Documents can change a nation and/or documents can change a person's nation as in the case of the naturalization process in the United States. According to the National Archives web pages on Naturalization, "Naturalization is the process by which an alien becomes an American citizen. It is a voluntary act; naturalization is not required. Of the foreign-born persons listed on the 1890 through 1930 censuses, 25 percent had not become naturalized or filed their "first papers."
From the first naturalization law passed by Congress in 1790 through much of the 20th 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. In general, the process consisted of two steps. Upon a residency of no less than 2 years, an alien could file a "declation of intent" (also known as "first papers.") The document currently on display in the new BDC Research Room is from the Circuit Court and contains the "Declaration of Intent" of 47 foreign nationals. (It's the one with the purple backdrop). Second papers, the formal "petition for naturalization," could not be filed before a period of 3 additional years had passed. After the "petition for naturalization" was granted, a certificate of citizenship was issued to the alien.
It is important for researchers to note that these two steps did not have to take place in the same court.
Genealogically speaking, the "declaration of intent" generally is more exciting than the formal "petition for naturalization." The "declaration" may include the alien's month and year (or possibly the exact date) of immigration into the United States, including the conveyance.
Our document covers the period 1908-1924. Unfortunately, the handwriting is a little difficult to read in many cases. Here's a transcription of the Declaration of Intention filed by Ernest C. Dekne (I think).
I, Ernest C. Dekne, aged 18 years, occupation Mechanic, do declare on oath that my personal description is: Color White, complexion sallow, height 5 feet 6 inches, weight 120 pounds, color of hair Brown, color of eyes Blue other visible distinctive marks no; I was born in Germany, on the 11th day of Janay, [short for January], anno Domini 1904; I now reside at Paris [sic] Island. I emigrated to the United States of America from Germany on the vessel* Rhine; my last foreign residence was Halferstadt(?). It is my bona fide intention to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly to Republic of Germany, of which I am now a citizen; I arrived at the port of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland on or about the [left blank] day of Sept, anno Domini 1906; I am not an anarchist; I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy; and it is my intention in good faith to become a citizen of the United States of America and to permanently reside therein: SO HELP ME GOD. [Signed] Ernest C. Dekne Subscribed and sworn before me this 26 day of July, anno Domini 1922. [Signed] E.B. Rodgers, Clerk of the Circuit Court
*If the alien arrived otherwise than by vessel, the character or name of transportation compnay should be given.
How fortunate that Dekne came to the United States through the Port of Baltimore -- because Ancestry Library Edition has among its 7735 databases is one for Baltimore: "Ancestry.com. Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1820-1948."
Here's what ALE writes about this particular series:
This database is an index to the passenger lists of ships arriving from foreign ports at the port of Baltimore, Maryland from 1820-1948. The names found in the index are linked to actual images of the passenger lists, digitized from National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm M255, rolls 1-50 and microfilm T844, rolls 1-150. This database also contains a few records of immigrants who entered the U.S. at other ports or border crossings and were later asked, when they were living in Baltimore, to fill out immigrant arrival information on passenger lists. Therefore, you may find individuals in this database whose port of arrivals are, for example, St. Albans, Vermont; Portal, North Dakota; Port Huron, Michigan; Tampa, Florida; and others.
Information contained in the index includes: •Name •Age •Gender •Ethnicity, nationality or last country of permanent residence •Destination •Arrival date •Port of arrival •Port of departure •Ship name •Microfilm roll and page number.
If a name of a friend or relative whom the individual was going to join with, or a place of nativity was provided, that information is included in the index as well. Many of these items may be used to search the index in the search template above.
Many passenger list forms, especially those from the twentieth century, were two pages long. Be sure to click the "Previous" and "Next" buttons in order to see all the images pertaining to a particular manifest.
It is important to note that the port of departure listed on these passenger lists is not always the original port of departure for these individuals. A ship could make several voyages throughout the year, making several stops along way. Oft times the port of departure found on these lists is the most recent port the ship was located at prior to arriving at the port of Baltimore. Therefore, if your ancestors emigrated to the U.S. from Germany, they could be found on a passenger list coming from Liverpool, England (if, in this case, the ship left from Bremen, Germany then continued on to Liverpool, England before arriving in Baltimore).
The microcopies of the passenger lists found at NARA are arranged chronologically by arrival date of vessel. If you do not wish to search this database using the search template, the images may be browsed following the chronological arrangement. To browse the images first select the "Year" in which you would like to search, followed by the "Month", and finally the "Ship Name".
This is a great research lead. I put in some search terms: Last name "Dekne"; Year of Arrival "1906" to "1906" [it didn't give me the option of searching just September]; Port of Arrival "Baltimore"; and Ship Name "Rhine" and crossed my fingers. I got a fair amount of hits. Scanning through, I looked for the ones from just Baltimore and then looked quickly for the date September 1906. After a few entries for other ships, I came upon the "Rhein" entering the Port of Baltimore on 11 Sep 1906. The ship's "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the U. S. Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival" states that the "Rhein" sailing from Bremen, August 30, 1906 Arriving at Port of Baltimore, Sep 11, 1906 had abroad two persons with the name of Ernest Dehne, aged 37 a carpenter and a child, aged 2. It appears that Ernest Dehne, the elder, brought his family with him, a wife named Sophie, and 7 children.
Take aways: Use your clues (I came on the Rhine into the port of Baltimore in September 1906) and adjust for some minor details with spelling (What I saw as "Dekne" is very clearly "Dehne" in the arrival record and the ship's name "Rhine" is actually "Rhein" in the arrival record) when doing genealogical research!
Stuart Forrest, our Systems whiz, has Ancestry Library Edition up and running on the public access computer in the new BDC. It's now available for customers to use to access ALE during our customary hours of operation, viz. Mondays through Fridays, 10 am until 5 pm.
In addition to the Circuit Court book of Declarations of Intention, one can also find naturalization and immigration records in the microfilmed series Records of Admissions to Citizenship, District of South Carolina 1790-1906.
To learn more about the records of naturalization, please read the National Archives web pages.
No comments:
Post a Comment