I need help trying to find my gr. gr. grandfather William O'Connell, borrn 1836 somewhere in Ireland and arriving in NY in 1850 at age 14. According to the 1900 Census he was naturalized. I know the naturalization process took about 5 years. However when he had been here 5 years he was only 19. Did he have to be 21 before he could be declared a citizen? How would I go about finding his papers? I have looked on-line under Petitions For Naturalization for him and came up with about 5 names but not much information other than witness names. Some of the information said "see other side" but there was no way to do this. Is there a way to find more info free??? I know nothing else about him until he had a son, Cornelius, born in 1857 in NYC. I cannot find a marriage for him ( Williamspouse Elizabeth Cronin) anywhere. Any help anyone would offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Fran