mw YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, f Y 21, 882.-SEXTTJPLB SHEET. 8 ,n the city of New York. There may bo such a one in the rush of emigration and in the coming and »oing which marks the ebb and flow of the pto pie of this great city, but the footings of the census on tlUs subject are shown to be erroneous. the nonogenatuans. Pursuing the search for the nouogenarians of rec- ord, or such as have undoubted evidences of the ago claimed by them, the reporter made several hundred visits. The result of those visits in cases where the parties were found is shown in the subjoined series of Interviews and accounts The list dees not include all those now over 90 years of age in the city, for many persons have como of that ago since the census was taken. Mr. Peter Cooper, for in- stance was 89 years of age when the enumeration was made, but now he ranks up in the nineties as to years. In' each case inquiries were pressed when there seemed to be any doubt as to the ages named or claimed:— REMARKABLE VITALITY. Mrs. Jane Anderson, of No. 53 Charles street, fixes her 100th birthday in May last. She he.ongs to a very intelligent Irish family and her date of bxr-h has been carefully looked up from parish registers. Khe came to this country in 1811 and is laminar with the growth of this city since that date. Her eldest grandchild has celebrated his fiftieth birth- day. She has been a great-grandmother twelve times. Her vitality has been very marked. About five vears ago a fall resulted in a broken leg, and when recovering from this a similar accident left a broken arm. Sne now shows no sign of either mis- hap and has her sight and hearing in good preserva- tion, complaining only of a buzzing in the head oc- casionally. A CHRISTMAS DAT BABE. Helen Barrett, of No. ‘ill Elm street, was found in care of her daughter-in-law. She was recorded at 98. but the exact year of her birth is indefinite. She recalls that she was born on Little Christmas Day. but cannot fix the year. She had but one child, and when this was five months old she was left a widow. Always a little body, old age has so wrinkled her up that there is scarcely forty pounds of weight left. She was born in the county Cork, and for twenty- seven years past has been a resident here. About a year ago her eyesight gradually faded away and she is now entirely blind. All through life she has been ailing and'sickly, but she has outlived all her associates, and her age is now indefinite, though she says that she is close on the century. A CONSERVATIVE OLD ENGLISH LADY. Hannah Besante, of No. 13G Macdougal street, is an old English lady returned by the census enumera- tor as 90. She is a perfect picture of a well kept old ago, and is bright and chatty still. Her record has been most carefully kept, showing her to have been 09 on the sth of November last. She is intensely English in many of her habits, and her children, though many years in this country, honor her by stubbornly holding to the most conservative old fogyish ideas. A SMART OLD BOHEMIAN. Rosalie Bondy, of 923 East Eighteenth street, lives I with her granddaughter. Eliza Tucker. She is an old Bohemian lady and is very active, with an excel- lent memory. Sho claims an ago of 98 from com- -1 mtftnai niMKaaa —rith others, but baa no birth regis- I ter to show it. She came S 3 0f.,- three years ago on the steamer Washington, then running in connection with the Hernnan from Ger- man ports. Her husband has been dead twenty-four years, and in speaking of her mother’s general health her 66-year-old aaughter said, “I wish I was as smart.” The family, who are very intelligent, say that the passport granted to the old lady on leaving Bohemia corroborates her claims to a present age of 93. Ji NINETY-YEAR-OLD HORSEMAN. Andrew Bowden, of No. 3C2 West Thirty-second street, comes from county Wicklow, Ireland, and has been sixty years in this country. He celebrated liis 96th birthday on January 12 last, and fixed ms age by an old family Bible, in which it was recorded many years ago. He keeps his faculties in excel- lent use and is able to take daily drives and handle the ribbons well over a good roadster. AGE WEEPING FOR AGE. Sarah Branlgan, of No. 214 East Twenty-sixth street, comes from county Leitrim, Ireland. She is the widow of Lanty Brauigan, who (hod in August last close on to a century o;d. The °1(1 couple had passed along through nearly eighty Jeiir? married life, and since the death of her husband the widow has lived with her children, of which sho has had twelve. Her exact age is an uncertainty, and though it was put down at 90 census enu- merator sho now claims about 95 or possibly 97 years of life. She is well preserved, and except for grief over her widowhood passes her time calmly. CONVERTED LATE IN LIFE. Sarah Britton is in the Home f°r the Aged, East Seventieth street, near Third avenue. She claims that she will be 100 years of age on August G next, though at the time of the census taking two years ago she was put down at 90. Bho was born in Queen’s county, Ireland, and c»me to this country forty-two years since, spending seven weeks on the trip over. Sho lias had seven Cullnreu and has a number of She has no record touching her age, nor have her children. Pour years ago she became a Roman Catholic, joining St. Francis Xavier’s Church, and was admitted to the Home where she now is. OF MANY AGES. Ellen Buckley, of No. 49 Catharine street, declares that she knows sho is past 90, then thinks sho is possibly 95 years of age and finally concludes un- der cross-examination that sbf can’t tell much about it. County Cork, Ireland, was her birthplace, but for thirty years past she has been in New York. She was a widow when she left Ireland and fol- lowed her seven children to America. She is a great-grandmother and is able to see and bear well and hobbles up and down stairs quite readily. FREED FROM SLAVERY. Amelia Burket, of No. 185 Bleeokor street. Is a col- ored woman and was born a slave in Chestortown, Md. She cannot fix her age except by the war of 1812, at which time she claims that she was 25 years old. She then lived in Georgetown, no»r Washing- ton. and recalls the burning of the C»Pl*°l I>s t.1}0 British. nCr husband died from cholera in this city in 1832, leaving her childless, Sho remained a slave In Maryland until 1825 at which tlr“® "d*8 se‘ free by her master’s will. She thou came North and can tell manv stories of the «f»^llroad' ifig” of stoves from the slave to he tree btatos. CORK AT A BARN;Pl;“N™ , Alice Casay, an inmate of tl° . . , °sPital, Blackwell’s Island, was blin/’ »“d -had been so lor years. The records of t.<* hou e sb°wed her to ho 97 years old, but :,oey were not at all trustworthy, merely recording n°r as ertlon or some friend’s guess at the tjjne of her admission. S o recalled her birthplace however, very ciearly q‘being in Galhally parish, in ttlo village of Kil- flnnv „oar Limerick. She her aSe t»m the f icVtbat she was born in the same year that Patsy Dolan's barn was burned, bid the (lato of that event had shored its moorings in H:’r memory. She may be recorded as onoV the uncertain nouogenarians. BLIND AND DEAF THROUGH AGE. Anna Chaelv, of No. 157 tost Fifty-second street, is blind through age. She fired her years as 93. having been as she remembers, f years old at the date of the rebellion in Ireland in 1798. She was bora in county Roscommon and bm had two children. Her hearing has almost follow'd her laded sight and her weakness keeps her bodrilden. For thirty-five years past she has lived in thiscity. SHRINKING AW/OT WITH YEARS. ‘ iDvITOIBA ffa -~n'l ■-•— froci county Tyrone. Ireland, and remembers that ho was born in the mouth oi- November, but cannot recall the year. He grew* shorter with age, and has already gone back to the stature of a ton-year-old boy. The census put him down as 92 years of age, and he looks it: but is a rocordloss nonogonanan. RECORDED IN A FARISU REGISTER. Ann Clark, of No. 142Kv* Twenty-sixth street man old English widow, m 1851 her son went over to the first World’s Fair and looked up his mother s age in a parish register, and from it he determines that too old lady will bo 100 years old on September 7 next. She has had ten children, and has always enjoyed the best of health. Bha has a proat-grandchil ilB years old, while the entire circle of her descendants Is a very wide one. Reverting to her childhood’s tongue. Mary Olymes, of No. 335 East Thirty-sixth street, says that' next June she will be 99 years old. She iraaLora in county Galway, Ireland, an 1 says that at the time'of tw Rebellion she was » »lrl 14 years old. She has an excellent applet**. "'“M never a dav in her life, and has been, ana is still a great smoker. She has borne ten children, and thirty years ago came out to this country to her children. The old ladv has never had a pair of glasses, and up to within a year past was able to do lino sewing- See seems u«w to have passed- into a second child- hood, and'wit*l 11 °°lRO an almost exclusive use of the Irish tongue, though since reaching her majority she has very rarely used it. At present the bulk of ,lpr conversation is carried on in the Irish ’ COST2ADICTIONB IN FIOUKES. EUzaM’t'1, Coates, of Nu. 261 Hudson street says she rooms from Maynooth, in the county hinbtro, j„.j»nd, but tor forty years past has beau a resident iti tais city. She has no record of her birth, but was rotiinu d by the census as aged 95 two years ago; now declares that sho is 96 years of ago, and then in- sists that she was 8 years old at the time of the re- bellion of 1798, which would bring her ago to 93 yoars at this time. .She fixes hoc time 01 niri.li in August. She has had seven children herself, and there are now some nine great-grandchildren reported to her. She is smart in nabit and tier faculties and health good. STUDYING THE SCRIPTURES. Jane Collins i-. resident of PreAytarian Home for the Aged, senior in.uatoof that institution. Slio Is an oia -w.vja. widow from St Andrews and came to America m CiWao IO the home in March, 1868, and gave her ago as s** years on the preceding November U. She taen hud Her faculties in good order. ibis would make her 97 vears old on November 11 next. she has been uiamevl, but her childrou arc all dead and all her folks, even to the third generation, lie buried, she now secs and hears with difiiculty, but with the aid of a very la.fgo type edition she manages to go over a portion of the Scriptures each day. ihis habit was noted by a\oung painter at one time eng aged in the build- ing. Ho saw the venerable old lady poring over htr copy of the Bible and following along each lino with her index linger as she read. It struck him that there must be something consoling in the Book ho had so often scoffed. He road it again, be- came converted and is now one of the most promi- nent workers In the Church. Of this incident the old lady never tiros of tolling. SMILING BUT FORGETFUL. Nora Connolly, in the Incurable Hospital on Black- well’s Island, was ninety-two years old, according to ;he census. When visited, beyond recalling the faol hat she was born in county Cork, however, she was mable to give the least information about herself. She smiled and smiled and forgot everything, and her age was only approximately fixed by the age given by her upon her admission to the Almshouse. IRISH WIT IN THE IRISH TONGUE. Honora Cronin, of No. 100 James street, cornea from county Kerry, Ireland, and. though she has been twenty-five rears in