Back to the Basics with Naturalization Records: Part 3

If you have an ancestor who became a United States citizen in the 20th century, you will have a rich source of information about their origins, emigration, residence, family, and more. The changes made to the naturalization process in 1906 by the U.S. Congress resulted in standardized forms that requested detailed information and specific requirements for citizenship. Before 1906, little identifying information was included in the naturalization forms. In part 1 of this series, we looked at my ancestor, William Beddoes, who became a citizen in 1873. In part 2, we examined the various acts from 1790 to 1952 regarding naturalization. This article will examine the naturalization process after 1906 using the example of Adolph Salmon, a German emigrant. We’ll explore how to find the records and discover their value.

The Naturalization Process

First, let’s review the process for an immigrant to gain citizenship. He would have had to do the following.

• Filed his Declaration of Intention or First Papers.
• Met the residency requirement, usually five years.
• Submitted a Petition for Naturalization, also known as Second or Final Papers
• Took an oath of allegiance or naturalization oath
• Received a certificate of citizenship

 

An important consideration in this research is that before 27 September 1906, a person did not have to file his declaration of intention and petition in the same court. Any local, state, or federal court could hold the records. After 27 September 1906, naturalization was supposed to take place only in federal courts, but the transition didn’t happen immediately, so research should include the lower courts if no record is found in the federal courts. Unfortunately, there is no central index for naturalization records on the federal level. It is imperative to create a timeline for the immigrant to determine what courts could hold the records, as he likely visited a court near his home.

The National Archives article, “Naturalization Records,” explains more about the process and what records are available.

Clues to Naturalization Dates

When beginning the search for naturalization papers, we need a solid timeline of the ancestor and clues to possible dates for the various parts of the process. Federal census enumerations are an excellent place to start as several state naturalization information. For an ancestor arriving near the beginning of the 20th century, you’ll have four censuses to consult: 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940. Each asks about naturalization, and the 1900 census asks for the year of immigration.

• 1900: Year of immigration to the US; number of years in the US, whether still an alien, having applied for citizenship, or naturalized ( AL=Alien, PA=First Papers Filed, NA=Naturalized)
• 1910: For foreign-born males 21 years old or older, whether naturalized or alien (AL=Alien, PA=First Papers Filed; NA=Naturalized)
• 1920: Whether naturalized or alien (A or AL=Alien; NA=Naturalized; NR=Not Reported; PA=First Papers Filed), and year of naturalization – the only census to do so
• 1930: Year of immigration, whether naturalized (Na=Naturalized, Pa=First Papers, Al=Alien)
• 1940: Birthplace; citizenship if foreign born (Na=Naturalized, Pa=Having First Papers, Al=Alien, Am Cit=American Citizen Born Abroad)

 

Often, the census information doesn’t correlate well, and we must remember that its quality depends on the informant. Only for the 1940 census do we know who that was.  Although the head of household was supposed to provide the information, a wife, child, or other household member could have been the informant and likely didn’t know the exact dates or status of naturalization for an immigrant. Also, even if the immigrant provided their own information, factors such as memory and the length of time since immigration and naturalization need to be weighed.

Other sources, such as newspapers, can provide information, as we’ll see in our case study. Home sources could also be located. Perhaps a certificate of naturalization has been kept and passed down, or a family story has been recorded.

Case Study of German Immigrant, Adolph Salmon (1869-1937)

Creating a timeline for Adolph Salmon included gathering census records, city directories, and newspaper announcements. As a traveling salesman located in St. Joseph, Missouri, Adolph and his wife Ruby were listed yearly in the city directory and often in the news – usually in the society pages. Despite much information about his livelihood, the question of his immigration and naturalization remained. When did he immigrate, and on what ship? Through what port? Did he become a citizen of the United States? If so, when?

Starting with census records, let’s see what can be learned.

1900 Census for Adolph Salmon

On 7 June 1900, the census enumerator visited the home of Adolph and Ruby Salmon and recorded the information detailed in the following table. The Salmon’s servant, Emma, likely gave the family information. No birthplace was given for Adolph. Emma probably knew he was foreign-born but did not know a specific country of birth. Likewise, no birthplaces were given for the parents of any household member except for Emma’s mother’s birth in Missouri.¹

Adolph Solomon    30  4 years married, no birthplace, salesman of dry goods, no immigration year listed.
Ruby Solomon        20   2 children 2 living, born Missouri, no parent’s birthplaces
Karl Solomon          2     born July 1898, Missouri, no parent’s birthplaces
Eugene Solomon    11/12 born July 1899, Missouri, no parent’s birthplaces
Emma Welsh          17  born Jan 1883, Missouri, mother born Missouri – possibly the informant?

1910 Census for Adolph Salmon

The 1910 census enumeration revealed the household of Adolph and Ruby Salmon with their four children and the first mention of Adolph’s birthplace as Germany. The immigration date of 1870 was likely recorded incorrectly, as Adolph would have been only a baby in 1870. Was Adolph naturalized by 1910, as shown in the citizenship column? The research showed that he was not. Perhaps Ruby gave the census enumerator the information and incorrectly stated his citizenship information.²

Adolf Salmon         40  14 years married, born Germany, parents born Germany , immigration 1870, NA (naturalized), buyer of retail dry goods, speaks English
Ruby Salmon          31  4 children 4 living ,born Missouri parents born Missouri Canada (Eng)
Harold Salmon      13   born Missouri, parents born Germany & Missouri
Eugene Salmon     11   born Missouri, parents born Germany & Missouri
Morton Salmon     6   born Missouri, parents born Germany & Missouri
Esther Salmon      2   born Missouri, parents born Germany & Missouri

1920 Census for Adolph Salmon

Although Adolph and Ruby should have been listed in the 1920 census as residing in St. Joseph, a page-by-page scan in both Ward 4 and Ward 5 (their residences in 1919 and 1921) did not locate the family. Instead, Samuel Landau resided at 306 S. 13th Ward 5 (Adolph’s location in 1919, per a news article). Margaret A. Gray, age 75 and a widow, resided at 218 North 17th St. Ward 4 (Adolph’s residence in the 1921 city directory). No city directory was issued for 1920 in St. Joseph to provide additional clues, and searching widely in Missouri and the United States also did not locate the Salmons. Perhaps the family temporarily moved to another address or location and missed the census enumeration.³

1930 Census for Adolph Salmon

By 1930, Adolph and Ruby had moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and lived with their son, Harold, at 2402 12th Street. The 1930 census also asked about citizenship, and the column for Adolph indicated “unknown” for both the year of immigration and whether naturalized. The informant for the census information could have been Harold or his wife Bettie, who probably wasn’t sure about Adolph’s citizenship, so answered unknown. Adolph’s occupation was still traveling salesman at the age of 61. Harold worked as a music teacher. Both men were actively working, an important fact during the Great Depression that saw large numbers of unemployment.⁴

Harold Salmon         age 32
Betty May Salmon   age 26
Eleanor M Salmon  age 10
Peggy A Salmon       age 6
Haroldine Salmon  age 1
Adolph Salmons     age 61,born about 1869, salesman, born in Germany, unknown immigration or naturalization information
Ruby Salmons         age 44, born about 1889, born in Missouri

Death of Adolph Salmon

Adolph Salmon died on 7 March 1937 at his residence of six years, 1504 East 86th Street in Chicago, Illinois. The coroner listed the cause of death on the death certificate as chronic myocarditis, coronary sclerosis, and the manner of injury as Addison’s disease. Adolph’s health had likely been failing for some time, but no information on the certificate indicated how long. The informant for the personal information, Mrs. H. Worth, reported Adolph’s wife to be Ruby Salmon. Other details listed on the certificate included the following.⁵

• Adolph’s date of birth: 17 September 1860
• Age at death: 76 years, 5 months, 20 days
• Profession: retired salesman who last worked in 1931. Adolph had spent 40 years as a salesman.
• Born in Homburg, Germany
• Father Michael Salmon, born Homburg, Germany
• Mother Ester Simon born Puttin, France

With no naturalization or immigration information gleaned from the census or death records, what other sources could give clues to Adolph’s origins?

