ANDREW WILLIAM'S AFFIDAVIT OF PETITION



We have one more document that pertains to Andrew Williams to look at. This is his "Affidavit of Petition to the Commissioners of Central Park."

On July 21, 1853, the city government passed a law authorizing that all the land from 59th to 106th Streets between Fifth Avenue and Eighth Avenue be taken by right of eminent domain in order to build Central Park. The City Surveyor was ordered to assess the value of each piece of property so that the owners could be compensated.

Many residents were dismayed at the low values the surveyor placed on their land. Andrew Williams was one of them. He, like others in the village, got a lawyer and filed an Affidavit of Petition in the State Supreme Court of New York.

At the time Andrew Williams filed the petition, he had lived in the village for about 30 years. We know this because there are entries for Andrew Williams in the 1830, 1840, and 1850 Federal censuses, as well as the 1855 census.

Look at Andrew Williams' Affidavit of Petition. The original document is difficult to read because it is handwritten in script. Examine the original document and then read the transcription underneath. (To keep the window open, move it away from your browser and onto your desktop.)

Here are some questions you might want to answer:

  • What does the "X" accompanied by the words "his mark" mean? What inferences can you make from it?
  • What kinds of information do you get from the affidavit that you don't get from the census?
  • In what ways does the affidavit confirm or contradict information in the census?


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