this country, has not both- ered herself with learning to speak English, bho has command of Irish, however, and rattles oft her Celtic with great volubility. She is suro she is over 90 years of age, but ex- actly how much she cannot say. Since her arrival here she sent a letter back to her parish priest in Ireland asking her age. He wrote back that she was "over lourscore,” and as this was ten years or more ago she now concludes that she la over ninety years. She has five children living and the usual colony of American great-grandchildren. Sees and hears well and is a fund of endless amuso- ment through her stories, quaint sayings and com- ments. NO DATA TO FIX AGE. Mary Crowley, of No. 101 Monroe street, was from county Cork, Ireland, but had no data to fix or sub- stantiate her claim tn be over 02 years. She has had nine children and for thirty years past has been in America. She is in fine health ana has her facul- ties in good order. Her family fix her age by the known ages of her children, but cannot come within a half dozen years. According to the census of 1880 she was then 90 years old. RECALLING NEW YORK’S GREAT FIRE. Catharine Cruikshank, «£ No. ‘2Bl Elizabeth street, was born in county Cavan, Ireland, and remembers coming out here before the great lire of 1835 in this city. She had been married in Ireland, but arrived here to find that her husband, a well sinker, had been buried alive in a well in Canada and that she was a widow. She came out on the ship Old Britan- nia and was six weeks and three days at sea. She worked as a servant for many years, and now, as far as hor feebleness will permit, takife in washing. Except for rheumatism now and then and a recent failing of the eyesight, she has enjoyed the best ol health. Though returned by the census taker as 90 years, she has no way of fixing her age, though sha thinks that she has turned 90. A PENSIONER’S WIDOW. Susan d 6 la Moutany6, of tbe Eaptist Home foi Aged, on East Sixty-eighth street, was 93 on SeptemUr 10 last. This age is fixed by a family Bible in possession of her daughter. She was born at Hillsboro county, N. H.. and has had seven chil- dren—five of whom are living. Ske came to New York when between 60 and 70 years of ago. She draws a pension on account of service done by her husband in the war ot ISI2, his service being confined to a brief period in camp. He has been dead ten years. The oid lady has her faculties well preserved, and when asked whether she came of a long lived stock, said she was afraid not, as her ‘‘father died young—at the ago of sixty-two.’ DIG ENOUGH TO KILL A MAN IN '9B. John Dorn, of No. 805 Second avenue, was found contentedly rocking his great-grandchild in a cradle. He was returned as aged 95 on the census, and said that on June 21 next he would be 97 years old. Ho was born in Queen’s county, Ireland, and has been here for thirty-five years, though’ho has since paid two visits home to his native hamlet, which ho says was within five miles ot Castle of Comough. Ho was christened in the chapel ot Wolf Hill, and recalls the battle ot June 1796. “I was a brawny Jad and big enough to mla ciorur«itu- .-a.- then ” He was a farmer in reland, but has followed no occupation m ravis country. He reads the papers each morning wrtn- out the aid of g asses, and was thoroughly up in ail current events. LIVED UJiDKB EVERY PRESIDENT. John Ellison, of No. 315 West Eighteenth street, was born at Chappaqua, Westchester county, N. ¥., and on May 6 next will be 92 years old, according to an old family Bible. It is his boast that ho has lived under every President of the United States, and he says he recalls George Washington as residing in Washington street and driving out in a carriage drawn by six and eight horses. Old Mr, Ellison is still active, and is able to chop wood and do thj family marketing. He comes of a very long ived stock, and his fourteen children have made him a great-great-grandfather. WAITING POn “DANNY.” Mary Esten, in the Female Almshouse on Black- veil’s Island, is an old German widow who was ad< nitted to the’ institution on February 28, 1868, then it tho age of 78. Her memory had then gone, and unce that time she has been sinking into im- jecility. She had been twenty years in New York, and her only known relative, if he be such, is a newsboy named Danny, who pays her occasional visits. These visits are, the bright oases of her wretched poorhouso life. Her wuole talk is of hia last visit or of tho coming one, and upon the re- porter’s assurance that Danny was soon coming sha made a big effort to oblige with recollections or ago, but her mind was unequal to tho task, and she be- longs to the Company of the indefinitely aged. A PRIM.V DONNA'S GRANDMOTHER. Fannie Falkeuberg, of No. 407 East Fifty-seventh street, is an old Bavarian lady, and fixes her age at “about 91.” She was loft motherless at the age of two years, being the youngest of seven children. One of her younger brothers, Mr. Goldschmidt, of this city, Is years °ld, and celebrated his golden wedding four years ago. Mrs. Falkeuberg was busy about household duties when the reporter called, and is very well preserved, except for a partial blindness. She has an excellent memory and has spent twenty-two years in this country. Sho has hail a family of two daughters, one of them being the mother of Miss Maedor, the prima donna ot Munich. Various attempts have been made by the family to fix the ago of tho old lady by records, but none could bo found. AN IMBECILE PAUPER. Ann Fox, in the incurable ward of the Alms- house on Blackwell's Island, was another case where all efforts to secure any reasonable foundation for her age figures were futile. She was childish and could remember nothing. Following tho records of the Almshouse the census put her ago in 1880 at 90 years. It may have been half a dozen years either way from that figure and Mrs. Fox herself is nnablfl to give any information on the point. AN ILLEGIBLE MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE. Hannan Fredericks, of No. 87 Sheriff street, liver with her blind daughter. Sho was placed at 93 years on the census list, but has n° way of fix- ing her age. She was bom in Amsterdam, Holland, and has with her a marriage certificate written in Dutch; but she has never been able to decipher the document. Sho has been a widow for twenty-three rears and for lourteen years has been a resident of tuis country. Bor grandmother died at tho alleged age of 105, and Mis. Fredericks herself la spry and active, being a good and quick worker on fine sew- ing and tho housekeeper ror her afllicted daughter. Sac fixes her age at 97, but it is entirely conjecture. SECOND SIGHT WITH AGE. Thomas Gilbertson, of No. 18 Haight street, has passed into his second childhood and ;s cared for by his 75-ycar-old wife. Ho was born in county Limerick, Ireland, and his age is fixed at 97 or 98, but there is no record ot it. He has had nine children and is a great-grandfather. Has been forty years in tho coun- tr--. His eyesight is excellent. His second sight hav- ing come back to him with his advance toward 100 years of age, though at the ago of 75 his ability to see was very limited. "YOUNG ENOUGH TO BE MARRIED." Mary Gillet, of No. 472 Pearl street, was from county fcsligo, Ireland, and thought sho was about 100 years old. She had no record ot her age and was vorv active in her motions, declaring flr-it when asked her age that she was young enough to be married yet. Her daughter fixes her mother’s ago *bo ~™«aibninm of the old lady that she was 14 years oid at the time or tho rebellion in Ireland. She has had seven children aud has been lorty years in America. All her faculties are welt preserved and she is a very acceptable playfellow for her numer- ous brood of great-grandchildren. She was put down by the census tak -n lu IHBO as 97 years old at that time. RECORDS LOST BY FIRE- Bridget Gilliland, ot No. 30t West Thirteenth street, comes from county lloscommon, Ireland, and had a carefully kept family record, but a fire in tho residence destroyed it and her age cannot now bo recalled eit.icr bv herself or any member of the fam- ily. She has been a widow for thirty-five years and has had five children. She sees aud hears well and is tolerably active, tohe now estimates her age ua about 92, but does not claim accuracy within sev- eral years. A SIMPLETON AFTER ALL. Sarah Hagen, of No. 252 East Seventy-eighth street, is from < ountv Cork, Ireland, and declared that sho w»« not. sue.ii a simpleton a i to mention her ago. but a moment later, when a doubt was expressed about her autiqiicuoos. declared that she wad 93 years of ag; on September 3, last. ,sho cams here forty yeais ago and read and wrote well until about two years ago, since which time her faculties have faded rapidly. F. i • has no accessible record ol her age aud belongs to the great class of the doubt- fill. LED HOME STONE BLIND. Julia Hvgerty, of No. 015 Washington street, is a very sad case- Sue was born m county Cork, Ire- land and has been in tuis country twenty-five years. Her a“e as fixed by her children by careful e.x- amination of records at home, was 97 years on January 7 last. She ..ad been a very- active, woman. 1 but some eight years ago she found nor sight fnii- i ino. This worried her verF mu°h, and though her 1 children wished her to give up work and spend her time in ease, she insisted nj;on an operation for the i betterment of her sight, blippiug ii-om the hones one day, sue went to the Eve and Ear Infirmary on I Second avonno, aud when her children found her it was only to discover that an operation had been performed leaving her stone blind. Sue was lei borne, ami more recently her mind has become clouded. QUAKERISH PRECISION. Phoebe Hardcwburg, of N 0.1611 Lexington avenue, is an old Quakeress’ b u’u in Westchester county. I near Tarry town, and has lived 1 n this State ah her i life. Tte family record, widen has been carefully preserved, shows ’oat she was 92 years oid on Octo- -1 her 27 .ast. Her maiden name was Underhill, and ' she was tiie oh.est oi twelve children. She has had five children, and thirteen years ago became a great- grandmother. Owing to feebleness she has nit le. t her rooms, on the second floor of her residence, .or three years, but with excoi'cnt eyesight she docs ..no ; embroidery, and is very proud of nor powers as a patch quilt worker. HER MARRIAGE DAY AGE. Jane Hines, of No. 25 Man gin street, comes from I the county Monaghan, aud has had thirteen chii- ; drou, three of whom are living. For thirty years past she has been in this country, and ten years ago buried her husband. He was then 82 years of ago. The old lady was 22 Years old at the time ot her marriage, while her husoand was 20. In this way she fixes her ju-cseut ago at 94 years. Her faculties [CONTINUED ON SEVENTEENTH PAGE.I EXTREMEOLD AGE Ik Centenarians and Nonagenarians of the Metropolis. EEEOES OF THE CENSUS. * Foreign vs. Native Longevity—lreland Heads the List. THE OLD FOLK AT HOME. Interviews with Ninety and line lew Yorkers of Ninety Years and Over. MILESTONES OF MEMORY. The Revolution, George Washington, Napo- leon I.—The Rebellion of 'OB. AMID GREAT-GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN. Indifference to Hygienic Surroundings— Wonderful Vitality. 