April 12, 2024
Many genealogists assume that their immigrant ancestors became American citizens as soon as they were able. While many did, some did not. During the peak immigration years of the mid-19th century through the early 20th century, at least 25% of eligible immigrants never naturalized.
Some of these immigrants came to the U.S. when they were infants and lived the entirety of their lives here. They just chose not to become citizens. Even today, some immigrants live nearly their whole lives in the United States but never become citizens.
When you are looking for naturalized records for your own immigrant ancestors, remember that not all of them naturalized. If you can’t find naturalization records for them, it may be because they never naturalized.
My second great grandfather and his two younger brothers are an example of this phenomenon. The three Terry brothers, Parshall Peter, John May and George Thompson were all born in Canada. Their parents brought them to the United States in 1838 when the boys were six, four and three months old. All three of the children lived the rest of their lives in America. None of them ever returned to Canada.
Timothy Terry, the boys’ father, never naturalized. Had he done so before the boys were eighteen, they would have gained derivative citizenship from him automatically upon his taking an oath of citizenship. Since he didn’t, they needed to naturalize when they reached adulthood if they wanted to be citizens.
Only one of them did. The middle brother, John May, naturalized after 1900 when he was over seventy years old. He had filed a homestead claim. To finalize his claim, he needed to be a citizen. Apparently, he hadn’t felt the need to become a citizen before that time.
The youngest brother, George Thompson, never filed for citizenship. He fought for the Union in the Civil War which would have made his citizenship application simple. Despite that, he didn’t. The final census he appears in, the 1920 one when he was over eighty years old, lists him as Al – for alien.
Then there was my second great grandfather, Parshall Peter. Parshall never filed for citizenship, but he seems to have lied about it. In the 1870s he filed a homestead claim. As part of the finalization of his claim, he filled out paperwork in which he stated that he was a “natural born citizen.” His application was approved, and he received title to the property he’d claimed.
I don’t know why my Terry relatives were so casual about citizenship. I suspect that whether they were citizens didn’t impact their lives in any negative way, so they didn’t bother to spend the time, effort, and money it would have taken.
If you are having a hard time finding naturalization records for your own ancestors, maybe they were like my Terry Family. There are various documents that can help you determine whether an ancestor naturalized. Check census records for citizenship status. Military records such as the World War I Draft Registration Cards are another way to check whether someone was naturalized.
Remember that not everyone naturalized, so don’t be surprised if you find that one of your ancestors was among that group.
Carol Stetser
Researcher
Larimer County Genealogical Society