Research

Administrative History

Alien depositions were submitted to the Secretary of State's office in Albany pursuant to an act passed April 21, 1825 enabling resident aliens to acquire, own, and dispose of real property. The alien's right in regard to real property expired six years after filing the deposition. The 1825 law pertained only to individuals specified by name, but was amended in 1826 to provide for a more general application. After the mid-nineteenth century women made many of the alien depositions (up to one third of the total). Statutes passed between 1848 and 1862 allowed married women in New York to own real property in their own names.