10 TESTABLE CASE A HUNDRED YEARS OLD Some Inveterate Smokers—The Second Sight of Senility. According to tho United States census taken in this city on or about June X, 1830, and which was supposed to represent correctly the data about the inhabitants at that time, there were 343 nonoge- narians and centenarians in tho metropolis. Of this number twenty-nine belonged to the latter class. About this company of the ancient ones a peculiar interest attaches. They have in each case far passed the Scriptural "three score and ton” years. From a medical point of view they are worthy of study, for they can tell many items of experience which may guide tho keen ob- server to catch the secret of longevity. In a social point of view they will ttr pay special attention for their many sketches of life past, so well told from the lips of an actual par- ticipant. In every count of tho people particular attention is paid to this small company of the pre- served ones when the returns come to be tabu- lated. Insurance officials have a direct interest in them, as representing tho desirable class who live an and on in securing endless line of policy pay- ments. The Board of Health in this city give these eurablcs a special mention ia case of death, and with each quarterly report comes a special table, giving name and date of death of each person dying at 90 years or upward during the period coyored by the report. FOREIGN BORN AND NATIVE BORN. The first point of note in connection with the list of old people is the overwhelming proportions of the foreign born in the roster of those 90 years of age and over. The total city population of all ages according to the census of 1880 was 1,206,577, of which 590,762 were males and 615,815 were females. Of the total number 727,743 were native and 478,834 were foreign horn. The colored population reached 19,614, leaving 1,186,144 whites. With those figures in mind the following table of those 90 or more years of age will enable the reader to note the distribution of tho chances of long life and what special group of the population seem to be most favored with years;— FOREIGN BORN. NATIVE BORN. M qle.Pemale, Tot'l Malt.. Female. Tot’l Ireland ... 42 ICO 202 N. Y. State 14 32 46 Germany.. 13 25 33 Conn 1 8 9 England.. 2 4 6 Mass 0 8s Holland... 235 Maryland. 0 3 3 Scotland.. 1 2 3 New Jersey 1 2 3 France.... 2 0 2 Virginia.. 0 2 2 Austria... 0 2 2 N. H 0 1 1 Belgium... 1 0 1 N. C 0 1 1 Poland.... Oil Delaware.. Oil Canada.... 0 4 4 Penn 12 3 W. Indies. Oil _ Totals... 17 CO 77 Totals... 63 202 265 Tho above table Includes both white and colored. Of the latter there are eighteen, one of the number being an old colored man born in this State. The other seventeen colored are women, born as follows:—■ West Indies, I; Now York State, 4; Massachusetts, 2; Pennsylvania, 1; Maryland, 3; New Jersey, 2; 2; North Carolina. I tlEcnlt, too, to estimate the number of times the exj Session was heard, “I never wish to become as old as grandma.” Those who had the care and attem lance of the helpless old relatives, friends and wa< Us were not anxious to secure so many years tha * life itself would become a burden. When memory bad followed the decay of all the senses and mere ' anition remained there was really little that seem ed to suggest anything but a lower state of life wh ero there n as existence without in- telligent sense or feeling. Nevertheless, the old bunches of bom 3 and shrivelled skin and sinew were carefully lookei * after, and the chiefest ornament of many a honset l°ld was found in the caddlod-up figure in some {!reat easy chair in the sunniest and warmest corner of the working room, PBEVA hICATION RESPECTING AGE. In connection vvith this question of old age and the degree of credibility to be lodged with those claiming such a Humber of years Mr. C. W. Seaton, who has prepai ed several State and national censuses and whe* is, besides, personally interested in the talk abou * centenarians, made an interest- ing inquiry. Wh en tlle New York State census of 1875 wag taken he: made a careful list of those over 100 years of ago, ;lD(i then looked into the returns of former caumctai ioas to see what the records would show. He thus tested forty-eight of the cente- narians andffond that in but seven of the in- stances did the interval between the enumerations and the dmei ehoe"“of‘ age Cefwov” .ibe -cor- . responding intervals correspond. The cases were selected at random over the State, and bring out the fact in strong relief that with extreme old age comes a disposition to misrepresent the age and to claim more years than rightfully belong to the person. Of course a due allowance must be made in such a table for the ir iccuracies of the census enumera- tors, but the rule of prevarication on the part of the old folks has been found too general to be regarded as a mere accident. The following condensed table of Mr. Seaton’s findings shows the returns as made at the counts of 1865 and 1875. The difference in each case should be but ten years, whereas, in fact, it runs up to over forty years:— —Returned. in— Difffer- .Returned in—, Differ - Case. 1865. 1875. ences. Case, 1865. 1875. ences. 1.. 87 100 13 11.... 96 112 16 2.. 70 100 30 12 92 112 20 3.. 87 102 15 13..,. 89 105 16 4 85 101 16 14 90 105 15 5 77 100 23 15 62 103 41 6.. 86 101 15 16.... 80 100 20 7.. 86 101 15 17.... 80 102 25 8.. 74 104 30 18 70 100 30 9 74 104 30 19.... 69 100 31 10 88 104 16 20.... 95 111 16 CONGI.OMKR.VnVE REMINISCENCES. Another fact noticed in connection with very old people, and one which should be given due weight in listening to their stories of recollections, is their tendency to appropriate history. This is specially noted in institutions where a number of those In years are gathered together. They spend the time in '‘swapping stories” until very soon the attendants’ observe that a newcomer has fallen into the nablt of telling the vary same Incidents that had been told by the older inmates, and the transition to tolling the yarns as personal recollections is a very easy one. Of course when pressed for further particulars than those they have picked up from the original stiry tellers the second hand nar- rators declare they have “forgotten,” and tho consequence is that a degree of doubt is thrown over their entire history. Oftentimes these bor- rowed stories so contradict what real recollections the person may have that the mixture becomes laughable. Thus one old Irish woman on Black- well’s Island insisted that she had seen Napoleon pass by hor native village on his way to the Russian cam- paign. She had taken the story from an old German woman in the same ward and had dovetailed it into her real recollections of Irish history at the close of the last century. This interchange sometimes runs from one generation to another, and an elderly daughter has been known to adopt her mother’s ex- periences as her own for narrative purposes. Much of the George Washington nurse stories of old col- ored crones may bo explained in this manner. THE WORK OF CORRECTION. The 343 alleged nonogenarians and centenarians of the New York city census wore carefnlly looked up by a Herald reporter and in each individual case the evidence of the great age, as claimed, carefully criti- cised. Tho first step was to make use of tho records at the office of the Registrar of Vital Statistics for tho purpose of checking off such of the old folks as had died during the interval since tho taking of the census returns and tho beginning of tho investiga- tion. It has been the practice of the clerks in this bureau of the Health Department to make with each quarterly report of the sanitary condition of the city, the lists of mortality, Ac., a special table show- ing those among the dead who were re- i'.lTfiw as -s* a*l v—— at the time of their decease. A careful comparison enabled tho identification of eighty-seven names on tho list of dead nonogenarians and centenarians as the same as those on the census list under exami- nation. But upon making the tour of tho city with tho remaining names as a guide it was soon found that the Health Board list as published was far from accurate. This was not surprising, since the certificates of death sent in by the at- tending physician to tho Health Board after tho death of his patient are in many instances the most illegible scrawls. Many of the names under ex- amination were of foreign born persons, and these were misspelled into most unrecognizable forms, and in many instances it was found that the census enumerator and physician had each followed a spelling of his own, while tho actual owner of tho name had quite another style of spelling. CENSUS AND HEALTH REPORT ERRORS. In some instances, too. the blame which should properly attach to a careless enumerator was likely to be transferred to tho Health Board Regis rar. For instance, Catharine Outran, an inmate of the Alms- house, was put down at 90 years on the census list. Her name was not found on the list of those dead, but upon investigation it was clearly a blunder of the enumerator, as at tho time of her death in Oo tober, 1881, she was but 68 years of age. Elizabeth Taylor, of 199 Mulberry street, 100 years old by the census, died in July. 1881, without a record of tho fact in the special Health Board list. Abbie Stevens, of No. 17 Hast Twenty-second street, put down at 99 by the census man, was but 83 years old at the time of her death, on March 21 last. An- nie McCarthy, of No. 5 Monroe street, 90 years old on the census list, was really but 69 years of age when she died, in May, 1831. Nina Hirsch, of No. 84 Ridge street—recorded Haas by the census man—was then 93 years old. She dio.l last fad, but was not recorded ou the Health Registrar s special list. Elizabeth Palmer, of No. 37 Christopher street, had a census age of 93 years, but ou her death, on August 21,1880, was recorded as Elizabeth N. Parker at the Registrar’s office. Ella Owens, of No. 63 ave- nue C, put down at 90 in tho census, died last sum- mer at less than 80 years of ago. Minnie Vox, of No. 642 Ninth street, was 99 at tho census taking and ! was not listed by tho Health Board on her death last i summer. Morriam Dean, of No. 1,424 Third avenue, 1 upon her death, July 7 last, was listed as Mirren Drau. Eugenie Peters, a colored woman, put down ai 30 in tho census, died at the Col- ored Home, First avenue and Sixty-fifth street, but the fact does not appear in tho Health Board’s list. Bridget Dun, of No. 16 Dcsbrossea street, 90 years old hy the census, died on February 1, 1881, and is re- corded ae Bridget Durr by the Health officers. This i im*3 a blunder of the census enumerator. ■ < n Day> of No. 470% Pearl street, 90 years of I i V’n 188°’ d‘eS °“ December 30. 1881 and is listed J'.llcn Day‘ Margaret Green, of No. 474 Pearl B reet, 92 on the census list, died during the winter. « without a special record at the Health Office. Julia Campin, of No. 155 Christie street, dies in | April, 1881, at the age of 101, without notice in the special list of the Health Board. Catharine Gray, of i No. 350 Hast Eighteenth street, 91 years old on the i census list, died in August. 