Though born in the United States, Annie lived her first nine years in Europe--first England, then France. Her family returned to settle in Hartford, Connecticut near family friends Samuel Clemens, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and William Gillette.
Annie served as traveling companion to a Mrs. ASC Blake of Boston. Upon returning from one of their trips, she found her family ill. When her father fell ill, she enrolled in nursing school. Not really because she wished to care for the sick, but because she wished to be financially self-sufficient as the family finances suffered.
Annie was involved in local, state, national, and international nursing affairs. She served in various leadership positions in professional organizations, was a professor of nursing, and established the Army School of Nursing. She became Dean of Yale University's first nursing program, and went on to develop the Yale Graduate School of Nursing.
She was considered a "crusader and diplomat" among nurses (findagrave.com)