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Archiver > NJHUNTER > 2001-03 > 0985205023


From: "Dan Conner" <>
Subject: [NJHUNTER] Fwd: Re: Naturalization Records
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 12:03:43 -0800


This is a response I rec'd from the National Archives regarding a question I
had sent to them about obtaining Naturalization Records.
I hope someone "out there" finds this helpful(or at least interesting).
It *is* quite lengthy, but I found it to be interesting.
Regards,
Dan in Nebraska


>From: "Cliff Macwha" <>
>To: <>
>Subject: Re: Naturalization Records
>Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 14:08:10 -0500
>
>Dear Mr. Conner-
>In order to find your ancestors' naturalization records, you first must
>know where they naturalized. Naturalization records in the National
>Archives are, for the most part, kept at the branch that services the
>region where the naturalizations took place.
>Because of the time period in which your ancestors came over, you may have
>to go to state or county courts to find these records; it wasn't until 1906
>that naturalizations were required to be done through the federal courts.
>I am enclosing an article on the naturalization process that should help
>direct your search. Good luck.
>
>Clifford MacWha
>Archives I Research Room Services Branch (NWCC1)
>National Archives and Records Administration
>700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
>Washington, DC 20408-0001
>
>Naturalization Records
>
>The following article should assist you in locating the naturalization
>record you are looking for. You can find an updated version at our website
>at <http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/natural.html>;.
>
>"The Location of Naturalization Records."
>By Claire Prechtel-Kluskens.
>Reprinted from The Record, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 21-22 (Nov. 1996).
>
>We are frequently asked where an ancestor's naturalization records can be
>found. This article will provide general guidance that should assist most
>researchers in finding these records.
>
>Naturalization is the process of by which an alien becomes an American
>citizen. It is a voluntary act by the alien; naturalization is not
>required. Twenty-five percent of foreign-born persons listed on the 1890
>through 1930 censuses had not become naturalized or filed their "first
>papers."
>
>The Courts
>
>From the first naturalization law passed by Congress in 1790 up through
>much of the twentieth century, an alien could become naturalized in any
>court of record. Thus, most people went to the court most convenient to
>them, usually a county court of some kind. The names and types of courts
>vary from state to state. The names and types courts have also varied
>during different periods of history--but may include the county supreme,
>circuit, district, equity, chancery, probate, or common pleas court. Most
>researchers will find that their ancestors became naturalized in one of
>these courts. A few State Supreme Courts also naturalized aliens, such as
>the Supreme Courts of Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, New Jersey, and South
>Dakota.
>
>Some persons who lived in large cities become naturalized in a Federal
>court, such as a U.S. District Court or U.S. Circuit Court, if one of those
>courts were convenient to them.
>
>General Rule: The Two-Step Process
>
>Congress passed the first law regulating naturalization in 1790 (1 Stat.
>103). As a general rule, naturalization was a two-step process that took a
>minimum of five years. After being in the United States a minimum of two
>years, an alien could file a "declaration of intent" to become a citizen.
>A minimum of three years after that, the alien could then "petition for
>naturalization." After the petition was granted, a certificate of
>citizenship was issued to the alien. These two steps did not have to take
>place in the same court. As a general rule, the "declaration of intent"
>will contain more genealogically-useful information than the "petition."
>The "declaration" may include the alien's month and year (or possibly the
>exact date) of his immigration to the United States.
>
>Exceptions to the General Rule
>
>Having stated this "two-step, five-year" general rule, it is necessary to
>note several exceptions. The first major exception was that "derivative"
>citizenship was granted to wives and minor children of naturalized men.
>From 1790 to 1922, wives of naturalized men automatically became citizens.
>This also meant that an alien woman who married a U.S. citizen
>automatically became a citizen upon marriage. From 1790 to 1940, children
>under the age of 21 automatically became naturalized citizens upon the
>naturalization of their father. Unfortunately, however, names and
>biographical information about wives and children are rarely included in
>declarations or petitions before September 1906.
>
>The second major exception to the general rule was that, from 1824 to
>1906, minor aliens who had lived in the U.S. five years before their
>twenty-third birthday could file their declarations and petitions at the
>same time.
