An appeal to the Common Council by three widows for permission to continue selling coffee and chocolate at the Fly Market to support their children. The petition includes signatures of others attesting to their worthiness. The Council rejected their request. Common Council records, NYC Municipal Archives.
Transcription Note: The text below was transcribed using Handwriting OCR softwareand edited by staff from the NYC Department of Records & Information Services. Corrections andclarifications have been added in brackets
Transcribed Text:
Page 1: To the Mayor Aldermen and Commonality of the City of New York in Common councilconvened.The Petition of Mary Myers, Ann Cottrel, Phebe Letts, Margaret Reel & Jemima Murphy of the City of New York Respectfully sheweth, That your petitioners individually for a considerable time past have by permission of your Honorable Board kept a stand for selling Coffee and Chocolate about the Fly Market. That your Petitioners have lately been forbid by one ofthe Constables of the City to continue their business in this line after this week. Your Petitioners would wish to represent to your Honorable body that they are widows with a number of children, that in their present occupation they are enabled to support themselves and families in a decent manner, and that they have always conducted themselves with decency and propriety and are not sensible of having done any thing improper to deprive themselves of the priviledge[privilege]which they have for some time enjoyed and which they acknowledge with thanks. Your Petitioners therefore humbly request your honorable body to indulge them in the priviledge [privilege] of selling Coffee and Chocolate in the morning at or in the Fly Market as they have been.
Page 2: accustomed to do and to grant them a permit accord-ingly a testimonial of their Characters your Petitioners would refer your Honors to the Certificate here to annexed. We the Subscribers are acquainted with the aforegoing Petitioners and knew them to be decent, industrious women and worthy of the priviledge [privilege] they petition forJune 7th 1800.
[Signatures]
Thomas Willets, William Post, Israel Horsfield, Jehiel Jagger, Richard Willets, John Thornton, John Helms, Corns P. Wyckoff, Ann Horton, W. Simmons, Natt Horton, Rosewell Graves, Amb Valentine, Gilbert Horton, Ephraim Ludlam, Thoma S. Townsend, John Vanderbilt Jr, Henry Skinner
- Page 1: Handwritten petition addressed to the Mayor, Aldermen and commonality of New York to continue selling food at a market.
- Page 2: Two page spread of document petitioning to keep stalls. The right page displays several signatures.