Finding pre-USCIS evidence of US naturalization

[bpo]

Our family is a 1948 case. My GGGF naturalized in the US in 1893. My GGF, Angelo, was a young boy still living in Italy, but - by the laws of the time - this made him a naturalized US citizen.

Angelo later moved to the US in 1899, married an Italian woman in mid-1912 and had 3 children. I have evidence that my GGM, Angelo's wife, never naturalized. All her children were born between 1914 and 1920. This all should be sufficient to prove we are Italian citizens by the reasoning in the 2009 Court of Cassation decision.

However, 1948 cases also require evidence that petitioning the court is necessary. In other words, we also need proof that Angelo was a naturalized citizen. As the event that made him a naturalized citizen was his father's naturalization, the USCIS has no record of it, as they did not begin collecting state naturalization records until I think 1906.

I do have some evidence this naturalization happened. I have census records from 1900 and 1920 listing Angelo's father as "Na" in 1900 (but Angelo as Al oddly enough) and Angelo as "Na" in 1920 and thereafter. I also have a passport application from my GGM, asserting her rights to a US passport: her father-in-law was naturalized on April 13, 1893 at the Bureau County courthouse in Illinois. These papers were stamped as witnessed by a federal official and the application was approved.

Unfortunately, a search of the Bureau County courthouse records came up empty. Court records were found on the date in question, but no record of naturalization for my GGGF was found for any date.

The feedback I have gotten from Luigi Paiano is that we need a certified copy of Angelo's father's naturalization record in order to proceed with the case.

Thoughts I've had so far:

1) Try a different lawyer until I get the answer I want (that the evidence I have is sufficient). This is potentially unwise and expensive.

2) Go to the consulate and try to assert citizenship, as there is no direct evidence Angelo or his father naturalized in the US. This seems unlikely to work, as the 1920 census clearly shows Angelo as a naturalized citizen, and I believe census records are required as part of the application. Also, our family believes this history to be true generally, so it feels a bit dishonest, even though we're citizens either way.

In reality, I'm not 100% positive what actually happened. There were clearly documents of some kind at some point my GGPs believed were proof of their US citizenship (which they were both, by all accounts, very proud of). I do not doubt them, and the documents were clearly enough both to vote and get a passport with. Still, I don't know for sure what the papers actually were.

Typically, there should have 2 court filings several years apart filed in the path to becoming a citizen. However, Angelo's father arrived only in 1892, yet almost immediately became a citizen in 1893. I found this very suspicious at first, but talked to an official at the national archives who said it was much more common than people realize: in a state like Illinois in 1893, competing for representation in congress, just showing up to a courthouse and being able to write your name was apparently sufficient to make you a citizen. It's still a bit odd though.

So... stuck in a weird gray area at the moment? I think there's sufficient evidence we do not qualify to assert citizenship through the consulate, yet that same evidence may not be sufficient to be recognized by the court as qualifying as a 1948 case.

The easy solution here would be to find the naturalization document somehow. I fear it doesn't exist anymore, but I don't know that for sure. Anyone have any success finding pre-USCIS papers? Anywhere else to look in Illinois besides IRAD (the Illinois Regional Archives Depository)? I'm a bit stumped here.

[bpo]

Well I actually found something by searching for the date instead of the person, but this is different than what I had hoped.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cc=1838804

What is this document exactly? Is it an index to another document? It's typed, so I doubt it's from 1893. The name is misspelled, which is probably why it's been hard to track down; will need to find the original - but this is it.

Any idea how to go find the real record? It seems to say "E 90 Minor" is the certificate no. Any ideas what this means?

Thank you!

[mler]

I cannot see the document since I am unable to sign in to Family Search.

Is it possible, however, that this is a Certificate of Citizenship? When a minor child was naturalized through the action of a parent, he did not receive his own naturalization certificate but was able to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship to prove his status.

[TerraLavoro]

Why not print a copy of the index card that you found, and ask the clerk of Bureau County if they are the custodian of the original record...

http://www.bureaucounty-il.gov/Circuit-Clerk

[bpo]

@mler - it's definitely an index card pointing to a naturalization record, and my GGGF was not a child at the time this was issue. I think there may have been a little bit of fraud involved here (but it may have been very common fraud at the time). If I can get the actual document, it may be more clear what happened.

@TerraLavoro - I gave them a call and it sounds like there's at least hope they might actually have it still. They said they'd look today or tomorrow.

[mler]

A Certificate of Citizenship is generally not issued to a minor child.

What often happened is that a child is naturalized with a parent and then when he is an adult, realizes he has no paperwork to prove citizenship. A request to NSCIS provides him with a Certificate of Citizenship.

[TerraLavoro]

@TerraLavoro - I gave them a call and it sounds like there's at least hope they might actually have it still. They said they'd look today or tomorrow.
[/quote]

Hope they find it, let us know how it turns out.

[bpo]

The document is called "Petition, Final Oath, and Certificate (Minor)". It's an all-in-one document where a person who arrived in the US as a minor (but whose parents did not naturalize) can skip the petition step and jump directly to the final oath step, as long as they have been continually living in the US for it looks like at least 5 years. It requires two individuals to testify on the petitioner's behalf.

In my GGGF's case, it looks like there was a little fraud involved. He testifies he lived in the US for 9 years, arriving before his 21st birthday. In fact, I know from documents from Italy he was 34 at the time of his naturalization & had been in the US less than 2 years.

I don't know the extent he was aware of the fraud though - his signature on the document is just an "x". It's possible he just showed up to the courthouse to become a citizen and someone filled out the paperwork for him without him really understanding what it meant.

Hopefully this won't cause further headaches, but I'm happy to have this document! I may have to work to prove this is him since it seems to suggest a younger person with the same name (I know it is him from the census, later passport documents and ship manifests however).

ben

[mler]

Except for the age discrepancy, this document should suffice.

If he claimed he arrived in the US as a minor, he would have automatically received US citizenship based on his father’s naturalization. The Certificate is actually confirmation of that fact.

Your problem, of course is connecting this Certificate to your gf since the dates do not correspond.

Would Luigi be willing to accept your ggf’s naturalization documentation? After all, his naturalization before 1912, denies Italian citizenship status to all his children (no matter when they were born).