Records Relating to the Sale of Alcohol,
1801-1879
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TranscriptionTavern License, 1801
Temperance Petition, 1879
In Westchester in the 18th and 19th centuries, licenses to operate establishments that sold liquor were granted by Commissioners of Excise. The commissioners were appointed by the town or city government. The May 12, 1801, minutes of the meeting of the Commissioners of Excise in Yonkers granted licenses to 10 residents who had applied to establish an inn or tavern in Yonkers. By granting permission to establish an inn or tavern, the commissioners were granting the right to serve liquor.
The national Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was founded in 1874, and an active chapter was soon formed in Yonkers. In 1879 the WCTU petitioned the Yonkers City Council to confirm the nomination of a third member to the Commissioners of Excise who would deny permission to a business to sell liquor. The WCTU, along with other temperance groups, sought to eliminate all liquor sales, as well as consumption of liquor, “for the public good.” This, of course, led to the era of Prohibition, which outlawed all liquor in the United States from 1920 until 1933.