1880. but no recprd of the fact appears on the published list of tho Health Board’s quarterly report. Ann Halo, of No. 436 Cherry street, 90 years old by census, died a year ago, with no record of it on the list. Sarah McKenna, of No. 643 West Twenty-sixth street, 91 by the census, died in Nevada 1881, but no record of it was found by the reporter. Catherine Campbell, of 450 West Twenty-seventh street, was a similar in- stance. Ann Hoyle, of the census of No. 651 West Thir- tieth street, was put down at 98 years of age, but on her death on July 4, 1881, Is recorded as Ann Talbott, and was still a widow. The list of old men was not quite so faulty as that of tho old women, possibly be- cause it is go much shorter. John Quilty.of No. 196 South street, however, on his death August 4,1881, bej comes John Tully. John Hess, of No. 523 Fifth street, is put down u 1830 as aged 96, bnt dies in Novem- ber, 1881, agel 76. This was a bit of carelessness of the enumerator. Henry Weir, of No. 378 Hudson street, 90 years old in the cenus, died in January, 1881. without a record of tho fact in tho City Record list. DEATHS IN THE INTERVAL. The lapse of time between the faking of the cen- sus ant the attempted verification of this particular portion if it by the Herald reporter rendered much of the vork futile. The migratory character of many of the renting population was shown in tho many cases returned as "moved.” It was useless to attompi to look them up through tho ordinary direc- tories, since the majority are old widows living with their daughters or in some way connected with a family of a different name. Enough cases, however, remained to show that the census had been very cirolessly taken. It is impossible to say how many itatances of people 90 years ol1 ~‘,ut 80 Now York Hotel—Louisa Locks 90 Alout 70 202 7th st.—Mnry Goldschmidt 9fi 69 205 East 103 d st.—Rebecca Steven- son (colored) 101 Bet.80&90 13 Pell st.—Mary Thompson (c 01)... 90 79 37 East2Bth st.—Jane Buchanan.... 90 81 31 East 30th st.—Patience He.vdook. 95 Bet"0 &70 13 Cottage place—Julia Hallock 93 85 St. Joseph’s Home—Ann Keenan... 90 86 St. Joseph’s Home—Mary Salmon.. 91 85 St. Joseph’s Home—-Jane Mulligan. 90 84 606 14th st.—Minnie Decker 96 71 224 West 27th st.—Mary Carr 101 80 2,152 3d av.—Margaret McCabe 90 85 ‘29 West Washington square—Martha A. Mallory (colon!) 100 40 424 West 55th st.—Robert H. Carter. 90 83 910 2d av.—John Balke 96 72 605 9th st.—Andrew Sohlarb 96 70 1.895 3d av.—James Gillene 90 76 92 New Chambers st.—Jeremiah Ford 94 78 31 East 30th st.—George Heydoek... 94 Bel- 00 &70 412 EasHOth st.—Thomas Sheridan. 90 85 Errors of residence were frequent, and *bo re- porter, following the census list, found himself in of vaiant lota noon which houses h»J never been built. In other given where the family now resident had otmpied tho house for years and had never heard of the al- leged nonogenarian or centenarian. CHEERFULLY GIVEN INFORMATION. In only one case was any churlishness dfeplayed where tho parties were found and tho iufoimatiou asked for. In this instance an otherwise very in tell i- gent old lady refused to see wherein tho pubic could be benefited or any useful purpose subserve! by an inquiry into her years. In every other casotho in- formation was freely given, and with an enleavor, too, that the utmost accuracy should be se- cured. Where there was any doubt it wa» freely mentioned, and in the majority of instants tho children of tho old subjects, who generally g,vo the Information, saw the distinction betweel such proof of ago as vrould satisfy them and filch as would meet tho demands of the critical importer. Personal appearances proved very deceitful, »>(1 the previous habits of the old person had to muci to do with his or her condition that it was impossible by any mere physical examination to judge of tie age. In the institutions whore there were large numbers of old people congregated the feeblest aud oldest looking of a ward or roomful would, in ilmost every instance, have for companions seniors ly ten or a dozen years. LONG LIFE IN UNHEALTHY SURROUNDINGS. The environment of the people sought ater is worthy of some note. In nine cases out of ten through the list they were poor people andltvd tu crowded tenements, not infrequently in cellos or disagreeable basements, where every hygienic rule aud procept seemed to be set at defiance; eroded into tenements, where the reporter’s souses vore greeted by a hundred horrid smells and suffocating vapors; shut up in dark rooms, with perhaps a hoi stove bnsy burning up what little fresh. itr had nan- aged to work its way into the apartments, vere others found. the centenarians of the city. Tho census showed a list of 29 centenarians mthe city, and they were of course most oarcfuliy lo*rq to for an exact record of their age, to do erraie, if possible, whether among tho million of peoje in the metropolis there existed a really trostiyrthy person who bad seen 100 yew* 1011 on. 'here were 23 women and 6 men. Of the number imvere native born and those were ad women, but ot he 19 foreign born 13 only were females. Twcib-ono whites left room for 3 colored, »u(* of ** alvvcre females and all of them native horn. '‘Oupsuem from this that there is certainly no a*ativbom man of 100 years or over record® 111 o oil and only two old native women. ath badh<* busy among these very old folks and *be rep er ound v ~ A *at the old reaper had preceded Wen he called *at lue t c eroat hiaandthefeevo ones had gone over to the groa mijority. was. | j d. Elliott (ccA.). 15hh st., n. im Nov. 20, 1880 Jaudt av. ,00 Anril isBl tliaCamfm...7l Carmine st 100 April,g I Sthrakler.. -4f »v- A n(V7 I)ec jb, 1880 . Mnriartv 1.52* 2d ay.... • ' ' j 7 1881 ,\i?Nolan....Bt. Josephs Home.. 100 .J 4 iBBl >.lh Pentra...<'*7 West s*d st March2,lBB2 ions Skellef 07th st. & Mad n av. 101 •ml Jl.ilarrison...l2s Mulberry st 1 jgyj j Iv,'ce Hines. .313 East 38th st 10<> ««*• (hose who had removed or were not found were Hmra Connell, 100 years, from No. 429 West Sixteenth scajt; Mary Smith (colored), 100 years, from l .< h strel and Courtlaud avenue; Mary Moran, aged 100, frol Spuytcn Duyvil; Daisey Schuyler, aged 100, fro) No. 239 West Thirty-second street, and Meyer Mobs, 100 years old, from No. 77 Suffolk street. Tb*e »bont whom the census was in error were Ella Matthews, of No. 253 Mott street, put down at 101 bat aged 78 instead; Martha A. Mallory (colored), ofs'o. 29 West Washington square, recorded as 100 yore of age, but really only 40; Rebecca Stevenson (dored). of No. 205 East 103 d street, entered as 101, be now about 80; Mary Carr, of No. 224 West Tonty-soventh street, put down at 104, bat aged 80 .ntead. Excluding, then, all those dead, not found ad errors of the census, left ten of the alleged cen- tenarians. It will bo seen from the statements fclowing, as taken down during visits made by tho syeral parties named, what amount of faith is to b placed in their claims for tho century or over of le. A LIVING DREAM BOOK. Elizabeth Brown is an inmate of the Colored june for the Aged at Hixty-fifth street and First cenne. She went to the institution in April, 1881, nd was then put down at 101 years. The census tken the year before placed her age at 102 years, h the Herald reporter she said she did not know bw old she was except that she was born on Drill. She sees and hoars well and has had five tiildren herself and is great-grandmother to double 4|Vl. number, is very talkative, and those who jj-ow her best believe next to nothing what she SjVB. She ia mil of religion, which she says she got a the Croton camp meeting when a little girl, ge has been and is a great dreamer, and her impros- gfe manner of detailing her visions of the night .ado her much sought after by colored friends who fanslatcd her dreams into policy slips. Sho met vis demand by a steady supply and for years she dl not allow a night to pass without having an as- ortment of dreams. Smce she has been in tho lomc hor dreaming has lot been utilized, and a xrge circle mourn the waste of her talents within no b*-ron walls of a dormitory. TUK VETERAN OFFICE-HOLDER. Bom-r, Doran, of No. 126 Mott street, is tho !. 1 of', -bolder on the city payroll. Ho was bom J C'-»L»nji eignt year-ago her husband died at the agtmf RECALLING THE REVOLUTION. Hannah Jackson, of No. 129 West Twenty-seventh street, is another of the colored women claiming to be a centenarian. Sho was born at Old Pali/, in this State and fixes her age at 110 years in March, but is without any record. She was born a slave in the ownership of John Fowler and passed into pos- session of his son-in-law, h domon Purdy, and when that slave owner wafi about to eel I his possessions and there was risk of her passing to a distant owner sho was stolen by her father and hidden, though sub- sequently she was bo light free by him. The old woman has had throe husbands and ten children in all. «n« came of long lived stock, her father dying at the al- leged age of 117 years, and np to within a short time she has enjoyed the best of health, though now her eyesight is failing rapidly, bae claims to recall the close of the War of the Revolution, being at that time, sue says able to do a woman’s work about the house and thinking about getting a husband for herself. She remembers the joy of the people when it was re- ported that peace with freedom had been won. This is not her first recollection of the war, for a few years sue s-mcinboru the return of one Adam Leach from tho campaign and his going again to the front. He was a near neighbor and she re mem- bers hie Continental uniform and his very muddy leggings, and also heard him tell some wierd stories of camp hardships, which made a very 1 sting impres- sion upon her mind. Mrs. Jackson has been a very largo woman In her prime and stilt towers above her forty-year-old grandchild. morn- in slavery days. Hannah Smith, in the Colored Home, First avenue and Sixty-fifth street, was born iu Richmond. Va., and claims that in August next sho will bo 103 years old. She remembers that she was set free by her master, a Mr. Wallace, when yet a little girl. She came North some thirty years ago. having lost her husband toy yellow lever m Now Orleans. She has had two children and c,an see to sew well. Her recollections of events are very much jumbled up in her mind, and sho declares that she can remember the war of 1812 by bearing the cannon and how she "ran under the smokehouse.'’ Her record of age rests on her own assertion merely. A BALTIMORE BELLE. I Eliza Weeks, at the Colored Home. Sixty-fifth t street and First avenue, claimed tint she was 105 yeais old. ,Bhe was born in Baltimore as a free child, coming North with Judge (base’s family, i tiho was married at tho ;>r>* ot 25, and was then, sue oays, “quite a boiic." me youngest of seven chil- dren is now 59 years old. Sho claims to have come from a long-lived family, her mother, she says, dying at the age of 110 years. Her sight is bad and her hearing not good, but she is a great taiker, with- out. much regard to tacts. At the time the census was taken sho was put down at 101>2 years, but she has no record of any kind, and speaks on the an- thority of a very wavering memory about her ago. A CONFUSION OP CALENDARS. Julia White, of No. 25 Ludlow street, is an old Jewess, born at Posen. She has no exact date for a birthday, but instead fixes her age by some old Jew- ish holiday. Her ago is set down in a I'aiuilj' choni- cle, but tue children are unable to determine whether her age in July last was 105 or 105. Bue has been forty-four years here and has had ten chil- dren. For eighteen years paxt she has been a widow and enjoys lile very much, hardly looking to bo more than an oetogouariau. It would seem then, from this careful census criti- cism. that there is not to-day a recorded centenarim NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, MAT 21, 1882.