New York (N.Y.) Mayor's Court Records
Item
Country
US
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
eng
Contact information: postal address
3101 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45220
Contact information: phone number
001 513 487 3000
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
Reference number
MS-484
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (official language of the state)
New York (N.Y.) Mayor's Court Records
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
New York (N.Y.). Mayor's Court
Date(s)
1674/1860
Language(s)
eng
Extent
2 boxes
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
This collection comprises copies of records of 91 early court cases involving Jews from the Mayor's Court of New York City. A significant part of these cases are related to Sephardic Jews:
Box 1, folder 2: Joseph Bueno against Judith de Mense through James Emett, his attorney. Mense owed Bueno £23:8:1 for sundry goods, wines and merchandise. October 1699.
Box 1, folder 2: Joseph Bueno, deceased, was sued by Isaac Dias through William Nicole, his attorney. Bueno owed Dias £145:16:1 for diverse trading ventures between London and New York. Dias sued the executors of Bueno's estate, Lewis Gomez, Abraham de Lucena, and Rachel Bueno, for £150, including damages. August 10, 1709.
Box 1, folder 2: Joseph Bueno, merchant, sued George Lockhart, a surgeon from New York, to pay up a bill of £10:4:4 drawn upon Lockhart by Edward Anthill. November 7, 1685.
Box 1, folder 4: Abraham Carcass sued Lydia Manning. Carcass contracted to pay Manning's passage from London to New York on the condition that she would serve him for two years as a maidservant. In addition, he lent her £9, which she promised to pay on demand. The demand was made on November 23, 1725, but she refused to pay. Carcass asks for £15 in damages. January 1, 1725.
Box 1, folder 8: Domingo Costa (a Jew or a Christian?) sued James Palmer for £16:5 sterling. Costa had served for 13 months as a mariner aboard the ship Ulisses of which vessel James Palmer served as master. Costa was to be paid at 25 shillings sterling per month. The voyage was completed on January 1, 1750, when Costa requested his pay, which was refused. He then brought suit for £35 in damages. February 11, 1750.
Box 1, folder 10: Promissory note, written at John Fordham, to Daniel Nunes da Costa for £8:1. Witness: Isaac da Fonseca. November 1, 1728.
Box 1, folder 10: Daniel Nunes da Costa sued John Fordham for £18:1, which Fordham borrowed on November 1, 1728. Costa claimed £14 in damage. February 22, 1728.
Box 1, folder 12: Abraham de Lucena sued Richard Noble Vintner for £48, which Noble borrowed from him on July 10, 1716. Lucena asked for £10 in damage.
Box 1, folder 12: William Warner sued Abraham de Lucena for £17:8:6 for goods received. Warner asked for £19, including damages. July 21, 1716.
Box 1, folder 12: Abraham de Lucena sued Michael Greenham, mariner, for £7:10 for sundry goods, wares and merchandise. Lucena asked for £9, including damages. James Emott was his attorney. September 17, 1709.
Box 1, folder 13: Isaac de Modina sued John Lesley for £6:18:9 for diverse goods and wares, which Lesley received on May 30, 1727. Modina claimed £19 in damages. Judgement entered August 22, 1727.
Box 1, folder 14: Charles Dickinson sued Abraham de Souza for £37:17:4 for 38 firkins of butter, which Souza received on March 1, 1754. Dickinson claimed £19 in damages. March 10, 1754.
Box 1, folder 14: Edward Croston sued Abraham de Souza for £44:6:8 for diverse quantities of butchers' meat, fat and tallow, which Souza received on January 22, 1753. Croston claimed £40 in damages. March 16, 1753.
Box 1, folder 14: Abraham de Souza sued Andrew Manuel for £15:9:0 ½ for goods and wares, which Manuel received on June 15, 1753. Souza claimed £19 in damages. June 24, 1753.
Box 1, folder 16: Edward Blagg and Charles Crooke admitted a debt to Crispin Hooper and Susanna, his wife, for £38, on the condition that Jacob Francisco, the defendant, paid what the court demanded or surrendered his body to the court. October 1, 1721.
Box 1, folder 16: Crispin Hooper and Susanna, his wife, sued Jacob Francisco for £19 damages. Susana gave Francisco a land deed to keep for her. When she demanded its return, he refused. Judgement on January 25, 1725. September 13, 1725.
Box 1, folder 21: David Gomez against Roger Grover. January 14, 1720.
Box 1, folder 22: Lewis Gomez, a merchant, sued Edmond Thomas through his attorney James Emett for £15:7 for 62(?) gallons of rum, which Edmond bought from him. October 1703.
