Dennis,   It is quite usual for the local court conferring citizenship to fill in the slot asking for nation of origin with the current ruler at the time of naturalization rather then the ruler at the time of emigration.  My ancestors who arrived in 1869 had a similar notation.  In fact, I have seen "subject of the emperor of Germany" several times in WPA notations.  This may be an attempt to refer to the odd status of someone who left France but - being Alsacian - was a citizen of Germany when they got to court. Bob Teitelbaum Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 16:51:30 EDT From: Den49co@aol.com Subject: [A-L] SPRENG Anyone with info, or any direction??? Frederick SPRENG, born somewhere in Alsace-Lorraine Nov 29, 1851. He immigrated in 1867. Frederick always insisted that he was French and NOT German. Frederick Spreng came to America in 1867 via the port of New York according to his petition for citizenship filed in the Court of Common Pleas, County of Philadelphia, PA, September 25th, 1876. AS I UNDERSTAND................. The petition declares him as a native of Germany. By the time of his Petition in 1876, France's war with Germany was "lost". France's peace treaty with Germany ceded much of the Alsace-Lorriane region to Germany, as noted in a history journal from the"Germany History Network". Dennis