—SEXTUPLE SHEET. end here am waiting to die in such a eold char y as the Allahouae of a groat city.” ■‘ICONOCLASTIC GRANDCHILDREN. Mariicdobcrtson, of No. 142 Perry street, cele- brated hr 94th birthday anniversary on Marcn 28 last. Ihe has fixed her age by a family record, but aftr a guarded existence of about seven y years te record was tom up for kite-tails by the fandchild generation. The old lady was born at ingatou. in this State, and, despite many mishap? including a stroke by lightning several years ag, has lived to have at present six great- grandetudren. She has never been under a pnysi- cian’s mnistrations, and says she thinks she can live out lie remainder of her days and die without m edict (assistance, GRIEVING FOR HER SON. Ruth Robinson, of No. 157 West Twenty-fourth street, is a colored woman, and on April 10 last reached her 95th year. She was born at Stoninjtou, Conn., but came to this city when 23 years old, and has lived here since that tine. She has had seven children and lias been fir forty years a widow. She Is too lame to walk, jut can sec and hear well. The. loss of a favorte son last year had a great effect on her mem- ory, aid a sudden failure of her faculties followed her bereavement. She has no record of her age, but insist, that she knows that she is right. TOO OLD TO EARN MUCH. Maif Tty an, of No. 2,389 First avenue, came from count,- Tipperary, Ireland. Has been twenty-five years here and has had six children. She did not know rier age, and was so fearful of making an error that sle refused even to name an approximate date of heibirth. She recollects, however, that she was 72 yeas ot age when she came here, which fixes her age ai 97 years. She lives alone, and is beginning to get so feeble that her duties as a charwoman do ■not reurn her an adequate income. AN INVESTIGATION NEEDED. Maglalena Sadetzky, of No. 210 Forsyth street. Is an old Bohemian woman whose age is entirely un- certain though put down in the census at 90, and conjectured by her son at there or thereabouts. She couldsee and hear well, but was somewhat trouble- some o manage, especially in a crowded tenement with a family of grandchildren about. Her daughter- in-law accordingly went to the Eastern Dispensary and a physician called to see the venerable patient. Ho did nothing, but a few days after a sick wagon from the Department of Charities and Correction came and the old woman was hustled into it and taken away. Her son, who cannot talk English, asked whether he should accompany her, hut the driver, he says, told him it was “all right." This was on September 21 last. Some days after the daughter-in-law made a ' visit to the charity office at Eleventh street and Third ave- nue, but could gain no information. She repeated her visit, taking with her a woman who was a ready interpreter, "but the man looked in a book, told us he knew nothing about it and that was all.” From that day the family have not heard a word from or about, the missing nonagenarian in any way. She was the mother of fivo children and had been eleven yoirs in the country. WILL LEARN ENGLISH IN TIME. Elina Saruer, of No. 421 Greenwich street, lives in the family of Jacob Fuerling. She is German born, but moved to Holland when a child, and though she has 'jeon thirty years in America has not yet learn xl to talk English, though she jocularly ex- pressed her Intention to do so when she foun.i time. She has a family record which flvea her birthday as the same on which Pet V ■ - was born. This would make her over ■ id. She is very active and takes long yrn'e. . ,jt town Un - lied. Hf.r fOT” I” “1 '’'V Cf,i| ■ ■ being a great-grandfather, while the n *i, a great-great-grandmother. She is a capik ai specimen of a Dutch antique and is as merry as an y of her old compeers. BEDRIDDEN AND FEEBLE. Sai -ah B. Saunders, of No. 239 West Twenty-ninth street, is a mulatto woman, and was found bedrid- den. She was born in Pottstown, Pa., and was al- ways a weakly child, and at no period of her life has she nnjoyed robust health. She was looking for- ward to July 26 next, when she will reach her 99th birth day. She has no record to support this, but is a very intelligent woman, and says she recalls the age as given her by her mother. Out of her family of thirteen children—twelve of them boys—there are but two living. About nine years ag > a severe fall compelled the use of a cane, and the tailing of the eyesight was another infliction. A SHARP TRADER. Isaac Sherick, of No. 505 Eighth avenue, was bom at Posen, and fixes his birth by the Jewish calendar as on the Ist day of Kouika. He has been father to seven children and has a largo company ot great- grandchildren. For thirty-six years he has been in this country, and, while undecided about his age, fixes it at 97 or 98 years. He recalls the Napoleonic wars, and his long life has given him a stock of reminiscences which makes him an agreeable story telling companion. Years ago ha was a groat suulf taker, hut stopped it about twenty years as he thought it would mate him die young. He is a lino sample of old age, his skin being as clear as alabaster and without spot or blemish. Ho has been a trader all his life and his boast is that ho has never lost a kreutzeror a cent by wrong change. “as lively as a cricket.** Florence Schlaum, of Ho. 308 West Thirty-first street, was described by her daughter as buiug “as lively as a cricket.” She was certainly on- j joying herself very actively with the exercises of the j seventieth birthday of her daughter. The old lady ( has no accurate record of her birthday, hut fixed her age at about 92, She came to this country In July, 1851, and has had eleven children, of whom five are living. The old lady is a natural mathematician, and the most complicated problems of interest and percentages she works out iu her mind without tbo aid of paper or pencil. She was married at the ago of 19 or 20 years and comes of long lived stock her immediate ancestry having the ages of HO and m inscribed upon their tombs. STILL ON THE ROAD. Joseph Schuliu, of No. 89 Pitt street, was an old German who had been a pedler for years, and at the time of the reporter’s visit was out on a tramp after trade. Ho has been for thirty-four years in the country and has had seven -children. He fixes his age at 92, but has no data or records to show for his belief. He is still married, and declared that he would not begin to think himself old enough to be talked about so long as he could continue at business. WALTZING WITH THE REPORTER. Bertha Seimon, of No. 224 Stanton street, is an old married lady from Hesse-Darmstadt. She has beeu in America for tweuty-niuo years, and a young grandson declared with some pride that she bad just become a great-grandmother. The old Jady fixed her age by the Jewish holidays to come oil iu October next, and said that at that time she would bo 93 years old. The fact of her birth, Ac., had been recorded in an old parchment roll preserved in the family. She was in excellent health, and, to show her agility, took a few turns at waltzing with the Herald re- porter to music played by one of her grand- daughters. A CHRISTMAS BIRTHDAY. Mary Shannon, in the Almshouse on Black- well’s island, was admitted on September 16, 1879, and gave her age there at 90. She says she is “going on 91,” hut has no way of fixing her age and no records. She was born in county Galway, Ireland, and says her mother died at the ago of 105. She has had six children, but they have left her. A dim recollection that she was born about Christmas time leads her to keep that festival with groat joy. "HER HEAD ALL GONE.” Mary Spellanc is in the Incurable Hospital, on Blackwell’s Island, where she came on May 19, 1880, giving her age at 90. Wnen asked her ago she said she thought she was under 104. She recalled that she was born In county Cork, but mot all endeavors to secure any story of her life by a good-natured smile, showing that her faculties wore impaired, and that as her chum iu the next bed said, "Her head is all gone, sir.” RECALLING THE EX-AMERICAN NAVY. John Staples, of No. 149 Fiftieth street, was born in Champlain county, New York State, and says he knows that he is 91 years old and better, but cannot fix his birthday. He has been a carriage builder by- trade, and since 1812 has beeu a resident of Now York city. He took part in the war of 1812, serving in the army and also iu the navy, and while in the latter arm ot the service was one of the gunners on the United Stales when it went out to fight the sea duel with the Macedonian. He recalled the capture of the latter and its taking first to Boston port and later its transfer to New York. Mr. sta- ples is a Homan Catholic, and may be seen each day at his devotions in the Cathedral on Fifth avenue. He was present at the laying of the corner stone of that edifice, and has watched it from day to day from that event, in 1843, up to the present time. Ho has all his faculties iu good preservation and talks readily on old events. BY NORTH OF IRELAND RECORDS. Elizabeth Swan, of No. 20 Macdougal street, came to this country from the North of Ireland at a very early age. She js now very feeble, but with au ex- cellent memory. She claims to have completed her 99th year on December 10 last and is looking forward to her centenary next winter. The family is a very intelligent one and fix the day- of her birth by records at home. A QUARTER CENTURY SPENT IN AN ASYLUM. Elizabeth Teller was returned by the census as 93. She is an occupant of an indigent asylum carried on at No. 226 East Twentieth street, where she has lived for twenty-eight years. Those iu charge say she is 92 now, hut fail to explain why they reported her age as 93 about two years ago. She has au adult granddaughter as an occasional visitor; but she has no memory left, and the fixing of her age among the nineties is based on no reliable ground. CONNECTICUT LONGEVITY. Emily Tracy is an inmate of the Home for tho Aged, at No. 255 West Forty-second street. She fixed her birthday at December 17, 1787, and her place of birth at Norwich, Conn. The old lady was in good health, except tor tho effects of a recent fall. She had come to the Home to look after a younger sister, aud upon the death of that relative remained as an inmate. She came of a long-lived family and has her faculties well preserved. She was very positive about her age. SHUNNING PUBLIC NOTICE. Lydia Van Raust, of No. 131 East Sixteenth street, is a native of Connecticut, and has a well kept fam- ily record fixing her age at 97 years. She is iu very4 poor health, aud rives with her only son, Edward Van Baust. Her faculties are good, but she has lived au uneventful life, attending to her family and friends and in every way shunning publicity. SANTA CLAUS IN REAL LIFE. Thomas Walsh, of No. 733 Eleventh avenue, says ho has no exact birthday but recalls tho fact that ho was twelve years old at the time of the rebellion of 1798. Ha came from county Kilkenny and has all his faculties iu excellent preservation and complains only of a weakness iu the knees. He has. been thirty years iu America aud his ten children have given him a whole host of grown up grandchildren, while to a legion of great-grandchildren he is tho embodiment of "Santa Clans.” by which name he is generally known to them. He is a great user o tobacco, having contracted the habit when a"on fifty years of age, and since that time he hai3 smoked to great excess. FIXING A BIRTHDAY BY A DECAPITATION. Eliza Whalen, of No. 244 East Thirtieth street, was an old spinster and a very jolly old maid indeed. She fixed her natal year as being that