James Dabney McCabe Jr 1842-1883 was born Richmond, Va. in July 1842 the Son of Rev Dr. James Dabney McCabe a prominent Episcopal clergyman. This McCabe family considered themselves of an old Irish lineage that went back to the Crusades.

A Confederate supporter during the Civil War, James Dabney McCabe, Jr. lived for a while in Brooklyn in 1869.

James Dabney McCabe Jr was a prolific writer on a variety of subjects. Several of his books are available on line including The Secrets of the Great City: A Work Descriptive of the Virtues and the Vices, the Mysteries, Miseries and Crimes of New York City and Lights and Shadows of New York Life: or, the Sights and Sensations of the Great City, 1872.

According to his passport application in 1889 he was 5 ft 3 inches.

He was listed in the 1870 census in Manhattan, author, age 28 wife Mary, children Mary age 6, Anna age 2 and Robert age 4 three servants

In 1860 he was listed in Baltimore with his parents.

Like many of the "upper class" who went "slumming" he was clearly a snob and a bigot. However, his writings to give some insights into life amont the "lower" classes in Manhattan in the late 1800s.

For general information about and pictures of life in the tenements, click on the image of the laundry in the tenement yards.

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With only two exceptions, the Blanck/Land ancestors immigrated through New York City between 1849 and 1921. For pictures and information on immigration into New York City, click on the picture of immigrants in Castle Gardens in 1880

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