According to Wikipedia: Mother Alphonsa was born on May 20, 1851 to Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife Sophia Hawthorne, and baptised as Rose Hawthorne… After her fathers death in 1864, she tried to become an author, like him. She wrote book of poems, Along the Shore, which was published in 1888. She later decided to rededicate her life to restoring her familys reputation after her brothers illegal activities and prostitution attempts. She was known for her service near and within New York City, caring for impoverished cancer by founding St. Roses Free Home for Incurable Cancer in the Lower East Side. After Georges death in 1898, she became a nun, and was inspired by The New Colossus, a poem penned by her close friend Emma Lazarus, to found a community of Dominican religious, now known as the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne.