I was at the library last week and saw a book in the New Book section entitled 'Mastering Immigration & Naturalization Records. I've been reading through it as I have time each evening and, since I woke up before 6am on this snowy Saturday morning, thought I'd take a stab at finding Gerhard's naturalization records. I already found his immigration record on the Passenger List of the ship Habsburg. My previous post has that information.
Gerhard, Auguste and Heinrich (Henry) Harms came to the US from Bremen, Germany aboard the Habsburg and arrived March 28, 1884 in Baltimore.
Gerhard's 1910 Census record states that he arrived in the US in 1884 and was Naturalized. So, by 1910 he had become a Citizen of the US.
The steps to Naturalization for an immigrant were:
1. Declaration of Intent - indicating the immigrant's intention to become a US Citizen
2. Petition for Naturalization - the immigrant's formal request to become a US Citizen. This could not be completed until Gerhard had been in the US for at least 5 years.
3. Oath of Allegiance - the document signed as he becomes a US Citizen, renouncing his allegiance to any other country, king, etc.
At this time, a wife and minor children would become US Citizens when the father became one, so I'm just looking for Gerhard's records.
A Declaration of Intent could be filed as soon as the immigrant entered the US. They sometimes filed them where they landed - for Gerhard that would have been Baltimore. Or, they sometimes waited until they reached their final destination. Gerhard headed to Missouri right away, I think. He first bought land in St. Joseph, Missouri. So, if he filed his Declaration of Intent soon after arriving, it should be either in Baltimore or St. Joseph.
Let's look at the timeline a bit. Gerhard came to American in March of 1884. The soonest he could file a Petition for Naturalization was March of 1889. So, let's begin there.
1884 - Arrived at a port in Baltimore, MD from Bremen, Germany
1888 - US City Directory has him in St. Joseph, Buchanan, Missouri
1889 - Buchanan County, Missouri Taxpayers, 1887-90 has him in St. Joseph, Missouri
1890 - Buchanan County, Missouri Taxpayers now has him in Washington, Missouri
1900 - US Federal Census shows Gerhard living in Dallas, DeKalb, Missouri
1910 - US Federal Census shows Gerhard now living in Jefferson, Daviess, Missouri. This census states that he was a Naturalized Citizen.
1916 - US Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918 shows him owning land in Jefferson, Daviess, Missouri
1920 - US Federal Census shows he is still living in Jefferson, Daviess, Missouri
1930 - US Federal Census has him living in Dallas, DeKalb, Missouri
1940- US Federal Census shows him living in Santa Rosa, DeKalb, Missouri
1941 - he died in DeKalb County, Missouri
So, as far as I can tell, he could have filed papers in:
- Baltimore area (Declaration of Intent)
- St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri
- Washington Township, Missouri (I believe this is in St. Joseph, Buchanan County)
- Dallas, DeKalb, Missouri
- Jefferson, Daviess, Missouri
I'm going to start looking in Ancestry.com at the Citizenship and Naturalization Records (under Immigration and Travel).
I'll search for Gerhard Harms in Buchanan County, Missouri. Results: I didn't find him there.
I dug a little deeper into the specific records on Ancestry and found the Missouri, Western District Naturalization Index, 1848-1990. I brought up the entire record and went to the section of names starting with 'H' and started flipping the pages. On page 723 I found:
The name is spelled a little differently, but I'm getting used to that. But it is in Buchanan County, Missouri and the date of naturalization - 9/27/1890 - works for my Gerhard! Just to be thorough, I flipped through the entire listing of Harms (and Harmes) and this was the only one from Buchanan County!! My heart is racing and I'm getting a little bit excited! I hope, hope, hope this is my Gerhard.
If this IS my Gerhard, I have the following info:
Name: Gehart Harmes, born in Germany
Date of Naturalization: 9/27/1890 Volume A, page 480
Title and location of court: Circuit Court Buchanan County, Missouri
Witnesses: Thos (Thomas) Sweeny and Jacob Supple
I googled where to find naturalization records for Buchanan County, Missouri and there was a link taking me to the Missouri Digital Heritage site: Naturalization Records, 1816-1955. It had an index of names and in it I found Gehart Harme.
| Record Group | Buchanan County Circuit Court |
|---|---|
| Series | Naturalization Records |
| Sub Series | Final Certificate of Naturalization |
| County | Buchanan |
| Reel Number | C 997 |
| Box | |
| Folder | |
| Volume | |
| Page | 480 |
| Name | Harme, Gehart |
| Current Residence | |
| Record Date | 09/27/1890 |
| Native Country | Germany |
| Age | |
| Witness 1 | |
| Witness 2 | |
| Note | |
| Source | Missouri State Archives |
To request a copy of this record, please print a copy of this page and mail it to the Missouri State Archives, PO Box 1747, 600 W. Main Street, Jefferson City, MO 65101 with a check or money order for $1.00 made payable to the Missouri State Archives. Please include a #10 business size, stamped, self-addressed envelope with each request. Please submit one photocopy request at a time.
This record refers to the same person as the record I found above from the Missouri, Western District Naturalization Index, 1848-1990 and the record it is referencing is the 'Final Certificate of Naturalization'.
In the Index, there were only two possibilities listed - Gehart Harme and a Gerhart Harms. When I click on the Gerhart Harms, it brought up this:
| Record Group | Buchanan County Circuit Court |
|---|---|
| Series | Naturalization Records |
| Sub Series | First Papers |
| County | Buchanan |
| Reel Number | C 998 |
| Box | |
| Folder | |
| Volume | |
| Page | 515 |
| Name | Harms, Gerhart |
| Current Residence | |
| Record Date | 03/06/1888 |
| Native Country | Prussia |
| Age | 31 |
| Witness 1 | |
| Witness 2 | |
| Note | |
| Source | Missouri State Archives |
My Gerhard was born in 1857, so in 1888 he would have been 31 years old. And I know he was living in Buchanan County at this time. He was from Germany, not Prussia, but that might have been the same thing in 1888. I need to study up on German history. And...there are no other Gerhard Harms - - or any Harms - - listed. I really think this might be my Gerhard!
This index references the 'First Papers' which would be the Declaration of Intent. So, these two records might possibly both be for my Gerhard Harms - - the Declaration of Intent and the Petition for Naturalization and/or Oath of Allegiance.
I'm going to send for copies of both of these records. But I'm also going to continue to look online to see if I can find them sooner.
Well, I had no luck finding them online, so I'm sending off the letters on Monday and hope to get the naturalization records of this ancestor soon!
Update: It's Sunday afternoon now, and I've been going through drawers of folders today. I'm still working on getting all the info for a family into one binder. Guess what I found? A letter from the Missouri State Archives containing a copy of Gerhart Harms First Papers! I compared it to the one I mentioned above (page 515) and it's the same! This is exactly why I'm trying to organize my family history papers and photos. I already sent for this and received it, and it's been sitting in a drawer ever since. I was so excited!! Much better than finding it online!
Gerhart Harms First Papers from the Missouri States Archives - Reel C998, Page 515:
I'm going to go ahead and send for the Final Certificate of Naturalization tomorrow and can't wait to get it!
No comments:
Post a Comment