Newspaper Articles

When World War I broke out in Europe, many German immigrants desired to show their allegiance to their new country. An article in Adolph Salmon’s hometown of St. Joseph, Missouri, provides further clues to his naturalization – showing that he had not naturalized by 4 February 1918.⁶

“German Aliens Here Are Enrolling Today”
Registration under federal direction in progress at central police station
Done in a friendly manner
Every German-Born Male Resident of fourteen years or more who is not naturalized must register some time this week.

The registration of German aliens in St. Joseph began this morning at Central Police Station and will continue all week, closing at 8 o’clock Saturday night. The registration was announced to open at 6 o’clock and at 7 o’clock Adolph Salmon, a salesman, living at 306 South Thirteenth street, presented himself for enrollment. . . . Upon reporting at the police station, the prospective registrants are sent to Chief of Police Thomas Moore, who gives them the proper blanks and explains the details of registration. Those who do not understand the formula have their blanks filled out by the chief’s secretary. The applications are then ushered into the Bertillon room, where they are photographed, fingerprinted and finally registered by Detective Pat Ryan, head of the identification bureau. No difficulties in interpreting the regulations to the aliens or in completing the registration of those reporting were experienced this morning. . . .

Two newspaper articles of September 1923 show that Adolph Salmon had petitioned the court for citizenship, and the hearing for his application was scheduled.⁷

“A Few Noble American names”

Federal court convened in this city on Monday, with a very large docket, especially of liquor violators. Fewer people were up for naturalization than usual. Here are the names of a few of those who applied for papers in the court. It is easy to locate most of them . . . Adolph Salmon . . .

“Fewer Seeking Papers: Only Twenty-Five U.S. Naturalization Cases”

Twenty-five applications for citizenship papers will be acted upon in federal court which will open in St. Joseph Monday morning. Following the usual order of procedure, these cases will come up shortly before noon, This is an unusually light naturalization docket. The persons whose petitions for citizenship will be heard are: . . . Adolph Salmon . . .

Index Card for Adolph Salmon’s Naturalization

With the information gleaned from the newspapers that Adolph Salmon had completed an application which was to be “acted upon in federal court,”  searching broadly on Ancestry.com in the category “Immigration & Emigration” found a reference to an Adolph Salmon in the Missouri Western District Naturalization Index. These index cards were created by the U.S. Department of Labor, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and reference naturalizations filed in various federal, state, and local courts in Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

The index card for “Adolph Solomon” gives additional details about his life and naturalization attempt. Born in Germany on 17 September 1869, Adolph arrived in the United States on 2 April 1890. He was residing at 701 N. 24th Street, St. Joseph, Missouri, and seeking naturalization at the U.S. District Court in St. Joseph, Missouri. Witnesses, B.J. Eichholz and Louis Ochser were also of St. Joseph, Missouri. The card shows “Naturalization” crossed out and “Denial” typed instead. The back of the card indicates the reason as Non. Pros., short for non-prosequitur, meaning a judgment was entered not in favor of Adolph because he had not continued his action or appeared in court.⁸

Finding the Original Records

Although the index card states good information, what would the original application provide? We need to find the court where Adolph made his application.

The most important clue for finding the original application is present on the card: Title and Location of Court: U.S. D.C. St. Joseph, MO. This stands for U.S. District Court, so now we know which court would hold the records. We also have the place of St. Joseph, Missouri, and we have the date of denial of 2 March 1925. This means that Adolph had filed his petition of naturalization before that date. The number at the top of the card likely has some significance, but at this point, it’s hard to know what it is. 1855-P-676.

