Early Life
Born in Cedarville, Illinois,[4] Jane Addams was the youngest of eight children born into a prosperous northern Illinois family of English-American descent which traced back to colonial New England; her father was politically prominent. Three of her siblings died in infancy, and another died at age 16, leaving only four by the time Addams was age 8.[5] Her mother, Sarah Addams[4] (née Weber), died when Jane was two years old.[6]