I would like to find the naturalization record for my emigrant ancestor, John Smith. He came with wife Isabella from Ireland, it now looks like possibly Londerry County. They landed in New Castle, which lost most ships' records in a fire. They went to work for an unknown period of time for John Whitten, a large farmer with slaves, adn a justice of the peace, in London Britain township. But John Whitten's descendants who have the family papers have no record of John and Isabella Smith. John Whitten had a free man and woman, servants, on his property, with three slaves, in 1790; these could have been the Smiths but may not have been. In October, 1798, they bought 30 acres of land in London Britain township, for which they paid cash. Then they spent their first winter in the half cellar of the log cabin they were building, using a temporary fireplace in the corner, with a newborn baby and a toddler. John Smith was a weaver, and he was taxed principally for his loom. Also the family had a horse, a cow, and a dog. The family attended New London Presbyterian Church and Flint Hill Methodist Church, both also lost their records from the right time periods to fires. John and Isabella had children born between 1797 and about 1810. They lived into the 1840's and 1850's, and lost their farm in London Britain township in 1831, because they were unable to pay a mortgage they took out around 1805. Two of their seven children were very successful in business (and yes, one temporarily bailed out his parents), and one of the owned hundreds of acres on the point of land where Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania join that was in different states at various times, was a local political leader, and served several terms in the Delaware state legislature. John Smith's naturalization record is probably the only record of when he came here; where and how would I find it? Also, I'd like to look for the ship records where John and Isabella Smith got ON the ship, leaving Ireland. Does anyone have a clue how to look for those records? Yours, Dora Smith __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/