NGS Review Part 3

• "U.S. Naturalization Records, Colonial Times to Early Twentieth-century" by John Philip Colletta, PhD
• Three periods of naturalization records
• 1. Prior to 1970 2. 1790- Sep. 26, 1906 3. Since Sep. 27, 1906
• Find a likely candidate and then secure and examine the original recede on microfilm or digitization.
• Basic facts you need: ancestor's name, aprox.date, native country, state and county where living during naturalization.
• Where can you find naturalization records?
• Citizenship columns in federal censuses: 1820, 1830, 1870, 1900-1930.
• Find information in state censuses. He is talking about New York state census.
• Why Naturalize? Vote, Ability to hold office, transfer land.
• Check passenger ships records to see if a family member was already a citizen.
• ALWAYS check state archives!! He emphasized that a lot!
• Colonial Period - beginning in 1607: stautes of British colonies in North America(except for N.H.)
• 1740: people could become a citizen of both Great Britain and the colony they were living.
• White, males, 21yrs. +, land owner. These were people who could get citizenship at the time.
• 1776: people who were born from this point forward are automatically citizens.
• Pennsylvania Records of Natiralization 1695 177~ Most are Germans.
• 1795: Free white females 21>. 5 years in country. 2- Declaration 3- Petition.
• Sep. 27, 1906 Bureau of Immigration & Naturalization created.
• 1922: married women must file separately.
• Courts that naturalized: Federal, State, Municipal. Start with Federal and work your way down.
• After INS was created forms were made that gave a lot more information than previous hand written declarations.
• Of course, be sure to check www.archives.gov
• Great lecture on Naturalization by John Philip Colletta!!