Wouldn't it be nice if your immigrant ancestor came to America, got off a boat, went to the place they knew they could live and find work, and then stayed there - at least long enough to be naturalized as a citizen?
I know from experience that this is not to be counted on. In fact, you may be shocked at how many years it took for your ancestors to go ahead and become an American.
If you have no idea when they became naturalized... look at CENSUS evidence first. What? Every ten years a different year for NA (Naturalization) is written down? How could that be?
Common enough!
If the information you gleen from census is consistant, then it is probably correct and the YEAR of Naturalization is yours for the simple research. If however, it is not consistant, what could be the problem?
OK... sometimes ancestors were just as suspicious of census takers as some immigrants are NOW! ...and they lied. Sometimes they confused the filing of DECLARATION OF INTENT papers, with actually going through with Citizenship, and sometimes they were naturalized with a parent or husband... This was true almost all the time unless the WOMAN WAS WIDOWED before her husband could do it for himself, her, and the children. Women got the vote and THEN began to apply for themselves as a matter of course.
More often than not, recent immigrants - searching for good employment - simply did NOT STAY PUT in one place upon immigration. What this means is that they declared in one town and then went through the rest of the process elsewhere.
These are just some of the many possibilities.
Christine