>
>The third major exception to the general rule was the special
>consideration given to veterans. An 1862 law allowed honorably-discharged
>army veterans of any war to petition for naturalization without previously
>having filed a declaration of intent after only one year's residence in the
>United States. An 1894 law extended the same no-previous-declaration
>privilege to honorably-discharged five-year veterans of the Navy or the
>Marine Corps. Over 192,000 aliens were naturalized between May 9, 1918
>and June 30, 1919, under an act of May 9, 1918, that allowed aliens serving
>in the U.S. armed forces during "the present war" to file a petition for
>naturalization without making a declaration of intent or proving five
>years' residence. Laws enacted in 1919, 1926, 1940, and 1952 continued
>various preferential treatment provisions for veterans.
>
>The Records
>
>It is impossible to provide hard-and-fast rules about the content or even
>the existence of naturalization records. The 1905 Report to the President
>of the Commission on Naturalization remarked:
>
>The methods of making and keeping the naturalization records in both the
>Federal and State courts are as various as the procedure in such cases.
>Thus the declaration of intention in some courts consists merely of the
>bare statement of the intention and the name and allegiance of the alien,
>while in other courts it also includes a history of the alien.... In a
>majority of courts alien applicants are not required to make the
>declaration of intention required by law ... and in other courts he is.
>Previous to 1903 a majority of courts did not require petitions or
>affidavits; other courts did. Some courts keep a naturalization record
>separate from the other records; other courts include the naturalization
>record in the regular minutes of the court. Some records contain full
>histories of the aliens, but a majority of the records show only the name,
>nationality, oath of allegiance, and date of admission.
>
>In 1903, a Justice Department investigator made even more damning comments:
>
>I find the naturalization records in many cases in a chaotic condition,
>many lost and destroyed, and some sold for old paper. Most the records
>consist of merely the name and nativity of the alien with no means of
>identifying aliens of the same name.... In numerous cases I find aliens
>naturalized under initials instead of Christian names, surnames misspelled
>or changed entirely, and names of witnesses inserted in place of the alien
>naturalized.... The examination of the records discloses the remarkable
>fact that never, since the first enactment of the naturalization laws, has
>any record been made in any court of the names of minor children who, under
>the operation of the statutes, were made citizens by the naturalization of
>their parents.
>
>The Location of these Records
>
>For a comprehensive guide to where naturalization records for specific
>courts can be found, see Christina K. Schaefer, Guide to Naturalization
>Records of the United States (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co.,
>1997), which is available in many public libraries, as well as from
>genealogical booksellers and the publisher.
>
>Naturalization records from county courts may still be at the county
>court, or in a county or state archives, or at a regional archives serving
>several counties within a state. Some of these records or indexes have
>been published, such as the Index of Naturalizations, Ashtabula County,
>Ohio, 1875-1906, published by the Ashtabula County Genealogical Society.
>
>Do not be surprised if county court employees tell you their
>naturalization records are at "the National Archives" or that their court
>never conducted naturalizations. Most current court employees are probably
>not genealogists and may not be familiar with, or interested in, the
>court's older records. It is up to the researcher to have persistence in
>determining the location of older court records. Some of these records may
>have been microfilmed and may be available through "Family History Centers"
>run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("Mormon"). Family
>History Centers are open to the public.
>
>If the naturalization took place in a Federal court, naturalization
>indexes, declarations, of intent, and petitions will usually be in the
>National Archives' Regional Archives serving the state in which the Federal
>court is located (addresses listed at end of message). Some of these
>indexes and records have been microfilmed and are available through
>"Mormon" Family History Centers or the American Genealogical Lending
>Library (a private company that rents microfilmed genealogical records to
>the public).
>
>The Microfilm Reading Room (Room 400) in the National Archives Building in
>downtown Washington, D.C., has some microfilmed Federal court
>naturalization indexes, declarations, and petitions, but it is by no means
>a complete collection of these records. To repeat, most Federal
>naturalization records are found in the National Archives Regional Archives
>serving the state in which the Federal court is located.
>
>Although the National Archives does not have naturalization records
>created in state or local courts, we do have three microfilmed indexes that
>serve as a finding aid to some state and local court naturalizations.
