Margaret Chanler Aldrich
Margaret Livingston Aldrich,, also known as Angel of Puerto Rico, was an American philanthropist, poet, nurse, and woman's suffrage advocate. She was also a member of the Astor family and owned Rokeby in Barrytown, New York after purchasing it from her siblings. Aldrich was a daughter of John Winthrop Chanler and wife of Richard Aldrich.
Life
Aldrich was born Margaret Livingston Chanler on October 31, 1870 in Manhattan to John Winthrop Chanler, an attorney and U.S. Representative from New York, and Margaret Astor Chanler. Her maternal grandparents were Samuel Cutler Ward and Emily Astor, a member of the Astor family and daughter of William Backhouse Astor Sr.She served as a nurse with the American Red Cross during the Spanish–American War and Philippine–American War, travelling to the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, where she organized the care and treatment of wounded soldiers, for which she received a gold medal from Congress. She helped pass a 1901 bill establishing the United States [Army Nurse Corps|Women's Army Nursing Corps] and later served as an advocate for rural nursing, encouraging community members to support nurses.
Personal life
Later in life wrote of the family in her memoirs, Family Vista. A proponent of women's suffrage, she was a past president of the Protestant Episcopal Woman's Suffrage Association. In 1906, Chanler married Richard Aldrich, with whom she had two children.- Richard Chanler Aldrich
- Margaret "Maddie" Aldrich, married Byron A. DeMott of Santa Barbara, California.