Box 1, folder 22: Henry Light, a blacksmith, Edward Pennant, and Abraham Price, a blacksmith, admitted a debt of £200 to Lewis Gomez. Henry Light was to pay Gomez what the court directed or surrender his body to the court. January 16, 1719.
Box 1, folder 22: Lewis Gomez sued Jonathan Hunter, a tanner, for £15:5:6, which Hunter received on February 22, 1720. Gomez asked for £9 in damages. November 19, 1720.
Box 1, folder 22: On March 20, 1723, Peter Berton served as a bay lift for Lewis Gomez of three barrels and four firkins of fish, five boxes of green wax candles, five half barrels and two whole barrels of ship bread and one barrel of onions, of a total value of £48:11:4. Lewis Gomez sued Peter Berton for £100 damages. April 20, 1725.
Box 1, folder 22: William Anderson and Rebecca, his wife, sued Lewis Gomez, assignee of Magdalen Fourt, for £10. On February 24, 1713, the then Rebecca Morris, widow, was the sole executrix of the estate of Captain William Morris; and Magdalen Fourt, a widow, was the executrix of the estate of Bartholomew La Fourt. Rebecca Morris leased to Magdalen Fourt a store, a warehouse and a ground lot in New York. Magdalen Fourt (or her assignees) was to pay £10 annually for 15 years. Fourt later assigned this property to Lewis Gomez. Thus, on March 1, 1728, Gomez was obligated to pay former Rebecca Morris, then Rebecca Anderson, the £10 annual rental, which he did not pay. William and Rebecca Anderson sued him for £10 damages. May 5, 1729.
Box 1, folder 22: Henry Anthony of New York, baker, signed a bond of prosecute for £10 in the case of Peter Bogardus against Lewis Gomez. November 17, 1729.
Box 1, folder 23: Mordecai Gomez sued Aaron Owen for £17:0:6 for diverse goods and wares, which Owen received on February 27, 1728. Gomez claimed £20 in damages. March 15, 1728.
Box 1, folder 23: Mordecai Gomez sued William Goulding for £4, which he borrowed on June 8, 1727. Gomez claimed £8 in damages. June 22, 1728.
Box 1, folder 23: John Burling, merchant, and Anthony Noble, baker, admitted a debt of £40 to Mordecai Gomez on the condition that Aaron Owen paid what the court instructed or surrendered his body into custody. March 20, 1729.
Box 1, folder 24: Thomas Sparham sued Moses Gomez for £11:7:10, due him for medical services rendered to cure the foot of an enslaved person, called Duke, belonging to Gomez. Duke was under his care for six months, during which Sparham provided "diet, lodging and washing" and medical care. On December 10, 1750, Sparham asked for his fee, but Gomez refused to pay. Sparham then claimed £19 in damages. November 23, 1751.
Box 1, folder 24: Moses Gomez answered the charges pressed by Thomas Sparham. Gomez stated that he was not responsible for the total amount of £11:7:10. He claimed responsibility only for £2:5. For the remaining £9:2:10, "he puts himself upon the country". On December 10, 1750, he paid Sparham £2:5 he felt he owed him, which sum Sparham refused to accept. December 11, 1751.
Box 1, folder 24: Sparham contradicted Gomez's answer and asserted that Gomez did not attempt to pay him £2:5 on December 10, 1750, as he alleged in his answer. December 12, 1751.
Box 2, folder 9: Joseph Lion sued Johannes Vreeland for £9:7:2, the value of 1,440 feet of the oak plank at 13 shillings/100 feet, which Vreeland received on April 21, 1729. Lion claimed £12 in damages (May 17, 1729). Later, Vreeland retorted that he was not responsible for the entire bill of £9:7:2; instead, he put himself in the country for £7:5:11 of the amount due. On May 12, 1729, he offered to pay Lion the remaining £2:1:3 plus the sum of £1:7:6 in damages. Lion refused to accept the settlement (June 2, 1729). However still demanded from Vreeland the entire sum of £9:7:2, and he called upon the country to ascertain the validity of Vreeland's claim that he was not responsible for £7:5:11 of the bill. Lion admitted that Vreeland offered to settle for the remaining £2:1:3 plus damages, but he refused to accept it, claiming the total amount was still due him (June 24, 1729).
Box 2, folder 10: Stephen Delancey, merchant, sued Abraham Luís (Jew or Christian?) of Rhode Island, merchant, for £35:14.9, which Luís had borrowed on May 20, 1701, and for other charges of merchandise. Delancey asked for £45 in damages. July 2, 1701.
