OK boys, play nice. So far it's Brian 4 /others zilcho 1) Naturalizations are federal records. During the large swarms of immigrants arriving, they were processed by courts not usually used for granting citizenship. NARA is the repository for all U.S. Naturalizations., aka National Archives and Records Administration. (Read the fine print in source notes on Ancestry, below and clickable to records.] 2) Naturalization records *do not* include many helpful familial facts the earlier back you go, especially when compared to later Natz records, where such details as who you would live with and their address. To use 1906 as a tabbed year sounds more than reasonable, but I'd pre1885. 3) Naturalization records may be accessible online and copies may repose in county archives, but were never processed is small municipalities. Just didn't happen. 4) Once upon a time, in Westchester County, there existed Towns of [note spellings] West Chester and East Chester...that's how they appeared on old map circa 1858> http://www.old-maps.com/NY/ny_CoWestchester_1858WallMap.htm Today, Eastchester exists bordering Yonkers. "The present Bronx County was contained in the Town of Westchester and parts of the towns of Yonkers, Eastchester, and Pelham. In 1846, a new town, West Farms, was created by division of Westchester; in turn, in 1855, the town of Morrisania was created from West Farms. In 1873, the town of Kingsbridge (roughly corresponding to the modern Bronx neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Riverdale, and Woodlawn) was established within the former borders of Yonkers" (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bronx) Next? Barb

> 3) Naturalization records may be accessible online and copies may repose > in county archives, but were never processed is small municipalities. Just > didn't happen. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with that statement as well. This taken the NA's own home page on Naturalization, emphasis mine: "From the first naturalization law passed by Congress in 1790 through much of the 20th century, an alien could become naturalized in ***any court of record***. Thus, most people went to the ***court most convenient to them***, usually a county court. The names and types of courts vary from State to State. ***** The names and types of courts have also varied during different periods of history--but may include the county supreme, circuit, district, equity, chancery, probate, or common pleas court. ***** Most researchers will find that their ancestors became naturalized in one of these courts. A few State supreme courts also naturalized aliens, such as the supreme courts of Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, New Jersey, and South Dakota. Aliens who lived in large cities sometimes became naturalized in a Federal court, such as a U.S. district court or U.S. circuit court. " Really, they could have happened anywhere. Any "court of record". Def: Court of Record - In common law jurisdictions, a court of record is a trial court in which a court clerk or a court reporter takes down a record of proceedings. Our very small town (different kind of town) court is a court of record, because there is a court clerk. Probably so for the town courts of the Town of Eastchester and Town of Westchester as well. It should be noted that Towns in NY, in case one is unfamiliar are not necessarily what we think of as a "town". The Town of Westchester had several cities inside of it. Towns in NY (or Borough Towns) are what many other locales call a Township. Here's a nice history of the town done over 100 years ago. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nywestch/towns/wsthst01.htm Also, for those needing to do research in that extinct town, please read this for research ideas, as the records have been split up between Westchester County and the Bronx (I alluded to this in my original request): http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nywestch/towns/westches.htm Also, keep in mind the Eastchester Historical Society. Well, that's enough tilting at Windmills for today. Have a pleasant evening all, and do some genealogy or light history reading! Regards, Brian

> > 2) Naturalization records I forgot to warn everyone! This is relevant to New York. In 1868 many fraudulent Naturalization Certificates were issued because the political bosses needed voters. So, a great many "citizens" were never really citizens. They may or may not have known about it. You won't find any of those "Naturalization Records". ;) Brian