Alan's post brings up an interesting question: what was the average
amount of time between Declarations of Intent and Petition for
Naturalization -- in NY, app. 1900?

I found a copy of my grandfather's Declaration among some papers
belonging to a cousin who inherited them but had no interest in learning
more about this ancestor. Some of the information on the Declaration
appeared to be erroneous -- probably deliberately on the part of my
grandfather . (He fudged about his age and his date of arrival -- two
habits he kept throughout his life.) I'm keeping in mind that this
information could be accurate and later information erroneous, but had
he immigrated when he states on this document, he would have been a
married man with two children at the age of 14. Doubtful.

I am now going to search for the final papers, and wonder where (which
year) to start. Was it a matter of weeks, months, or years between the
initial petition and final Petition? Was the entire process controlled
by the petitioner or by the Government at that time?

Judith Lipmanson

--
Subject: Re: Best approach to determining port of entry to US
From: "Alan D Glick" < aglick1@... >
Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 12:23:07 -0400
X-Message-Number: 13

Naturalization Papers. In my own case my GF's Declaration of Intent

(first papers) had the date off by one week, but the Petition for
Naturalization (final papers) had the correct date. In addition to port of
entry, these papers told me the date of arrival, the approximate date of
departure, the name of the ship, where the ship embarked from, the
birthplace of my GF, his birthdate, current residence, occupation, age, his
original name, and his wife's birthyear. For me, most of this was a
treasure trove of new information.
I had also spent much time on the Ellis Island web site with a fruitless
search, until his Naturalization Papers told me he arrived in Boston. With
the info >from his papers I've ordered the passenger list >from my local FHL
branch and it should be arriving any day now.
Alan Glick >>>