Box 2, folder 12: May Brikley, of New York, attorney, sued Isaac Rodrigues Marques, merchant, who had hired him to be his attorney for the sum of £3, which he had not paid him. Brikley asked for £5 to cover the damages. August 3, 1703.
Box 2, folder 18: On August 20, 1740, Aaron Machado gave Cornelius Cosine a sorrel mare worth £5 to keep and pasture for him, for which Machado would pay £0:5 per week. On September 14, 1740, Machado returned to claim the mare, but Cosine refused. Machado claimed £10 in damages. September 13, 1740.
Box 2, folder 25: Samuel Bell sued Isaac Navarro for £8:10:4 ½ for diverse quantities of ironware, which Navarro received on July 10, 1755. Bell claims £10 in damages. September 2, 1755.
Box 2, folder 25: Gilbert Forbes sued Isaac Navarro for £8:15:2 ½ for goods and wares, which Navarro received on May 2, 1755. August 12, 1755.
Box 2, folder 26: Promissory note, written by John Chollwell, to Daniel Nunez, for £10 New York currency. November 5, 1719.
Box 2, folder 26: Daniel Nunes sued John Chollwell of New Jersey for £10 New York currency, which he borrowed on November 5, 1719. Nunez asked for £5 in damages. August 1, 1721.
Box 2, folder 27: Joseph Nunez, merchant, against Daniel Marnard, tailor. Marnard owed Nunez £11:2:13 for sundry goods and merchandise, which he had not paid. Nunez then demanded £15. August 3, 1701.
Box 2, folder 28: Rodrigo Pacheco, a merchant, sued David Provoost, son of Jonathan Provoost, for £18:6 for two casks of rum, which Pacheco had given him on September 1, 1726. Pacheco asked for £15 in damages. April 15, 1727.
Box 2, folder 30: William Graham, a boatman, sued Samuel Pinto for assault and battery. Graham claimed Pinto struck him without cause or provocation on June 5, 1755.
Box 2, folder 42: Jacob Togal sued Thomas Williams for £3:1:0 for five sheep and three lambs, which Williams received on August 6, 1755. Togal claimed £6 in damages. September 3, 1755.
Box 1, folder 2: Joseph Bueno against Judith de Mense through James Emett, his attorney. Mense owed Bueno £23:8:1 for sundry goods, wines and merchandise. October 1699.
Box 1, folder 2: Joseph Bueno, deceased, was sued by Isaac Dias through William Nicole, his attorney. Bueno owed Dias £145:16:1 for diverse trading ventures between London and New York. Dias sued the executors of Bueno's estate, Lewis Gomez, Abraham de Lucena, and Rachel Bueno, for £150, including damages. August 10, 1709.
Box 1, folder 2: Joseph Bueno, merchant, sued George Lockhart, a surgeon from New York, to pay up a bill of £10:4:4 drawn upon Lockhart by Edward Anthill. November 7, 1685.
Box 1, folder 4: Abraham Carcass sued Lydia Manning. Carcass contracted to pay Manning's passage from London to New York on the condition that she would serve him for two years as a maidservant. In addition, he lent her £9, which she promised to pay on demand. The demand was made on November 23, 1725, but she refused to pay. Carcass asks for £15 in damages. January 1, 1725.
Box 1, folder 8: Domingo Costa (a Jew or a Christian?) sued James Palmer for £16:5 sterling. Costa had served for 13 months as a mariner aboard the ship Ulisses of which vessel James Palmer served as master. Costa was to be paid at 25 shillings sterling per month. The voyage was completed on January 1, 1750, when Costa requested his pay, which was refused. He then brought suit for £35 in damages. February 11, 1750.
Box 1, folder 10: Promissory note, written at John Fordham, to Daniel Nunes da Costa for £8:1. Witness: Isaac da Fonseca. November 1, 1728.
Box 1, folder 10: Daniel Nunes da Costa sued John Fordham for £18:1, which Fordham borrowed on November 1, 1728. Costa claimed £14 in damage. February 22, 1728.
Box 1, folder 12: Abraham de Lucena sued Richard Noble Vintner for £48, which Noble borrowed from him on July 10, 1716. Lucena asked for £10 in damage.
Box 1, folder 12: William Warner sued Abraham de Lucena for £17:8:6 for goods received. Warner asked for £19, including damages. July 21, 1716.
Box 1, folder 12: Abraham de Lucena sued Michael Greenham, mariner, for £7:10 for sundry goods, wares and merchandise. Lucena asked for £9, including damages. James Emott was his attorney. September 17, 1709.
Box 1, folder 13: Isaac de Modina sued John Lesley for £6:18:9 for diverse goods and wares, which Lesley received on May 30, 1727. Modina claimed £19 in damages. Judgement entered August 22, 1727.
