Kathryn, Did you ever get an answer to this query? Nancy Timothy Robinson wrote: > > Can someone answer this very good question posted to me from Kathryn, > as I am trying to obtain more material on early Baltimore, so I can feel > com- > fortable answering something like this....... > > Tim > **** > >> Actually my question to you: Did people have to come to Baltimore to > get their naturalization papers? or could they get them in the county they > lived in. > Thanks anyway for getting back to me. > Kathryn > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Timothy Robinson" <trobinson42@comcast.net> > To: "Kathryn Riley" <kriley@carr.org <<<< > > ==== BALTGEN Mailing List ==== > This list is for Genealogical DIsucssions Only, > Join us at MD-BALTO-CUL-L@rootsweb.com for discussions on > culture and heritage in the Baltimore area

Nancy: One answer as follows from Mary Henderson: "I'm not terribly knowledgable about naturalizations, but I know that it could be done in a number of different courts - including county courts. There are naturalizations done in Harford and Cecil County courts, so I would assume the same is true for Baltimore and other Maryland counties. One of the difficult things with naturalizations is pinning down which courts to check. Also individuals could file an Intent for naturalization and then be naturalized in an entirely different state. I don't understand all I don't know about the naturalization processes" She is so right about filing an Intent which my husband's great grandfather did in Ohio, but was naturalized in Pennsylvania. His name was John Dienst. Now I am looking for his brother Lewis Dienst and have only the census listing him coming to America in 1866 and getting citizenship in 1874. Family lore says he came with a brother who went to Missouri, but I'm not sure he went there since his brother John was already married and living here in Maryland. So far I have not been able to find out where he went or what port he arrived at. I have never asked and don't know if you ever told me, but were you born here in Maryland since so many of your relatives lived here? Yesterday at an 80th birthday dinner for Sterling Miller I met a lady Harriett Smith, forgot her married name but she graduated from Manchester School in the 1920's. She now lives in a retirement home in Baltimore. Just wondering. I do plan to ask the Register of Wills if they have any naturalizations in our court, but a bomb scare and her busyness the last time we were over and my forgetfullness not helping any forgot to ask her. Wednesday is our day, but Dot prefers not to go on 9/11 so will see what Thursday brings. Don't know about where you live but there will be many commemorative services here and we will be going to church that evening. Even though we did get rain it is still very dry. The grass is getting green, but the flowers are not bouncing back like they should. Hope this finds you well. Kathryn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancy Knight" <nnite@worldnet.att.net> To: <BALTGEN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2002 11:26 AM Subject: Re: [BALTGEN-L] Naturalization Question > Kathryn, > Did you ever get an answer to this query? > Nancy > > Timothy Robinson wrote: > > > > Can someone answer this very good question posted to me from Kathryn, > > as I am trying to obtain more material on early Baltimore, so I can feel > > com- > > fortable answering something like this....... > > > > Tim > > **** > > >> Actually my question to you: Did people have to come to Baltimore to > > get their naturalization papers? or could they get them in the county they > > lived in. > > Thanks anyway for getting back to me. > > Kathryn > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Timothy Robinson" <trobinson42@comcast.net> > > To: "Kathryn Riley" <kriley@carr.org <<<< > > > > ==== BALTGEN Mailing List ==== > > This list is for Genealogical DIsucssions Only, > > Join us at MD-BALTO-CUL-L@rootsweb.com for discussions on > > culture and heritage in the Baltimore area > > > ==== BALTGEN Mailing List ==== > USGenWeb/MDGenWeb site for Carroll Co. http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdcarrol > USGenWeb/MDGenWeb site for Howard Co.http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdhoward > > >

