A HUNDRED YEARS AGO
 

The following glimpse of life as it was in New York about
a hundred years ago was written by Mrs. Catherine C. Havens,
who lived to the good old age of 96. The article is from her
own journal and comes to us in her own handwriting and are
her own personal recollections. It is the privilege and good
fortune of the Manual to come into possession of such rare and
interesting manuscripts and we take pleasure in presenting them
to our readers.

Xwas born in 1801 at 84 Beekman Street.    At that
time Liberty, Dey, John Streets and so on down
to the Battery were all occupied by private fam¬
ilies.   In Wall Street lived Mrs. Greenleaf, a widow and
three daughters, George Griswold, the Buchanans (father
and son), the Whites and Stephen Storm.

I was seven or eight when my mother's father (James
Cebra) died. He lived in Fletcher Street next to the
corner of Water Street. It was a three-story house with
one room on each floor. Entering the house there was
a small square hall with a closet. My grandfather Cebra
was a city weigher and had his office in the Custom
House. The Custom House then stood south of the
Bowling Green, facing it. It was a large brick building
with heavy wooden Corinthian columns painted white
supporting the roof, and balconies on each floor. My
grandfather had some kind of  trouble in his leg late

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