on which the last King of France was beheaded. This fact her father had told her. She was from the city ot Dub- lin, and recalled distinctly the troubles in Ireland at the time of the rebellion of 1798. She was fifty-five years old when she came out to this coun- try, landing in Quebec, from the packet ship Free Trade. The old lady is very sharp and quick in her movements, reads well, and on fine days isa prompt attendant at church services. She recalls that her people on both the paternal and maternal sides were long lived, but beyond the recollection that January 3 is her birthday and the year 1i93 corresponding to that of the decapitation of .Louis XVI. of Franco she has no way of fixing her age. EXTREME OLD AGE [CONTINUED FROM EIGHTH PAGE.] are well preserved, and she has lived to see quite a brood of great-grandchildren about her. TWICE WIDOWED. Frances Holdrum, entered by the careless census enumerator as Frances Woiden, lives at the Metho- dist Episcopal Home for the Aged on Forty-second street, aud says that her family Bible fixes her age on March 15* last at 99 years. She was born at St. John, N. B„ and has had two husbands and six children. For nine years sho has been in tbe Home, but has sufficient strength to take an occasional trip downstairs. She sees very well and heais fairly, and has reached tho dignity of having great-great- grandchildren. Her family Bible is in the hands of her grandson, Richard Monroe, a sash and blind maker in this city. "TO STRIKE A BLOW TO CRUSH ENGLAND." Andrew Horan, of No. 216 West Thirty-eighth street, is from county Tipperary, aud fixes his age at 93 ou July 15 last, but he has no record. He was 60 years old when lie got married and has had no chil- dren. He remembers the execution of Father Sheehy iu Ireland and the rebellion perfectly. He has been an inveterate sniok r all his life, is very observant of all religious and church duties and has never used spectacles. He cannot recall when he came to America, but it was not mauy years since. His great-grandfather died at the alleged age of 101, his grandfather at 104 and his father at 100>a years. He wishes he were back in Ireland, as he says, "to strike a blow to crush England.” He has been a laboring man. Upon a revision of the rentals of Rose Green, Tipperary county, Ireland, when leases were made out for twenty-one years in excess of three selected lives, be was chosen as one on account of the known longevity of his family. FINE SEWING WITHOUT GLASSES. Anne Irvine, of 185 Madison street, comes from county Tyrone, Ireland. She cannot fix her age ex- cept by insisting that she was “fourscore and four just nine years ago.” Sho has been in America for thirty years and has had two boys. Her eye- sight is excellent and she has never worn glasses, though working on the finest sewing. SAW NATO LEON DURING HIS CAMPAIGNS. Jacob Kilisky, of No. 334 East Fifty-fifth street, is of Jewish birth, coming from a village near Berlin in Germany. An old Jewish record preserved by the family fixes his age as 98 on July 26, last. He was a tailor by trade and for thirty years past has been resident hero. For several years ho has beeu entirely blind. He has been remarkably healthy and bas never had a physician in attend- ance upon him except for a street accident, by which his foot was run over a short time ago. He has an excellent appetite and a good memory. He saw Napoleon in his march through Germany, and though he did not servo in the German army he did some active dodging out of the way of tho .impressment gangs. Ho has not learned to talk English yet. For many years ho was a liberal user of tobacco, but when about 70 years of age ho stopped and has not consumed it since. HELPLESS IN THE ALMSHOUSE. Ellen King, in the incurable ward of the Alms- house on Blackwell’s Island, was admitted there on jMne Me' Cifoii ui' Ilf years. Alio At now helpless, and it is impossible to get any con- nected sentence from her iu response to questions. She is ot Irish birth. A PACKET SHIP EMIGRANT. Hester Kiernan, of No. 435 East Thirteenth street. Teas returned as aged 9L and a widow. Shu was fhvxnd crooning over a tire in a dingy back base- ment. She denied with some vehemence that she rivas Irish born, insisting that she had been bora on an island, which she said was “Borgau Tweed.” Her talk grew incoherent when an attempt was made to fix her memory on her age. She said she recalled the rebellion of 1798 aud that she was then eight years of age. She has been in America between thirty and lorty years, coming over in a packet. She has no record or register to fix her age, though she insists that she is over 90 years. Toothless, wrinkled and partially blind, tbe old widow looks that age. READING MUCH AND FORGETTING LITTLE. Mary Kernan, of No. 331 East Twenty-fifth street, celebiated March 27 last as her97th birthday, though the census taker two years ago put down the age at 93. She fixes her age by a search made four years ago by her eldest son, who Is the superannuated clerk or the church in county Heath where the record of her christening was entered. Sho is a great-grand- mother, having had four children herself. Thirty years ago she came out to America iu a packet ship. The old woman has no sweet tooth, and uses large quantities of salt in her ood. She is of a very in- quiring mind, is an omnivorous reader and forgets little tuat sne reads or hears. Sho sings very loudly. If not well, and carries her years without much bur- den. FULL OF IRISH REMINISCENCES. Sabina Kelly, of No. 478 Pearl street, says sho is close on 100 years of age, but cannot fix the year, though sho celebrates July 15 as her birthday. She has been in this country lor eighteen years, coming from the county Galway, Ireland. Except for troubles from rheumatism she is in good noaith. She has had five children, and is full of reminis- cences of old times jn Ireland, and declares that at the time of the Rebellion she was able to carry a good pail o£ water. "wor.E out four fiddlers.” Jane Leahy, id No. 408 West Thirty-ninth street, laid she would he 96 years old in November next, but had only her word as proof. She was born in the. county Cork, Ireland, and came out to America In 1864, having been a widow s nee 1839. She has been the mother of eight children and is now a great- grandmother. She was iu fair health until she was past 85, but for some years past she has been ailing, »nd this she ascribes “to Patsy Dolan's benefit in the picnic grounds bey ant. where I da mud tho old Irish jig for them all night, and wore out four fiddlers, so I did.” This indiscretion at the age of 85 sho now- thinks will cut off her years. GOD HAS FORGOTTEN ME. peter A. Le Coste, of No. 197 Seventh avenue, was born at Yonthalon. in France, and on August 29 next will be 93 years old. This he fixes by family records. He is an old man of remarkable vitality. He has had three wives and has thrice been widowed. His oldest son is 60 years old, while his youngest is under 30. Old Pierre wras a soldier under Napoieon and went through the several campaigns of that leader. Ho came to this country fifty-two years ago as a dealer in passementerie. He has crossed the ocean about twenty times since on trips connected with his business. He retains his love tor Franco and has never learned to feel at home in America. Ho is an enthusiastic amateur gardener and fruit grower, and up to a few- years ago spent all his leisure time among his favor- ite plants. He is a generous liver, drinks a bottle of wine at dinner each day and smokes three pipes of tobacco each clay- with unfailing regularity. Uis grandfather lived to be over 100 years of age, and old Mr. Le Coste says he cannot see why he should uot live twenty-five years or more yet. His frequent expression is, “God has forgotten me,” and is averse to talking about his ago lost the omis- sion might be corrected by publicity. MARRIED IN THE YEAR OF WATERLOO. Margaret Leonard, ot No. 436 East Sixteenth street, is an old widow from county Armagh, Ireland! She was a hearty old woman, and when asked her ago said she was “within five year of five score.” recalled that she had been married in the month that Napoleon was o vertnrowii ,—1... a 1.._ Pdaold a discussion had with her mother ou her wedding day, the bride insisting that she was 23, while the moiher declared that she was “24 or more.” Mrs. Leonard had been married once and had nine- teen children. Of these IU teen had been christened Her husband has been dead twenty-four years, and for twenty years past she has been in this country. The uprising of *9B in Ireland sho recalls by the burning of her house and the fact that she was car- ried away on her father’s back. WIDOW WITH NINE CHILDREN. Margaret Lourirlgan, of No. 210 Monroe street, comes from county Limerick, Ireland, and has been thirty-six years in America, and for twenty-six years a widow with nine children. .She is now- a great- grandmother in seven cases. Her age, according to the census taker, -was 97 years, but her daughter now' estimates her to be “going on 102,” an 1 this latter figure is an estimate based on the age of her husbanu W'hcu lie died. She looks close on to tho century, lint her age belongs to the large class of the “indefinites.” FIFTY YEARS IN AMERICA. Mary X-iotz, of No. 325 West Twenty-first street, was born at Bremen, Goimany, aud came here fifty years or more ago. Sue has no direct way of telling her age, lint thinks it to he above 90 years. She has had three children and has about her a company ot great- gran dc 11 ild rcn. many of them well up in their teens. She has capital sight, but is very hard of hearing. WITHOUT, RECORD OH RECOLLECTION. Alice Macreo is au inmate ot St. Joseph’s Home on West Fifteenth street, and according to the records of the institution is 93 years old. She is without any record of the fact, and like all the inmates of institutions w’here a number of old people are col- lected her story is apt to have mixed in w-ith it a se- ries of incidents w-hioli she has gathered up from couversations with the other old folks about her. Bne is an Irish w.