Box 1, folder 14: Charles Dickinson sued Abraham de Souza for £37:17:4 for 38 firkins of butter, which Souza received on March 1, 1754. Dickinson claimed £19 in damages. March 10, 1754.
Box 1, folder 14: Edward Croston sued Abraham de Souza for £44:6:8 for diverse quantities of butchers' meat, fat and tallow, which Souza received on January 22, 1753. Croston claimed £40 in damages. March 16, 1753.
Box 1, folder 14: Abraham de Souza sued Andrew Manuel for £15:9:0 ½ for goods and wares, which Manuel received on June 15, 1753. Souza claimed £19 in damages. June 24, 1753.
Box 1, folder 16: Edward Blagg and Charles Crooke admitted a debt to Crispin Hooper and Susanna, his wife, for £38, on the condition that Jacob Francisco, the defendant, paid what the court demanded or surrendered his body to the court. October 1, 1721.
Box 1, folder 16: Crispin Hooper and Susanna, his wife, sued Jacob Francisco for £19 damages. Susana gave Francisco a land deed to keep for her. When she demanded its return, he refused. Judgement on January 25, 1725. September 13, 1725.
Box 1, folder 21: David Gomez against Roger Grover. January 14, 1720.
Box 1, folder 22: Lewis Gomez, a merchant, sued Edmond Thomas through his attorney James Emett for £15:7 for 62(?) gallons of rum, which Edmond bought from him. October 1703.
Box 1, folder 22: Henry Light, a blacksmith, Edward Pennant, and Abraham Price, a blacksmith, admitted a debt of £200 to Lewis Gomez. Henry Light was to pay Gomez what the court directed or surrender his body to the court. January 16, 1719.
Box 1, folder 22: Lewis Gomez sued Jonathan Hunter, a tanner, for £15:5:6, which Hunter received on February 22, 1720. Gomez asked for £9 in damages. November 19, 1720.
Box 1, folder 22: On March 20, 1723, Peter Berton served as a bay lift for Lewis Gomez of three barrels and four firkins of fish, five boxes of green wax candles, five half barrels and two whole barrels of ship bread and one barrel of onions, of a total value of £48:11:4. Lewis Gomez sued Peter Berton for £100 damages. April 20, 1725.
Box 1, folder 22: William Anderson and Rebecca, his wife, sued Lewis Gomez, assignee of Magdalen Fourt, for £10. On February 24, 1713, the then Rebecca Morris, widow, was the sole executrix of the estate of Captain William Morris; and Magdalen Fourt, a widow, was the executrix of the estate of Bartholomew La Fourt. Rebecca Morris leased to Magdalen Fourt a store, a warehouse and a ground lot in New York. Magdalen Fourt (or her assignees) was to pay £10 annually for 15 years. Fourt later assigned this property to Lewis Gomez. Thus, on March 1, 1728, Gomez was obligated to pay former Rebecca Morris, then Rebecca Anderson, the £10 annual rental, which he did not pay. William and Rebecca Anderson sued him for £10 damages. May 5, 1729.
Box 1, folder 22: Henry Anthony of New York, baker, signed a bond of prosecute for £10 in the case of Peter Bogardus against Lewis Gomez. November 17, 1729.
Box 1, folder 23: Mordecai Gomez sued Aaron Owen for £17:0:6 for diverse goods and wares, which Owen received on February 27, 1728. Gomez claimed £20 in damages. March 15, 1728.
Box 1, folder 23: Mordecai Gomez sued William Goulding for £4, which he borrowed on June 8, 1727. Gomez claimed £8 in damages. June 22, 1728.
Box 1, folder 23: John Burling, merchant, and Anthony Noble, baker, admitted a debt of £40 to Mordecai Gomez on the condition that Aaron Owen paid what the court instructed or surrendered his body into custody. March 20, 1729.
Box 1, folder 24: Thomas Sparham sued Moses Gomez for £11:7:10, due him for medical services rendered to cure the foot of an enslaved person, called Duke, belonging to Gomez. Duke was under his care for six months, during which Sparham provided "diet, lodging and washing" and medical care. On December 10, 1750, Sparham asked for his fee, but Gomez refused to pay. Sparham then claimed £19 in damages. November 23, 1751.
Box 1, folder 24: Moses Gomez answered the charges pressed by Thomas Sparham. Gomez stated that he was not responsible for the total amount of £11:7:10. He claimed responsibility only for £2:5. For the remaining £9:2:10, "he puts himself upon the country". On December 10, 1750, he paid Sparham £2:5 he felt he owed him, which sum Sparham refused to accept. December 11, 1751.
