Caroline Phelps Stokes (December 4, 1854 – April 26, 1909) was a benefactor to many organizations that helped the underprivileged in the US, Africa and the Near East, supporting churches, libraries, educational establishments, orphanages, housing and more. A fund was set up after her death that continued to support her work.
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Early life
She was born in New York on December 4, 1854. She was the daughter of Caroline (née Phelps) Stokes and her father James Boulter Stokes. They were a family with strong religious convictions who saw it as their duty to help those less fortunate. She lived at her parents house on the East River until the age of three, when she moved with her family to 37 Madison Avenue. She attended boarding school at Farmington, Connecticut at the same time as her second cousin, Grace Hoadley Dodge, who later became an important figure in the history of female education and reform.
Life and inheritance
Caroline's parents died within months of each other in 1881, leaving an estate worth several million dollars to their seven children. However, the will was contested by Caroline's sister Dora, and it was 1888 before the money could be distributed. The family home at 37 Madison Avenue was retained and Caroline lived there with her sister, Olivia, until the building was redeveloped in 1902.