An excellent place to start a search is with the FamilySearch Catalog, which has microfilmed many naturalization records. Doing a keyword search for “district court St. Joseph Missouri naturalization” brought back four results. I could see that I wanted the top hit of “Missouri, Buchanan County, St. Joseph naturalization records, 1907-1976. The location, court, and time frame were correct.

Clicking on the top hit, I was directed to the catalog page indicating that this was a digital capture of original records at the National Archives and Records Administration, Kansas City, Missouri. There was a lengthy list of collections to explore, with dates ranging from 1907-1963. The titles below give you an idea of the type of records you might find for an ancestor.

• Certificates of loyalty
• Oath of Allegiance Applications
• Naturalization Certificate Stubs
• Petitions for Naturalization
• Declaration of Intention for Citizenship
• Military and Overseas Petitions for Naturalization
• Recommendations on Naturalization Petitions and Court Orders
• Petitions for Naturalization Transferred from Other Courts

 

By far, the most records were the certificate stubs, petitions, and declarations. Because the index card showed that Adolph Salmon had been denied for his petition, I chose to start looking through those records. I narrowed the date range to 1918 (the date of the newspaper article) and 1923 (the date of denial). I started in 1923 and browsed the digitized record set titled 784032 | RG 21 | | U.S. District Court for the Western (St. Joseph) Division of the Western District of Missouri. Petitions for Naturalization, Vol 8, 1921–1923. I discovered that this volume had an internal index which listed Adolph Salmon on page 86, #676. The #676 corresponded to part of the index card number, so this looked correct.

Jumping ahead, I found page 86 and four pages of images showing Adolph’s original petition and declaration of intention.⁹

The front of the petition gives personal and emigration information and affidavits of Adolph and his witnesses.

 

Petition for Naturalization

 

No. 676 p. 86
District Court of the U.S. at St. Joseph, Mo
Petition of Adolph Salmon, residence 701 North 24th St. St. Joseph Mo
Occupation Salesman
Born 17 September 1869 at Hamburg, Germany
Emigrated from Havre, France on 22 March 1890 and arrived at New York on 2 April 1890 on the vessel La Champagne
Declared intention to become a citizen on 7 April 1917 at St. Joseph MO in the Circuit Court of Buchanan Co., MO
Wife is Ruby Salmon born on 22 Jan 1878 at St. Joseph MO and now resides with hun
4 children: Harold born 19 July 1897 at St. Joseph, MO , now resides Louisville, Kentucky
Eugene born 2 August 1899 at St. Joseph, MO, now resies Columia, S.C.
Morton born 15 march 1905 at St. Joseph, MO now resides St. Joseph MO
Esther born 10 May 1908, at St. Joseph, MO now resides St. Joseph Mo
Forswears allegiance to The German Empire
Is able to speak the English language
Has resided continuously in the USA for five years at least immediately preceding the date of this petition, since 2 April 1890 and in the state of Missour since 5 April 1890.
Adolph Salmon
No. 214, filed 30 Dec 1922

Affidavits of Petitioner and Witnesses

Affidavits: Adolph Salmon
B.J. Eichholz, buyer, 2014 Uniotn St. St. Joseph MO
Louis Ochse, salesman 1501 ProspectSt. St. Josehph MO
Have known Adolph Salmon to have resided continuously in the US since 1 Jan 1905.
signed B.j. Eicholz and Louis Ochse
30 Dec 1022
Clerk, Edwin P Dunham
Deputy Clerk John Duncan Jr.

 

The file also included Adolph’s Declaration of Intention, which he filed in 1917.

