Arthur was a bachelor who Annie accompanied to society functions in New York City as well as Newport, Rhode Island.

Among her first projects was a predominantly Italian church in the Sullivan Street neighborhood where she taught a sewing class and increased the size of the congregation.

[7] In 1903, Pope Leo XIII created her a Papal Countess, the first such title to have been bestowed upon a woman in the United States.

[8] Her closest friend was the businesswoman and financier Hetty Green,[9] who was known as "the richest woman in America" during the Gilded Age.

It turned out however that the management of her will was delegated to a niece of hers who was not fond of the departed philanthropist and the money was never given to the aforementioned clergyman.