His mother, Anna Prosperi, is said to have been a descendant of Rienzi, and was a member of the third order of St Francis.
Among its many charitable institutions are a Masonic Home and School (1893), a Home for the Homeless (1867), St Elizabeth's Home (1886), St Luke's Home (1869), a Home for Aged Men and Couples (1879), Utica Orphan Asylum (1830), St Joseph's Infant Home (1893) and St John's Female Orphan Asylum (1834), both under the Sisters of Charity; the House of the Good Shepherd (1872; Protestant Episcopal); and the General (1873; City of Utica), Homeopathic (1895), St Luke's (1869; supported by the Protestant Episcopal Churches), St Elizabeth's (1866; Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis) and Faxton (1873) hospitals.
Of these one, consisting of sisters of the third order of St Francis, called the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes (founded 1877), has its headquarters in Rochester, Minnesota.
The shell-bearing forms belonging to this group which were known to Linnaeus were placed by him (in 1748) in the third order of his class Vermes under the name " Testacea," whilst the Echinoderms, Hydroids and Annelids, with the naked Mollusca, formed his second order termed " Zoophyta."
Immediately on its establishment in 1221 the Third Order spread with incredible rapidity all over Italy and throughout western Europe, and embraced multitudes of men and women of all ranks from highest to lowest.
