As a genealogist,
you have learned by now that no institution or organization does
paperwork better than the federal government. It seems there is
a form to be completed for every conceivable situation—from
taxes to censuses to permits. And while most federal records
were never intended as sources of genealogical information, they
can contain very significant data about our ancestors.
One important
piece of information that is difficult to discover is the town
from which your immigrant ancestor originated. Many families do
not have this information as part of their family lore, and
other sources such as census records and ships’ passenger lists
do not necessarily reveal this critical piece of information.
However, if your ancestor applied for United States citizenship,
you may be able to learn exactly where he or she came from
through some of this all-too-prevalent federal paperwork.
What Are Naturalization Records?
When immigrants enter the United States, they are classified as
aliens. As such, they are allowed to reside in the United States
as long as they register with the federal government annually.
If they choose, aliens can become citizens. By definition,
naturalization is the process by which an alien achieves the
status of citizenship. The documents required to complete this
process are known to genealogists as naturalization records.
Prior to the
American Revolution, citizenship was not a major issue, as most
immigrants were British citizens living in a British colony.
Therefore, citizenship was handled by the various colonies,
making records from this period scant. After 1790, the process
of becoming a citizen became more important and was taken over
by the new federal government. Congress established a three-step
citizenship process that remains in place today.
Step I:
After residing in the United States for at least two years, an
alien could declare his or her intent to become a citizen. In
truth, it was a male ancestor who declared his intent, as women
(from 1790 to 1922) and minor children (from 1790 to 1940) were
granted "derivative citizenship" automatically when the husband
or father was naturalized. The paperwork necessary for this
first step is known as the Declaration of Intention, or the
"first papers."
Prior to 1906,
the year the naturalization process was standardized through the
Basic Naturalization Act of 1906, the declaration of intent
could be submitted to any local, county, state, or federal
court. The applicant was required to supply the following
information:
A. An
oath declaring the intent to become a citizen of the United
States.
B. A
pledge to support the Constitution of the United States.
C. A
sworn statement renouncing any foreign allegiance or claims to
hereditary titles that may have been granted in the
applicant’s homeland.
D. The
name of the applicant.
E. The
date of the application.
F. The
provision of various demographic information such as current
address, age and/or birth date, place of birth, and port of
immigration into the United States.
After 1906, the
form remained similar, but the required information increased
significantly. In addition to the details listed above, the
declarant had to supply personal information such as occupation,
color, height, weight, eye and hair color, and distinctive
marks. The declarant also had to supply biographical information
such as date and place of birth, place of departure for the
United States, last foreign residence, name of vessel, and date
of arrival in the United States. In later years, more
information was required, such as spousal information and
details about the applicant’s children.
Step II:
The alien was required to reside in the United States for a
specified period of time—usually an additional three years after
the Declaration of Intention was filed. After 1906, this period
of time could not exceed seven years.
Step III:
The alien, upon satisfying the first two steps, could petition a
court for admission as a citizen. This process is referred to as
the "second papers." The court to which this petition was
submitted did not have to be the same court to which the first
papers were submitted.
As with the first
papers, the data included on the petition depends upon the court
to which it was submitted and the submission year. As a general
rule, the documents contained the name of the applicant, an oath
of allegiance, and two affidavits from witnesses confirming that
the residency requirement had been met. After the Basic
Naturalization Act of 1906, the form used for this petition was
standardized, and the required information also included the
applicant’s name, date of petition, names of the witnesses, age
or birth date of applicant, port of entry, and the date the
first papers were filed. Additional information might include
place of birth, name, date, and place of birth of spouse and
even of children.
If the
applicant’s papers were deemed to be in order, a Naturalization
Certificate, or "third paper," was issued. This was the legal
proof of citizenship, and it often became an immigrant’s prized
possession. These certificates were also standardized after
1906. They became two-part forms that were serially numbered.
One copy went to the new citizen, while the Immigration and
Naturalization Service retained the other.
Locating Naturalization Records
Of all the public records available to genealogists,
naturalization records are perhaps the most difficult to use
because they are so difficult to track down. Since immigrant
ancestors could begin the process of naturalization at any
authorized court, and since virtually any court was authorized,
the actual records of naturalization could be scattered over the
various levels of American courts—from local and county to state
and federal.
It is essential
for the researcher to know where the ancestor was residing at
the approximate time the "first papers" were filed. Ask family
members about the residence of the immigrant ancestor, or check
the federal census. Fortunately, some of the more recent
censuses also asked when an individual was naturalized. Below is
a list of some of the useful census years and the column for
that census that might help your search:
1870 Census—Note
the column, "Male Citizens of the United States of twenty-one
years of age and upwards." If your male ancestor was
enumerated in this census and a check appears in column 19,
you have a clue that the naturalization occurred before 1870.
While that does not pin down the exact year of naturalization,
you can use it as a starting point. For example, you might
know (from a different source) that your immigrant arrived in
1858, and thus you will have a range of dates to search.
Knowing that he must have resided in this country at least two
years before filing "first papers," then the range of possible
dates would be between 1860 and 1870.
1900 Census—The
1900 Census requested the individual’s naturalization status
in column 18. The responses are "AL" for alien, "PA" for
having filed first papers, and "NA" for naturalized. Again, no
actual year is provided, but you can use your powers of
deductive reasoning to narrow down the possibilities.
1910 Census—The
1910 Census requested the naturalization status in column 16,
and the responses are the same as on the 1900 Census.
1920 Census—The
1920 Census records the same data in column 14, but also asks
for the exact year in which the individual was naturalized in
column 15. Remember that the individual being interviewed was
working from memory and that the answer in column 15 may be
off by a few years.
Census records
can be an advantage in our search for naturalization records.
Armed with the knowledge of when the ancestor was naturalized
and where that individual might have been residing at the time,
the researcher can begin the quest for the court where the
papers would have been filed. The best rule of thumb is to begin
with the court located nearest the immigrant ancestor’s home.
For an excellent resource on the levels and locations of various
courts around the United States, see one of the following books:
- They Became
Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins,
by Loretto Dennis Szucs. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, 1998.
- Guide to
Naturalization Records in the United States, by Christine
Schaefer. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing
Company, 1997.
After locating
the court that might have jurisdiction of the naturalization
records, either write and request a copy of the naturalization
papers or personally go to the courthouse. In either case, you
must have as much specific information as possible about the
ancestor—full name, date of birth, etc. In some cases,
naturalization records have been moved to another location, such
as a state historical society or even the National Archives. It
is possible that an index has been published for a particular
county’s naturalization records, such as the Index of
Naturalizations, Ashtabula County, Ohio, 1875-1906, published by
the Ashtabula County Genealogical Society. In most situations,
it is safe to assume that the search process will be
time-consuming.
In addition to
these sources, a researcher may choose to go online to see if
the court that handled the naturalization application has made
any records available on the Internet. Web sites such as Cyndi's
List and eGeneology.net
are excellent starting points for electronic research. As an
example of what can be found online, the Indiana State Archives
has become the repository of all Indiana naturalization records
prior to 1951. The Archives is microfilming these records and
making them available as a searchable database on the Internet.
Other similar Web sites are available and should be
investigated.
While
naturalization records may be difficult to locate, they have the
benefit of providing significant information about your
ancestors.
