I found two guys either of whom could be the great-great-great grandfather I am looking for, among the Naturalization records from the Court of Common Pleas in New York. One is more likely than the other to be my man, because he lived in the neighborhood where he and his wife seem to have lived since coming to New York. This having been said, you could walk between the two addresses in ten or fifteen minutes. They're not so far apart. I have three questions:One, what information would I get from the file, assuming that the petition was filed in the local court, and not Federal District Court? Second, can I get the complete file on a FHL film, or do I have to send it to the relevant court/jurisdiction? Third, is it even worthwhile to research the wife, as I believe she would have received derivative citizenship when her husband naturalized? Thanks,Frances

The images of those records are on Ancestry, if you belong or if your local library does. You don't have to send away for them. The database is called "NEW YORK, NATURALIZATION PETITIONS, 1794-1906".  Most people have two records--the Declaration of Intent and the Naturalization Petition.  If you click on a name and all you get is the Declaration of Intent, just click on the arrow for the next page and the Naturalization Petition should be right there. The images are white on black but under 'Tools' there is an 'Invert Image' button. Click that and you will get black print on a white background--much easier to read. Don't forget to create an Ancestry page for the witness.  They often offer key clues to your person--relative, friend from home, etc. Virginia   From: Frances Brunner via <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2015 3:12 PM Subject: [NYC-ROOTS] Naturalization records-Local Court I found two guys either of whom could be the great-great-great grandfather I am looking for, among the Naturalization records from the Court of Common Pleas in New York. One is more likely than the other to be my man, because he lived in the neighborhood where he and his wife seem to have lived since coming to New York. This having been said, you could walk between the two addresses in ten or fifteen minutes. They're not so far apart. I have three questions:One, what information would I get from the file, assuming that the petition was filed in the local court, and not Federal District Court? Second, can I get the complete file on a FHL film, or do I have to send it to the relevant court/jurisdiction? Third,  is it even worthwhile to research the wife, as I believe she would have received derivative citizenship when her husband naturalized? Thanks,Frances                         ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message