First Years in America
9
- WHAT: Naturalization petition by Julius Kirmse
- WHO: Julius Kirmse
- WHEN: October 20, 1871
- WHERE: Perryville, Perry County, Missouri
- SOURCE: Shared by Helen (Kirmse) Hacker in 2005
- NOTES:
- Julius is listed as being a native of Saxony and renouncing the King of Saxony. This is not correct. Julius was a native of the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg.
Historical Perspective
General Rule: The Two-Step Process
Congress passed the first law regulating naturalization in 1790 (1 Stat. 103). As a general rule, naturalization was a two-step process that took a minimum of 5 years. After residing in the United States for 2 years, an alien could file a “declaration of intent” (so-called “first papers”) to become a citizen. After 3 additional years, the alien could “petition for naturalization.” After the petition was granted, a certificate of citizenship was issued to the alien. These two steps did not have to take place in the same court. As a general rule, the “declaration of intent” generally contains more genealogically useful information than the “petition.”
Civil War Veterans
A major exception to the general rule was legislation enacted to encourage aliens (non-citizens) to enlist during the Civil War.. An 1862 law allowed honorably discharged Army veterans to petition for naturalization–without previously having filed a declaration of intent–after only 1 year of residence in the United States.
“any alien, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who has enlisted, or may enlist in the armies of the United States, either the regulars or volunteer forces, and has been, or may be hereafter, honorably discharged, shall be admitted to become a citizen of the United States, upon his petition, without any previous declaration of intention to become such; and he shall not be required to prove more than one year’s residence.” (Act of July 17, 1862, 12 Stat. 597, section 21)
- Julius Kirmse served in the Union Army during the Civil War, but did not receive his discharge papers as will be discussed in a future post. However, no intention to become a citizen record has been found.
Derivative Citizenship
Another major exception was that “derivative” citizenship was granted to wives and minor children of naturalized men. From 1790 to 1922, wives of naturalized men automatically became citizens.
- Julius Kirmse’s wife, Barbara (Kraus) Kirmse, is listed as naturalized in census records. As expected, no naturalization records have been found for Barbara.
Source Citation
National Archives. Naturalization Records http://www.archives.gov/research/naturalization/naturalization.html