dnowickiPO Top Contributor
Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Replies: 2963
Location: Michigan City, IndianaBack to top |
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 2:31 pm
Post subject: INS
Cheri,
Don't be too disappointed that you did not receive the actual cert. of naturalization because that was usually given to the new citizen and I remember reading that one should not expect to receive it with the information ordered. I'm fortunate to have the original cert. given to my maternal grandfather when he became a citizen in 1917 and also the original cert. given to my maternal great grandfather (my maternal grandmother's father) when he became a citizen in 1895. A few years ago I ordered copies of their citizenship files and the file for may grandfather contained his declaration of intention from 8/21/1911, his petition for naturalization from 8/21/1917, his oath, and the court record of his naturalization on 11/23/1917. My maternal great grandfather's file only contained his declaration of intention from 3/18/1892 and his oath and the court record of his naturalization from 3/21/1892. One thing of interest was that his signature appears on the oath.
When I was growing up we lived in the same house as my maternal grandparents and since my grandfather retired the year I was born and my mother went back to work after my birth my grandfather was pretty much my primary caregiver/companion. He taught me many things e.g. gardening, carpentry, and especially how to speak, read and write Polish. (The funny thing is that he never taught my younger brother Polish although he spent as much time with him.) Unfortunately, I never asked him much about his life in Poland. His parents, brother, two sisters and a half brother all remained in Poland and I remember his receiving letters and photos (which I have) from his siblings, nieces and nephews and his sending them packages after WWII. I knew when he came to America (1901) but never knew the name of the ship on which he sailed. His file states that he arrived at New York aboard the SS Hanover on 3/31/1901. Just like you, I searched through the entire manifest for that day and his name does not appear anywhere. I believe that he used someone's name. He was from Russian Poland and I believe he left to avoid conscription into the Czar's infantry---a wise move in my opinion. I wish I had talked with him about how he left Poland, but never thought about it at the time. His naturalization file does put his immigration/citizenship into the larger context of European history. On his declaration of intention he states his intention to renounce his allegiance to "Nicolas II, Czar of All the Russias" and since he became a citizen after Nicolas abdicated and the October Revolution was taking place in his final papers he simply renounced his allegiance to "The Government of Russia."
I'll post both my grandfather's and great grandfather's Cert. of Naturalization to provide examples of certificates from those two periods.
Dave
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Cheri Vanden BergPO Top Contributor & Patron
Joined: 16 Oct 2011
Replies: 504
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Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 2:58 pm
Post subject:
Dave,
Thanks for sharing. That is cool that you grew up in a multi-generation home. The Oath of Allegiance I received is very plain - looks like it was copied from a binder. It does have my grandfather's "autograph". I really don't have any complaints about what I received. I agree that your grandfather was smart to leave to avoid conscription, if that is what he did. I feel the same way about my grandfather, though the Austrian army probably was not as bad as the Russian one. I think we'd all like to go back in time and ask questions, but maybe they didn't want to talk about it anyway. My grandfather died when I was 8, but we asked my grandmother many questions. She probably only told us what she wanted to.
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Cheri Vanden BergPO Top Contributor & Patron
Joined: 16 Oct 2011
Replies: 504
Back to top |
Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 1:49 pm
Post subject:
I received this very helpful information from the Cohens on the Poland-Roots mailing list:
If the LDS has indexed a Naturalization record, chances are that it
is available on one of their films and a scan can be ordered for free
from them via email to their photocopy service.
Information about LDS photocopies on the following page:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thecohens/ldsphotocopies.html
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Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 2:27 pm
Post subject:
Special thanks for all the information in this thread. I contacted USCIS in 2 separate requests for both of my grand parents (Anthony Cebula and Helen Bajek). I received naturalization papers for both that provided valuable information such as parents names and birth places etc. My grandfather's information came back from USCIS but my grandmother's came from the National Archives. Apparently the old records are being moved to National Archives over time.
_________________
-Mike
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