Kathryn, not that it might mean anything to you (maybe I opened up another can of worms) but I located a the below but since it does not give a Nat. date, I have to assume that he never followed through. Bill in NJ Naturalization Records: Philadelphia, 1789-1880 Dienst, Philip Country of Former Allegiance : Germany Date of Declaration of Intent : Feb 10, 1840 Court of Declaration of Intent : Quarter Sessions Document Name : Philip Dienst Kathryn Riley wrote: > Nancy: > One answer as follows from Mary Henderson: "I'm not terribly > knowledgable about naturalizations, but I know that it could be done in a > number of different courts - including county courts. There are > naturalizations done in Harford and Cecil County courts, so I would assume > the same is true for Baltimore and other Maryland counties. One of the > difficult things with naturalizations is pinning down which courts to check. > Also individuals could file an Intent for naturalization and then be > naturalized in an entirely different state. I don't understand all I don't > know about the naturalization processes" > > She is so right about filing an Intent which my husband's great > grandfather did in Ohio, but > was naturalized in Pennsylvania. His name was John Dienst. Now I am > looking for his brother Lewis Dienst and have only the census listing him > coming to America in 1866 and getting citizenship in 1874. Family lore says > he came with a brother who went to Missouri, but I'm > not sure he went there since his brother John was already married and living > here in Maryland. > So far I have not been able to find out where he went or what port he > arrived at. > > I have never asked and don't know if you ever told me, but were you born > here in Maryland > since so many of your relatives lived here? Yesterday at an 80th birthday > dinner for Sterling > Miller I met a lady Harriett Smith, forgot her married name but she > graduated from Manchester > School in the 1920's. She now lives in a retirement home in Baltimore. > Just wondering. I do > plan to ask the Register of Wills if they have any naturalizations in our > court, but a bomb scare > and her busyness the last time we were over and my forgetfullness not > helping any forgot to ask > her. Wednesday is our day, but Dot prefers not to go on 9/11 so will see > what Thursday brings. > Don't know about where you live but there will be many commemorative > services here and we > will be going to church that evening. > > Even though we did get rain it is still very dry. The grass is getting > green, but the flowers are > not bouncing back like they should. > > Hope this finds you well. > Kathryn > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Nancy Knight" <nnite@worldnet.att.net> > To: <BALTGEN-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2002 11:26 AM > Subject: Re: [BALTGEN-L] Naturalization Question > > > Kathryn, > > Did you ever get an answer to this query? > > Nancy > > > > Timothy Robinson wrote: > > > > > > Can someone answer this very good question posted to me from Kathryn, > > > as I am trying to obtain more material on early Baltimore, so I can feel > > > com- > > > fortable answering something like this....... > > > > > > Tim > > > **** > > > >> Actually my question to you: Did people have to come to Baltimore to > > > get their naturalization papers? or could they get them in the county > they > > > lived in. > > > Thanks anyway for getting back to me. > > > Kathryn > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > From: "Timothy Robinson" <trobinson42@comcast.net> > > > To: "Kathryn Riley" <kriley@carr.org <<<< > > > > > > ==== BALTGEN Mailing List ==== > > > This list is for Genealogical DIsucssions Only, > > > Join us at MD-BALTO-CUL-L@rootsweb.com for discussions on > > > culture and heritage in the Baltimore area > > > > > > ==== BALTGEN Mailing List ==== > > USGenWeb/MDGenWeb site for Carroll Co. http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdcarrol > > USGenWeb/MDGenWeb site for Howard Co.http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdhoward > > > > > > > > ==== BALTGEN Mailing List ==== > If you are interested in discussing the culture and heritage of the > Baltimore Area (including remeberances) please subscribe to: > MD-BALTO-CUL-L by sending an E mail to MD-BALTO-CUL-L-Request@rootsweb.com

Here is a quickie overview of the Naturalization process as our ancestors knew it. Bill in NJ ------------------------------------------------ Citizenship Applications in the United States The following information has been adapted from the Introduction to the original text version of "Philadelphia Naturalization Records" published by Gale Research. The process of becoming a U.S. citizen is a lengthy one, and the information required at the various stages makes citizenship and naturalization records important documents to the genealogical researcher. First, the applicant needed to make a declaration of intention to become a citizen. The required data varied from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The declaration form usually contained the applicant's name, age, place, and date of birth, allegiance, and date of declaration. Before 1866, declarations also included the date and place of arrival in the United States and place of embarkation. After 1866, the form usually gave a physical description (complexion, height, weight, color of eyes, identifying marks), current place of residence, last foreign address, name of ship, and port and date of entry. Having filed the declaration, the applicant usually had a minimum two-year wait before naturalization; however, the laws pertaining to naturalization changed from time to time. From 1790 to 1795, the requirement for free, white aliens was residence of one year in a state and two in the United States. In 1795, the requirement was changed to a residency of five years in the Untied States. From 1798 to 1802, the requirement was fourteen-year residency in the United States and the declaration of intention had to be filed five years prior to naturalization. In 1802 the laws were again changed to one year's residence in a state and five in the United States, with the declaration filed three years prior to naturalization. Except for a few minor changes, the five year residency requirement remains to this day. Naturalization as a process was established in 1790 when Congress passed the first Federal Naturalization Law, employing local courts as its agents. From 1790 to 1906 all documents were filed in a central office in Washington, D.C. After 1906 the naturalization process came under the jurisdiction of the Department of Immigration and Naturalization, and the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization was created. There are noticeably fewer female names than male names indexed in the Philadelphia Naturalization Records, perhaps because, until 1922, married females automatically became citizens when their husbands received citizenship. Unmarried females were able to go through the naturalization process, but for various reasons few apparently did.