"Yous/ youse" early exx.

[Jonathan Lighter]

OED's initial exx. of  "yous" (the NYC pronoun) are both from Stephen Crane's "Bowery novel," _Maggie: A Girl of the Streets_ (1893).  _Maggie_, however, was written the previous year.

Of the two exx. cited by OED, one is pretty clearly used in the singular, as the editors note : "Ah, Jimmie, youse bin fightin' agin."

Here is an unmistakably singular ex. from a different author :

1893 James A. Frye _From Headquarters_ (Boston: Estes & Lauriat) 167 Youse _must_ have pull enough fer t' get me de place on de drum.

Most important, I think, is that by 1892-93 "yous / youse" was already stereotypical of white, working-class, NYC speech.

JL

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