(Insert to petition)No. 214
Declaration of Intention
State of Missouri Circuit Court
Buchanon County
Adolf Salmon, age 47 years, occupation Salesman, do declare on oath that my personal description is white, fair complexion, 5 feet 4 inches, 155 pounds, gray hair, black eyes, no visible distinctive marks
Born in Hamburg, Germany, on 17 September 1869
Now residing at 1303 Sylvanie Str St. Joseph, MO
Emigrated from Havre on La Campagne
Last foreign residence was Hamburg, Germany
Married to Ruby Salmon, born at St. Joseph, MO, now resides at 1303 Sylvani St. St. Joseph, MO.
Renounces all allegiance to William II, German Emporer
Arrived at New York on 2 April 1890.
Signed Adolf Salmon
Subscribed and sworn to on 7 April 1917
Ros C. Cox, Clerk of the Circuit Court

What about the denial listed on the index card? The final document in Adolph’s petition file was supposed to include his oath of allegiance and order of the court admitting the petitioner. Instead, his petition was dismissed. It appears that Adolph never appeared in court to make his oath and, therefore, was not granted citizenship. He had three continuances, giving him the opportunity every six months to appear, and finally, after two years, his case was dismissed. During this time, Adolph traveled as a salesman, and perhaps he was never able to make his court date. Despite his efforts to become a United States citizen, he never completed the final step that ensured his right to citizenship.

What new information was gleaned from Adolph’s petition for citizenship? A ship’s manifest has never been found for Adolph, and with the specific information that he arrived on 2 April 1890 in New York on the vessel, La Champagne, from Havre, Belgium. Research could discover more about that voyage. Adolph’s physical description, names of his wife and children, residences, and more information were discovered. Most importantly, more of the story of Adolph’s life was discovered.

Best of luck in all your genealogical endeavors!

 

 

 

1. 1900 U.S. Census, Buchanan County, Missouri, population schedule, St. Joseph, enumeration district (ED) 62, sheet 12B (stamped), dwelling 188, family 204, Adolph Solomon; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T623.
2. 1910 U.S. Census, Buchanan County, Missouri, population schedule, St. Joseph, enumeration district (ED) 83, sheet 18A (stamped), dwelling 380, family 383, Adolph Solomon; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T624.
3. 1920 U.S. Census, Buchanan County, Missouri, population schedule, St. Joseph, negative search for Adolph Salmon, digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T624.
4. 1930 U.S. Census, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, population schedule, District 0081, enumeration district (ED) 55-81, sheet 10A (penned), page 212 (stamped), dwelling 220a, family 238a, Adolph Salmon; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T626.
5. Illinois, Public Board of Health, “Illinois death certificates, 1916-1945,” #7493, for Adolph Salmon, 7 March 1937, digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 18 June 2020); citing FHL microfilm 1952629, DGS film 4153355, image 2954 of 2964.
6. “German Aliens Here Are Enrolling Today,” St. Joseph News-Press (St. Joseph, Missouri), 4 Feburary 1918, Mon, Page 1; digital image, Newspapers (https://www.newspapers.com/ : accessed 22 June 2020), Adolph Salmon presented himself for enrollment
7. “A Few Noble American Names,” The Fraternalist (St. Joseph, Missouri), 20 September 1923, Thursday, Page 4; digital image, Newspapers (https://www.newspapers.com/ : accessed 22 June 2020), Adolph Salmon, application for naturalization papers in court. “Fewer Seeking Papers: Only Twenty-Five U.S. Naturalization Cases,” St. Joseph News-Press (St. Joseph, Missouri), 14 September 1923, Friday, Page 29; digital image, Newspapers (https://www.newspapers.com/ : accessed 22 June 2020), Adolph Salmon, petitions heard in federal court.
8. “Missouri, Western District Naturalization Index, 1840-1990,” Naturalization Index > 1848-1950 > Smith, John – Spomer, entry for Adolph Solomon, #1855-P-676, digitized image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 June 2020); citing The National Archives at Kansas City, MO, RG 21.
9. United States District Court, Missouri: Western District: Northern Division (St. Joseph), Missouri, Buchanan County, St. Joseph Naturalization Records, 1907-1976, vol petition for naturalization, Adolph Salmon, #676, p. 86; digital images 468-471, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-N3CP-ZN1T : accessed 16 September 2023); NARA (Kansas City, Missouri) 784032 RG 21, Petitions for Naturalization, Vol 8, 1921-1923; citing FHL microfilm 106,384,337.