My gf, Philip SILVERBERG, came to the US in 1892 or 1893 (depends on whether you
believe the 1900 or the 1920 census, at the age of 18 or 20 (again it depends on
the census). I am at a dead loss in finding any record of his entry to the US or of
his naturalization. >from the naturalization records of his nephew, I think that he
came >from Smila, The Ukraine. Whenever I asked him where he was from, his stock
answer was that he was born when he arrived in America. He told me that he worked
his passage on a cattle boat. This may have been his way of evading an answer. The
1900 census for Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania indicates that he had
filed his papers for naturalization and the 1920 census for Midland, Beaver County,
Pennsylvania shows that he naturalized in 1900. However, the County Clerk in
Northampton County has informed me that they have no record of his naturalization.
Was it possible to enter the US without coming through an official port of entry
and if so is there a means for tracing such an entry? Also, has anyone had any
experience in finding documents which a county clerk can't find?

Lewis Stein
Boynton Beach, FL

Some early naturalization records can be obtained by writing to the National
Archives and Records Administration in the region where the naturalization
occurred. In my relative's case, I first located the naturalization in the NARA,
Northeast Region, "Soundex Index to Petitions for Naturalization Filed in Federal,
State, and Local Courts Located in New York City, 1792-1906." I found this by
using a well-known online subscription service, but it is possible to find it by
searching www.nara.gov. I searched the archives site for "Soundex Index to
Petitions for Naturalization" and found there were links to similar indexes for
various areas of the U.S.

When you write to NARA, provide all of the information listed in the index, and ask
for the complete file. There was a $10 fee at the time I wrote (December 2005),
but my check was returned because the quality of the copy available was so poor.
For records prior to 1906, only limited information was recorded. Other family
members and details on arrival in the U.S. were not included, except for the year.
This was recorded as whatever the immigrant stated, which depended on memories
which were sometimes not exact.

Sharon Block Korn
San Diego, CA

Searching YANKELOVICH (JANKELOWITZ), BLOCK and RODEZKY, all Lithuania > NY;
KORN, Vienna area > NY; WEILL, Alsace-Lorraine > NC

Dear Hilary,

Thanks for your suggestion. I wrote to the NY region and was not aware Washington
could have a better copy. Because of the poor quality of the copy, the office sent
a regular copy plus one on which the black and white had been reversed. The latter
improved legibility, but it did not make up for the fact that the available
information was very limited. A letter was included stating that there was no
additional information in the record, as for all naturalizations prior to October
1906.

The only thing a better copy might add would be a clearer view of the birth date,
which appeared as 1866 20 Ma." The month could have been March or May, as it was
truncated at the right margin. Since the person's death certificate had a date of
birth of June 9, 1867, he could have been like many immigrants and not known his
date of birth. The other possibility (which I suspect) is that he deliberately
lied, as he was under 21 years of age and wanted to be naturalized without waiting
for his next birthday. Perhaps someone in this group knows if a minor who had no
living father could be naturalized on his own, or if it was possible but was a very
complicated process.

The naturalization was done through the Court of Common Pleas in New York County,
which no longer exists. Naturalizations were done at various types of courts in
different levels of government. The original question related to a naturalization
that probably occurred in Northampton, PA, but it may not have occurred in the
county court. The National Archives are likely the best source of information in
many cases.

Sharon Block Korn
San Diego, CA

Searching YANKELOVICH (JANKELOWITZ), BLOCK and RODEZKY, all Lithuania > NY;
KORN, Vienna area > NY; WEILL, Alsace-Lorraine > NC

"Sharon R. Korn" <s.r.korn@...> wrote

The naturalization was done through the Court of Common Pleas in New York
County, which no longer exists. Naturalizations were done at various types
of courts in different levels of government. The original question
related to a naturalization that probably occurred in Northampton, PA, but
it may not have occurred in the county court. The National Archives are
likely the best source of information in many cases.

Just because the court "no longer exits" does not mean that its records were thrown
away. In the case of the Court of Common Pleas for New York County (Manhattan),
Petitions for Naturalization filed 1792-1895 and Declarations of Intent filed
1802-1895 are in the possession of the Old Records Division of the County Clerk's
Office for the State Supreme Court of New York County (Manhattan). Their public
access location is Room 703 at 31 Chambers St., NYC, but their mailing address is
60 Centre St, Room 161. Dexigraph copies of these records are what the National
Archives sent you, and the Washington Office of the National Archive will not have
anything more as their centralization of such records began with changes to the
administration of the naturalization process in 1906.

According to Estelle Guzik's Genealogical Resources in New York (published 2003),
the original copies of these records are stored "off-site and cannot be accessed."
Thus people are sent to the National Archives Northeast Region to access the
photographic copies. However, Esetlle's compilation is now several years old and
it may be worthwhile checking to see of some form of access to the originals, or to
better copies, is now possible.

Peter Zavon
Penfield, NY
PZAVON@...