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Catherine Webb Havens
Other Name:
Catherine Cebra Webb
Gender:
Female
Born:
January 25, 1801
Died:
April 26, 1897
Home Town:
New York, NY
Later Residences:
Stamford, CT
Marriage(s):
Rensselaer Havens (July 20, 1818)
Biographical Notes:
Catherine Webb Havens, daughter of Orange and Elizabeth Cebra Webb of New York, New York, was born January 25, 1801. In 1816 Catherine attended Sarah Pierce's Female Academy, as her sister Frances had done before her. While studying in Litchfield Catherine first boarded with the Lyman Beecher family and later with the Misses Betsey and Nancy Edwards on North Street, but stayed at the school only a few months finding the climate too severe. On July 20, 1818 Catherine married Rensselaer Havens, a businessman and social activist from New York City. After their marriage the couple resided in Stamford, Connecticut, and had eight children. Catherine passed away on April 26, 1897.
Education
Years at LFA:
1815-1816
Room and Board:
Boarded with the Lyman Beecher family, and with Betsey and Nancy Edwards.
Immediate Family (Why only immediate family?)
- Rensselaer Havens
Husband - Frances Webb Fraser
Sister
LFA (1810-1811) - Elizabeth Cebra Webb
Mother - Orange Webb
Father
The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation. Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Catherine gave an interview to Emily Noyes Vanderpoel interviewed her book Chronicles of a Pioneer School (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 to 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1903).
1816 Litchfield Female Academy Catalog (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 to 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1903).
1816 Litchfield Female Academy Catalog (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 to 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1903).
Secondary Sources:
Havens, Catharine Elizabeth. Diary of a Little Girl in Old New York. New York: Henry Collins Brown, 1920.
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