Laughton, Lily Macalester Berghmans, 1832-1891

Lily Macalester was born on July 29, 1832 to Philadelphia businessman and financier, Charles Macalester, and his wife, Eliza Lytle. Ann Pamela Cunningham, the Founder and First Regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, met Macalester while in Philadelphia receiving medical treatment and later appointed her the Vice Regent of Pennsylvania. Macalester married Alfred Berghmans in 1861 and the couple had one daughter, Camille. When her husband died in 1874, Mrs. Berghmans remained a widow for three years then married John Scott Laughton of Philadelphia. The couple moved to Algeria in an attempt to better Mr. Laughton’s health, however, he died a few months later in January 1878.

Mrs. Laughton, a popular and well-connected woman, was an extremely successful fundraiser for the MVLA. Her home state of Pennsylvania ranked fifth among state contributions for the Association. A generous donor herself, Laughton dutifully sought Washington-related artifacts at auctions and donated many valuable items to Mount Vernon. Ann Pamela Cunningham personally selected Laughton as her successor and she was unanimously appointed Regent in 1874. Laughton’s daughter, Camille, married Spanish nobleman, Jose de Pedroso in 1887. After returning from a trip to Spain to visit a newborn grandchild, Mrs. Laughton died suddenly in December 1891.