Bidspirit auction | (AMERICAN-JUDAICA). Manuel Myers (1727-99). Document

(AMERICAN-JUDAICA). Manuel Myers (1727-99). Document Signed. Myers certifies on behalf of John Marston that a mortgage from Joshua Levy taken in 1781 is paid in full. This document also requests that a record of this be made in the Clerk’s Office of the City and County of New York. The certification is signed by Manuel Myers, and a witness, James Smith, in whose hand the document is written. At bottom is a note from Smith asserting that Myers’ certification took place in the presence of Richard Varick (1753-1831), mayor of New York. Varick’s signature appears beneath this. One page. Torn. Folio. New York: 15th September 1791 Manuel Myers was a shopkeeper in New York, active in the Jewish community as the minute books from Shearith Israel attest. He was selected Hatan Torah in 1761, as well as a yaheed and parnas over the years. An interesting tidbit as to his personal history is to be found in the Naturalization Roll of Jews of New York (1740-59). From 1740, Jews in Colonial America were granted the privilege of attaining citizenship by the king after fulfilling a requirement of seven years of residence. Myers’ signature appears on this document, utilizing the name ‘Mendel’ in Hebrew letters. The clerk added ‘his mark’ and ‘Manuel Myers, ’ an anglicized version perhaps of Mendel. Little is known of John Marston, although a record shows that Myers brought property from him in July of 1791. Joshua Levy was a fellow New Yorker. He too appears in the Shearith Israel minute book - his turn for Hatan Torah came in 1763. See Menasseh Vaxer, Naturalization Roll of Jews of New York (1740-1759), PAJHS No. 37 (1947) p. 373.