-clow, aud is thought by those hav- ing her in charge to be the age as stated. FROM A FAMILY OF CENTENARIANS. Michael Maddey, of No. 507 West Xnirty-socond street, lives with his sou. He fixes his age only by declaring that at the time of the rebellion of l7S»a bo was 12 years of age. He came from county Mayo in Ireland, and for thirty-seven years has beeu a resident of America. Ho lias had eight children, six of them still living. Ho was a laboring man and recalls that several 01 his relatives reached the age of 100 years or more. Some fifteen years ago lug eyesight seemed to pass away and he began wearing glasses, but recently there has neon a return of his eyesight and he now reads flue print without artifi- cial aid. A WHOLE FAMILY WITHOUT RECORD. Mary Moloney, of No. 33 Cherry street, comes from county Kerry, Ireland, and is proud of her age. Sho declares that August 20 next will see her roach the ago of 101 years. This is disputed by her youngest daughter, v. ho claims to bo 34 years old, aud thinks her mother’s age is well within the century. There is no family Bible or copy of any reliable record, and the nine children of Mrs. Moloney are tuemselves in doubt about their own ages. BENEFITS OF OUTDOOR WORK. JohnMangam, In the Old Gentlemen's Unsectarian Home, was born at Sing Sing March 14, 1790, making him now- in his 93d year. Ha has bad eight children, and has beeu a w'idower for forty years past. He has been au outdoor worker all his life, and retains his faculties very well, having au excel- lent memory for past events. Uis age is a matter of Bible record. He is the senior of the Home where ho lives, and holds his own well among the juniors about him. a great-great-grandmother. Ann McCabe, of No. 215 Hast Seventy-second street, puts down her age as 93, or thereabouts, but she has no positive record. She came from the county Monaghan, Ireland, whore she was born, to this country about thirty years ago. She has had eight children aud a series of early marriages have made her already a great-great-grandmother. CRIPPLED YET SF.LF-SUPPOUIING. Bridget McCabe, of No. 218 West Twenty-seventh street, has no record in writing of her age, but says she was 91 years o»d on June 25 last. This conclu- sion she reaches byr knowing that sho was 50 years old whoa she came to this country, and that her voyage to America, by the ship Sea, took place forty- one years ago. She was born in the county Mon- aghan, Ireland, and has never been married. She has always supported herself aud does so yet, though when 80 years of age she became disabled by break- ing her leg aud but recently another fail fractured her arm. KEEPING POSTED ON THE NEWS. Anne McCormick, of No. 450 West Twenty-fifth street, came from county Down, in Ireland, and came to this country in May, 1822. She has had two children, oue ot them remaining a bachelor, and as yet has had no great-grandchildren. Sho te in excellent health and reads the Herald each day without tho aid of glasses. Her family fix her age as 92 on November 25 last, and arrive at this by in- quiry in Ireland and by the statements of old neighbors. SEEKING SOLACE IN SMOKE. Mary McCormick, of No. 433 West Thirty-sixth street, was found sucking comfort from a short black pipe. Her faculties were almost all gone, but sbo did not prove an exception to the rule of recalling tho native county, and promptly responded that t ho was born in county Longford, Ireland. She was married at the age of twenty, and has had two boys. She could not fix the year of her birth, but said she was about 93 years old. LIVING ON CHARITY. Mary McCurdy is a resident of the St. Joseph’s Home, in West Fiitoenth street, where she has lived for a number of years. She Is Irish born, and is without record as to her age. From the age given ou her entering (o the Home, however, and her ap- pearance she is put down by the Sisters in charge as 97 years of age. “A LEITRIM LASS.” Ellen Mohan, of No. 19 West street, was found in a dingy rear tenement and carelessly indifferent about her ago. She is an old maid and declared that she was a "Leitrim lass.” She was the eldest of eleven children and now lives with the youngest of the family, a matron of over fifty years of age. By some system of figuring tbo ago of Miss Mehau has beeu fixed at over 90, but it is a claim not based ou any record. Sho sees and hears well, but complains of the dizziness in the head so often spoken of by those iu their dotage In bidding the Herald re- porter goodby she sriuted him with a kiss, called him “a broth of an Dish boy,” and coyly suggested a call again in 1884, vhich being a leap year would leave her free to speak. “I KNOW IT BECAUSE I KNOW IT.” Mina Mindiezoimoi; of No. 61 Widett street, is set down by- the ceusm takers as Mina Hoitzmitzer. She is a merry litte old widow from Baden, and fixes her age at 97 yotrs at Christmas next. She has been forty years iu the city, twent>-live years a widiv aud is ■■ idle- Sho could not understand whr th lions H ,uid ask for a record of her age, si® in-i tH'ine h.-.d know it because I know it.” aud o -1! si found on and her looks ner ago rests. IN A COTTAGE FREE FROM CARE. Mar, Monahan, <•'£ No. 71 East Eighty-eighth street, was found living alone in a wee cottage at the above address. She was an active, bustling body and came from county Tipperary, Ireland. Several mouths ago a letter was sent to her parish church in Ireland and answer came back that sho was in her 99th year, but the old lady had forgotten tho exact date ot her birth. She has had ten children and, though several ot them lave offered her a comfortable home, she prefers her own style of life, with occasiontl visits from her great-grand- children. She has been here thirty-five years this month, but has not forgotten how to bless in Irish, and poured a shower ot benedictions upon the re- porter’s head. She sees and hoars well and is an inveterate knitter, spending every odd moment with her yarn and needles. THE VETERAN WHISKEY SMUGGLER. Patrick Monahan sat bolt upright on a stool beside his bed iu t he Almsnouse on Blackwell’s Island, and when asked his age, said:—"Sorr, I was born on March 17, 1783, sorr.” He was admitted to tho Alms- house on February' 26, 1870. Ho has been thirty-two years in America, coming from county Donegal. He has had three wives and five children, two by' his first and three by his second wife. His youngest child is 58 years of ago. He remembers the Rebel- lion, as he was sent to drive twenty’-four cows into the mountains and care for them there. He was a cow jobber at home, going trom fair to fair to buy stock or to dispose of it. Ho was for a time a steward “for a raking young Irish lord,” and it was one of his duties when his master went on a spree to empty his pockets and keep the cash until his master had so- bered, This control of capital enabled him to go Into the wfiiskey smnggling business, and ho boasted with some pride that he had never lost a load of whiskey, and “its many the bothering exciseman aud constable I’ve laid down with a loaded whip.” About bis ape he will not brook any' doubts, aud in- sists that ho knows bis age, “because its my own, aud who else should know it?” a broad margin of Years. Ellen Moore, ot N 0.125 East Sixteenth street, was born in the county K«rry. and when asked her age said it might be anyw'Uere "from 76 to 95, shuro aud I don’t know.” Sue had no way' of fixing her age, though the census of 1880 h is recorded her as 90 years of-age. She has been fourteen years in this country. She is widowed and death has made her childless. A DONEGAL DRIVER. Richard Moore is aB occupant of the Methodist Episcopal Home for the Aged at No, 255 West Forty- second street. He said that August 12 next would bo his 93d birthday. B 0 was born in county Done- gal and had come to this country when but a boy. He had been a cartmau most of his life, and it was to this open air life that he ascribed his great ago. He has been twice mar- ried and was twice loft a w'idower. He was in excellent health, though for two years past ho has been ailing and his eyesight was very poor. His claim of many years was based on his remembrance of his birthday, and he felt positive that he was right. He is occasionally visited at the Homo by his sister, who is two years nis senior and lives at No. 37X East Twenty-eighth street. THE OLD KNICKERBOCKER STOCK. Catherine G. Alorris, of No. 131 West 129th street, is oue of the two New York city born nouogeuarians. On Thursday, April 6, last, she celebrated her ninety-fifth birthaay. She was born iu that section of the city now known as the "Swamp,” where her father was a leather merchant. Sue has had seven children, and now enjoys a wide circle of grand and great grandchil- dren. Mi s. Morris is of the old Knickerbocker st >ck, and is tho very perfection of neatness, while she still carries the courteous, though somewuat stateiy, manners of the old school. She is a capital story toller, and, with an unimpaired memory, can at auy time entertain a circle ot friends for a whole evening with her recollections of the metropolis of a had dozen decades ago. When it was suggested that New Xork was not such au unhealthy place alter all she laughed, and'said that it is how the people live, as much as where they live, that should bo attended to. BBRKWD YORKSHIRE VORESIOIIT. Richard Mortimer, of 20 East Twemy-itovti was born m Yorkshire, England, line, by tne family Bible there, fixes his age at 92 on December 24 last. He came to this country in 1814 to establish a trade for tho woollen goods which he aud his elder brothers were engaged iu making at homo. He has seen tho city grow, but was shrewd enough to buy property, aud the Mortimer Building, No. 11 Wall street, brings him iu a fine income. Ho is married, Mrs. Mortimer being born in 1800. The old gentleman goes down to his Mall street office each day, climbs up to his room on tne fourth floor and looks after his affairs. His hearing is very much impaired, but he sees well aud until recently could remember accurately aud well. He has had five children aud is not yet a great-grandfather. havi’y as a rolling pin. Ellen Mulcahey, of No. 384 East Eighth street, was discovered busily engaged iu the cellar stowing away iu a bin the hast ton of coal she had just bought, she lived on tho top story ot the house, five floors above. Sho fixed tier age as being four 'years older than Napoleon’s son. This sho hau been told by her mother, nut she was not aware that tho King of Romo was born so late as 1811. The census gave her as 90 years old. For thirty years past she has lived iu tuts city, coming here rroin her na- tive place iu county Cork. Sue. was married at tiie age of thirty-three, but “disromembers” the year. Hue has had seven children aud has been a widow lor eighteen years, ,she takes in washing for a riv- ing, and she laughingly declared, iu giving the re- porter a blessing anu a goodby, “lam as Happy as a robing pin, and, barring tne buzzing in my head now and then, I could lep over a cast e.” WOItniXENX IN LONG LIFE. Robert Murphy, of N'o. 345 West Twenty-ninth street, came uoiu Biiolin, and ou May 1 next will be 91 or 92, but which, if either, he is not certain. He remembers his marriage in 1817 and his coming here in 1818, but does not recall the age he then was. He has been a carpenter fly trade and lias had ten chil- dren. He has been hack to Ireland several times on business visits, and is still an active old gen- tleman, living with his octogenarian wife. The old man was particular to say tnat ho was a brother to the physician to the Earl of Richmond and said his secret of long lire was his freedom from covet- ousness. ‘Fcoplv worry themselves into the grave about their money,” ho said. “1 could have been one of the ricjcsluiou ill the city' to-day had 1 taken the advice of friends and invested in real estate half a century ugo, hut I preferred a quiet life to a rich oue and here I ain.” retired to a church home. Catharine Noe. of No. 62 Beaver street, is a mu- latto. Bhe says sho is over !)o, but has no record of the fact. She came to this city in 1800, from New Jersey, where she was born. Her recollections of matters are good, and the duel of Hamilton and Burr made a strong impression upon her, as she was in service in » I’OBitioii to gain much inside infor- mation about trial event. She is placed on tho cen- sus as single, ari unfortunate juarriage iu early H e leading her to resume her maiden name. She is a member of St. Philip's Colored Episcopal Church and will spend her last days as an inmate of the Parish Home connected wlta that church. TOO BUSY TO TALK. Elizabeth Nolan, of No. 309 East Thirty-ninth street, was toe busy at kitchen work to spend time in talking about wuat seemed to be the insignificant question ot her age. She was born iu the county I Wicklow, Ireland, and, while she has no way of fixing her age, recalls