Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York. 67th session, vol. 3, document 96. (Albany, 1844). A petition to change the New York State law and allow women to retain ownership of the property they possessed before marriage, was first introduced in 1836. Yearly petitions presented to the Legislature were denied. In this 1844 report, the Judiciary Committee found against the proposal saying that such a law would make women too independent of their husbands and undermine marriage, morals, and the state itself. The bill was finally passed in 1848, making New York the first state to pass a married woman's property law.
Citation
New York (State). Legislature. Assembly., “Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York. 71st session, volume 5, document 129.,” RBSCP Exhibits, accessed March 15, 2025, https://rbscpexhibits.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/508.