convention in 1861 which passed the articles of secession in the state of Louisiana. Since her husband's death Mrs. Semmes has devoted her life to charity and benevolence, and has erected a magnificent chapel in the Jesuit Church, in New Orleans, in memory of her husband.

Was a descendant of the distinguished Spalding family of Morganfield, Kentucky, from which two archbishops have been made. Active in charitable work in Atlanta, Georgia, where her husband, Dr. Robert Spalding, is well known.

Was the daughter of George Henry and Pamelia Forrest Paine; was born in 1862; a graduate of Vassar College. Her first philanthropic work was with the Salvation Army. She trained the officers for the organization at the International Training Home, London; established a home for waif boys in London, England, and suggested to General Booth the outline of his work, "Darkest England's Social Scheme"; was the author of many stories and poems written for Salvation Army publications. In 1896 she became a convert to Catholicism, and since has served as assistant editor of the Catholic World Magazine and editor of the Young Catholic. In 1897 she entered a religious order, and was for a time directress of an orphanage in Havana, Cuba, and directress of the Dominican College of Havana. Since October, 1004, she has served as novice mistress of the Dominican congregation of St. Catherine di Ricci, of Albany, New York.