Box 1, folder 24: Sparham contradicted Gomez's answer and asserted that Gomez did not attempt to pay him £2:5 on December 10, 1750, as he alleged in his answer. December 12, 1751.
Box 2, folder 9: Joseph Lion sued Johannes Vreeland for £9:7:2, the value of 1,440 feet of the oak plank at 13 shillings/100 feet, which Vreeland received on April 21, 1729. Lion claimed £12 in damages (May 17, 1729). Later, Vreeland retorted that he was not responsible for the entire bill of £9:7:2; instead, he put himself in the country for £7:5:11 of the amount due. On May 12, 1729, he offered to pay Lion the remaining £2:1:3 plus the sum of £1:7:6 in damages. Lion refused to accept the settlement (June 2, 1729). However still demanded from Vreeland the entire sum of £9:7:2, and he called upon the country to ascertain the validity of Vreeland's claim that he was not responsible for £7:5:11 of the bill. Lion admitted that Vreeland offered to settle for the remaining £2:1:3 plus damages, but he refused to accept it, claiming the total amount was still due him (June 24, 1729).
Box 2, folder 10: Stephen Delancey, merchant, sued Abraham Luís (Jew or Christian?) of Rhode Island, merchant, for £35:14.9, which Luís had borrowed on May 20, 1701, and for other charges of merchandise. Delancey asked for £45 in damages. July 2, 1701.
Box 2, folder 12: May Brikley, of New York, attorney, sued Isaac Rodrigues Marques, merchant, who had hired him to be his attorney for the sum of £3, which he had not paid him. Brikley asked for £5 to cover the damages. August 3, 1703.
Box 2, folder 18: On August 20, 1740, Aaron Machado gave Cornelius Cosine a sorrel mare worth £5 to keep and pasture for him, for which Machado would pay £0:5 per week. On September 14, 1740, Machado returned to claim the mare, but Cosine refused. Machado claimed £10 in damages. September 13, 1740.
Box 2, folder 25: Samuel Bell sued Isaac Navarro for £8:10:4 ½ for diverse quantities of ironware, which Navarro received on July 10, 1755. Bell claims £10 in damages. September 2, 1755.
Box 2, folder 25: Gilbert Forbes sued Isaac Navarro for £8:15:2 ½ for goods and wares, which Navarro received on May 2, 1755. August 12, 1755.
Box 2, folder 26: Promissory note, written by John Chollwell, to Daniel Nunez, for £10 New York currency. November 5, 1719.
Box 2, folder 26: Daniel Nunes sued John Chollwell of New Jersey for £10 New York currency, which he borrowed on November 5, 1719. Nunez asked for £5 in damages. August 1, 1721.
Box 2, folder 27: Joseph Nunez, merchant, against Daniel Marnard, tailor. Marnard owed Nunez £11:2:13 for sundry goods and merchandise, which he had not paid. Nunez then demanded £15. August 3, 1701.
Box 2, folder 28: Rodrigo Pacheco, a merchant, sued David Provoost, son of Jonathan Provoost, for £18:6 for two casks of rum, which Pacheco had given him on September 1, 1726. Pacheco asked for £15 in damages. April 15, 1727.
Box 2, folder 30: William Graham, a boatman, sued Samuel Pinto for assault and battery. Graham claimed Pinto struck him without cause or provocation on June 5, 1755.
Box 2, folder 42: Jacob Togal sued Thomas Williams for £3:1:0 for five sheep and three lambs, which Williams received on August 6, 1755. Togal claimed £6 in damages. September 3, 1755.
Archival history
The American Jewish Archives received this collection from Leo Hershkowitz in 1965.
Administrative / Biographical history
The Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Mayor’s Court, was established by the Dongan Charter of 1686. It was a civil court with jurisdiction limited to the City of New York. In 1691, the court’s jurisdiction was extended throughout the State, and the court was continued under the Constitution of 1777. Under the Constitution of 1846, the court’s jurisdiction was again restricted to the City of New York, and it was given appellate jurisdiction from orders of the Marine Court and District Courts of New York City. Its jurisdiction in all other counties was transferred to the County Court. When the Constitution of 1894 abolished the Court of Common Pleas of the City of New York, it was the oldest judicial tribunal in the State of New York. Its jurisdiction was transferred to the New York Supreme Court.
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Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2022
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| Title | Alternate label | Class |
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| Mayor's Court (New York, N.Y.) selected briefs | Existence and location of copies | |
| Mayor’s Court Records | Existence and location of copies |
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| Mayor’s Court Records | Scope and content |
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