>National Archives Microfilm Publication M1285, Soundex Index to
>Naturalization Petitions for the United States District and Circuit Courts,
>Northern District of Illinois, and Immigration and Naturalization Service
>District 9, 1840-1950 (179 rolls) serves both as an index to naturalization
>petitions from the two Federal courts mentioned in its title and as an
>index to naturalization petitions filed in county courts in eastern Iowa,
>northwestern Indiana, eastern Wisconsin, and northern Illinois.
>
>National Archives Microfilm Publication M1674, Index (Soundex) to
>Naturalization Petitions Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New
>York, New York, including New York, Kings, Queens, and Richmond Counties,
>1792-1906 (294 rolls) serves a similar finding aid function for New York
>City naturalization petitions.
>
>National Archives Microfilm Publication M1299, Index to New England
>Naturalization Records, 1791-1906 (117 rolls) serves a similar function for
>naturalizations occurring in various courts in the New England states.
>
>For more detailed information, consult John J. Newman, American
>Naturalization Processes and Procedures, 1790-1985 (Indianapolis: Indiana
>Historical Society, 1985).
>
>National Archives Regional Archives Addresses
>
>NARA--New England Region (Boston), 380 Trapelo Rd., Waltham, MA 02154.
>617-647-8100. Email: <>. States: CT, ME, MA,
>NH, RI, VT.
>
>NARA--New England Region (Pittsfield), 10 Conte Dr., Pittsfield, MA 01201.
>413-445-6885. Email: <>. MICROFILM ONLY; no
>original records. States: CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT.
>
>NARA--Northeast Region (New York City), 201 Varick St., New York, NY.
>212-337-1300. Email: <>. States: NJ, NY,
>Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands.
>
>NARA--Mid-Atlantic Region (Philadelphia City Center), 900 Market St., Room
>1350, Philadelphia, PA 19107. 215-597-3000. Email:
><>. States: DE, MD, PA, VA, WV.
>
>NARA--Southeast Region (Atlanta), 1557 St. Joseph Ave., East Point, GA
>30344. 404-763-7477. Email: <>. States: AL,
>FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN.
>
>NARA--Great Lakes Region (Chicago), 7358 South Pulaski Rd., Chicago, IL
>60629. 312-581-7816. Email: <>. States: IL,
>IN, MI, MN, OH, WI.
>
>NARA--Central Plains Region (Kansas City), 2312 East Bannister Rd., Kansas
>City, MO 64131. 816-926-6272. Email: <>.
>States: IA, KS, MO, NE.
>
>NARA--Southwest Region (Fort Worth), 501 West Felix St., P.O. Box 6216, Ft.
>Worth, TX 76115. 817-334-5525. States: AR, LA, NM (most records from
>Federal agencies in NM are at NARA-Rocky Mountain Region), OK, TX.
>
>NARA--Rocky Mountain Region (Denver), Building 48-Denver Federal Center,
>Denver, CO 80225-0307. 303-236-0817. Email: <>.
>States: CO, MT, ND, NM, SD, UT, WY.
>
>NARA--Pacific Region (Laguna Niguel), 24000 Avila Rd., Laguna Niguel, CA
>92656. 714-360-2641. Email: <>. States: AZ,
>southern CA, and Clark Co., NV.
>
>NARA--Pacific Region (San Francisco), 1000 Commodore Dr., San Bruno, CA
>94066. 415-876-9009. Email: <>. Northern CA,
>HI, NV (except Clark Co.), Pacific Trust Territories, American Samoa.
>
>NARA--Pacific-Alaska Region (Seattle), 6125 Sand Point Way, NE, Seattle,
>WA, 98115. 206-526-6507. Email: <>.
>
>NARA--Pacific-Alaska Region (Anchorage), 654 West Third Ave., Anchorage,
>AK, 99501. 907-271-2441. Email: >. State: AK.
>
> >>> "Dan Conner" <> 03/20/01 07:31AM >>>
>I am hoping to find Naturalization Records for:
>(1) GRAHAM, Isaac: from Belfast, Ireland. Came to America sometime before
>1869 and lived in Philadelphia, PA
>(2) STROM, Charles: came from Sweden to America sometime in the1880's.
>
>Thank you,
>Dan Conner
>Omaha, NE

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