Naturalization Records

I decided to do some catch-up with reading my back-log of magazines. I started with the September 2007 issue of Family Tree Magazine. It is their issue with the 101 best genealogy sites. I like these issues because I always hope their is some great website out there that I do not yet know about, even though deep down I assume I already know all the important sites.

So I start reading with hope that one of these sites will inspire me to find something I have not already found. I have not even read pass the first page, when I saw a website I should try out. Footnote. I have been here in the past, so it is not really a new site for me; however, the article reminded me that they have naturalization records for MA (and some other states).

I have searched for my ancestor's naturalization records on this site before, but have been unsuccessful. I decided to give it another try, knowing that it is very likely one of my Italian ancestors must be in here somewhere. My first attempt was to look for Antonio Pompeo, my great grandfather. No luck. I browsed through all the Pompeos listed, and no match. I am not even sure he did file for naturalization. On the 1910 census he is listed as AL for Alien, on the 1920 census he may be listed as AL or perhaps PA -which could mean pending (the writing is difficult to read). I have to look into this information with more detail.

Anyway, I moved away from searching for the Pompeo family to the DeNicolas. I typed in "Denicola" hoping to find anything. Nothing. I did not want to give up just yet. In the past I have found records on the DeNicola's by searching with a space in their name - "De Nicola". I thought I would give this a try, and YAY! Arnaldo popped right up - my great grandfather! At first I was surprised I had not searched this way before on this website, but I guess it does not hurt to revisit sites after time to try new techniques or in hopes new records were indexed. In this instance, I am guessing I never did search this way on Footnote and the records were always there, I just missed them. Back to the records I found. What a great feeling to find something you have been looking for!!! So these documents led me to 5 naturalization documents for Arnaldo.

declaration of intention 1909
petition of naturalization 1916 - denied for lack of knowledge of government
declaration of intention June 16 1920
petition of naturalization July 20 1920 (accepted)
oath of allegiance July 21 1920

It was nice to have these records of naturalization, but they did not actually give me much new genealogical information on Arnaldo. Some things I did learn though were his and his wife Louisa's actual birth dates; I only had the years before this record. I found some contradictory information on their birth places though. I found previously from their passenger records that Arnaldo was born in Raiano, Italy and Louisa was born in Prezza, Italy. The naturalization records state they were both born in Rome. I am hoping that the passenger records are correct, as searching through all of Rome parish registers will prove more difficult than searching through the smaller areas of Raiano and Prezza (I am guessing as I have not started this task yet). However, on the 1930 Census, it also states that Arnaldo was born in Rome, Italy, while Louisa's simply states Italy. Looking more closely at the passenger records, the column for birth for Arnaldo could be read as Roma, which I mistook for Raiano?

To Do
1. Look into census records more closely for Antonio Pompeo
2. Search for naturalization records for Antonio on Footnote - if they exist
3. Find Arnaldo DeNicola's birth record in Raiano Civil Registration Records - order microfilm from the FHL library.
4. Find Louisa Terragnoli's birth record in Prezza Civil Registration Records - order microfilm from the FHL library.

Links on Topic
Naturalization Timeline from Family Tree Magazine