the burning ot the houses and the cabins’ thatching in tho rebellion of '9B, spe- \ cially remembering her own climbing ot the ladders I in use by the workmen repairing the cottages. She | has been three times widowed and has bad fourteen or fifteen children, precisely how many she does not remember. She is a great-great-grandmother, a 15 year old girl being the oldest to apply that title to her. She has been a most inveterate tobacco smoker, and uses a brand rf tobacco so strong that her great-grandson, a working man, is made sick by its use. A PENSIONED PEDESTRIAN. Charles Oakley, of No. 414 West Tv enty-second street, was 95 years of age on April 18. This lie fixes by the family Bible, which he still has in his possession. Ho was born in W’estchester county, in this State, but a short distance above Harlem Bridge. He has had two wives and in all twelve children. He has been iu the tobacco trade, though not a user of the poi- sonous weed himself. He belongs to the Oakley family, so well known iu this city in insurance and banking circles. He was at one time a large lauded proprietor himself, owning much of the present Ninth ward, and at one period the o d Potter’s Field, now Washington square. Ho is a numerous great-grandfather and is remarkably well pre- served, being a great walker. But a few days since he started out with his grandson, a lad in his teens, aud walked down to Canal street, thence across to the east side of town and up home again. On the day following the boy was laid up from the long tramp, while the old gentleman was perambu- lating Central Park. He was one of the non-com- missioned officers in the war of 1812 and enjoys a pension. Ho docs not feci his ago, and recently ex- pressed great concern upon tho years and infirmi- ties of a friend of his, who was but 80 years of age. FEELS SPRY ENOUGH TO BE YOUNGER. Margaret O'Brien, of No. 423 East Seventy-fifth street, has no record to substantiate her claim for 95 years. She was born iu county Carlow, Ireland, and came to Canada over fifty years ago. She has had eleven children, three of them being Canadian born. She is well preserved and is regarded by herself aud children as being the age claimed. SUPPORTED BY A WORKING DAUGHTER, Mary O'Connor, of No. 76 Lewis street, comes from county Cork, Ireland, and the nearest estimate of her age is that she is somewhere in the nineties. She is a great snuff user, aud for seven years past has beeu an invalid, having one side of her body paralyzed. She has bad six children, but lives now as the ward of one working daughter, a carpet sewer by trade. Tho old woman sees and hears pretty well, but her mental faculties are well nigh gone. FIGURES NO TEST OF AGE. Patrick Quane, of No. 685 Third avenue, Is from county Kerry, Ireland. Has been a blacksmith by trade and says he “is over 90 years.” Ho is very ac- tive aud looks personally after the buildings owned by him in this city. He was married in Ireland and became a widower with several children. When his third daughter had married the old gentleman, too, took a second wife, and lor twenty-eight years past has been a second time a b» nedict. He dislikes to speak of his great age and insists that he is young enough to live for a long time yet and that "figures on paper is no way to judge a man’s age.” A LONGFORD LONG LIVER. Elizabeth Reilly is in Ward 37 of the Alms- house on Blackwell’s Island. She was born iu county Longford, Ireland, aud was sent to the Alms- house iu April, 1881. She Bays she was bom on Christmas Eve, but says she “disre.coilects” tho year. She has had seven children, the last one when she was over ou years ot age. one came ouv on me packet ship Kalamazoo, and was three months and three days afloat. She has a good memory for Im- material details, And thinks the year of her birth as of no consequence whatever. The census enumera- tor credited her with 94 years. A MOTHER-IN-LAW RY LEGACY. Abigail Reynolds, of No. 761 Eighth avenue, is in dispute with her children about her age. According to their investigations she will be 92 years of age on May sth, next, while she denies that she is over 90 years. She was born in Connecticut, being tho last of thir- teen children. She came to this city when a child and has had three children. She has her faculties in excellent order and has a will, too, of her own. She lives now with her son-in-law by his first wife, her present attendant receiving her as a mother-in-law by legacy. AMERICAN TO THE CORE. Mrs. James Reynolds, of No. 250 West Tenth street, honors the memory of her deed hu band byrefusing to drop his Christian name. She is a thoroughgoing American lady, having been born at Sing Sing, on the Hudson, but has been a resident of this city since girlhood. For forty years past she has been a widow. She was 92 years old op October 10, last, and is as active and with faculties as well preserved as a lady of one-third that age. Her mother was a cousin of the Williams who assisted in the capture of Andre, and another ancestor of the same name appears as a subscriber to the Declaration of American inde- pendence. Mrs. Reynolds’ family has 1 >eea repre- sented in each of the wars carried on by America. She keeps thoroughly posted on the events of the day. and having an excellent memory her stock of stories and reminiscences about old New York is apparently inexhaustible. She has had but oue child herself, but there are a number of great-grandchildreu born to her. She has a vivid remembrance of a trip up tho creek or watercourse which ran aloug the present Canal street, from tho North River to the stone bridge which stood at Broadway, and which permitted travellers of that great thoroughfare to cross the turbulent stream. She has a recollection of Aaron Burr, her family having lived on tho estate adjoin- ing his on Richmond Hill, overlooking tho Hudson River. She came of a very long lived family and considers herself as assured of seeing a hundredth birthday. REGULAR AT HER DEVOTIONS. Jane Reynolds, of No. 208 East Eightieth street, has no definite birthday, but by reports of neigh- bo s aud by comparison of her ago with that of others well informed on the subject thinks she is now 92 years of age. She was born in county Leit- rim, Ireland, aud lias been thirty-two years in this country. She has been very active in her clay, and up to two years ago never missed a dav at church in over thirty years. She has had herself ten chil- dren; has forty-si* grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. With all her faculties in good order the old lady sits contentedly ja a comfortable armchair ami says. "I am only waiting my time.” A HALF CENTURY OF STREKT Lirji- William Reynolds, of No. TJ Jane street, was bom at Monroe, Orange county, N. x. His carefully kept family Bible showed h‘m *° he 94 years old ou December 2 last. He came to New York city in 1810, aud had been a public oartmau for ncarly a half a century. Ho is full °‘ reminiscences of the city, his street life enabling him to watch the growth and changes in all parts of the city. uc has had four children and still lives happily jn the mar. ried state, his oldest daughter being 75 years old. There are seven groat gvoat-graucichildreu owning him as their ancestor- His earliest recollection, ho says, runs back to the time he was weaned, that event not taking place until he was between four and five years old. He enlisted in tho militia in the war of 1812, but his only military duty consisted in march- ing into camp, near Coney Island, and marching homo again. When he reached the ago of sixty or seventy years hissi&frL which had been very keen, began to fail and he took to glasses; but recently it has come back and he can now, as formerly, read the name on any steamboat at tho width ot the North River. Tne old gentleman is still very active, having charge of a number of houses, of which ho collects the rental and superintends the repairs. BORN AND BRED IN NEW YORK CITY. Mrs. Maria Rich, of No. 126 West Twelfth street, was born in the city of New York and is one of the old Knickerbockers. In appearance sho is a perfect pic- ture of well preserved Old age. Snow white hair, pair of bright eyes ami a complexion without blem- ish indicating the excellent health enjoyed by her. In manners she is a lady of the old school, while her musical voice was a pleasure to listen to. Her age is fixed by the family record as 91 last October, but of her precise piace of birth sho is not positive, her first recollection being of tbo family residence in Warren street. Her father had then moved a distance “out of town” into tho fashiona- ble residential district. Her mother was a Bogardus, from Dutchess county, who married a Mr. Oliver. Of tho two daughters Miss Rachel Oliver died over a year ago, aged in the nineties, while Mrs. Maria Rich became the widow of Thomas B. Rich some eight years ago. She has had no children, but has brought up an adopted family. She is a regu- lar attendant each Sunday at the services of Rev. Mr. Page’s Church, on West Eleventh street, and in the Presbyterian denomination she is known as a liberal and unostentatious giver. Until within a very short time she was a busy visitor to the homes ot the poor, but the building of high ten- ement houses has carried poverty up out of her ability to climb to it. Every faculty is preserved, seeing and hearing being perfect, and her amiability was not in the least disturbed by a court decision, which recently deprived her of a $lOO,OOO slice of her income property. A EXCEPT IN YEARS. Bridget Riley, of No. 462 West Fiity-second street, is an old Irish widow from county Cavan. She has no record of her age, but fixes it from tho fact that she was 70 years old on coming to this country. That event occurred 25 or 26 years ago. She has passed into a complete second child rood and is treated precisely Life a baby. She’ has been tho mother of eleven children. Her general health re- mains good. the sorrows of the aged poor. Sarah Richardson is now on Blackwell’s Island, In the Almshouse, where she was admitted June 2, (881. She is a native of Massachusetts and has never been manned. Her people died away from her. leaving her more and more lonelv, and forty years ago she found herself without a single living relative. Her memory is good aud she says that in Febmary last she was 100 years of age. She has no record of the tact, however. She is a tall, ladylike person and very retiring in her manners. Sho lived with friends until last spring, when she wished to enter one of the many homes for tbo aged in this city. She was a member of the Mariner’s Churcu at Catharine and Madison streets, and her pastor and tbe Massachusetts lady with whom she was living ma e a careful canvass iu search of a home. Sue said:—“l was not a Roman Catholic, so I could not enter any of their homes. Tile Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist homes re- fused me because 1 had not been a mem- ber of their churches. I was not born in Germany, but only an American, so I could not go the German Home. The Jewish homes of course I did not apply to. There was a Home lor Indigent Old Ladies, and when they dis- covered that 1 uad once woiked at service I was re- jected there. The Peabody Home pi oiui.-ed to take me when there was room, they 7 would put my name on the list of applicants and when a vacancy came I would bo sent for, but it migfit bo teu or more years off. I do not know how many other homes were applied to iu my behalf, and so at the