Citizenship - Declaration of Intention

In my previous post I showed three cards for family members who had filed or partially filed for naturalization in the U.S.    Noting that the card of George Roe wasn't complete I found that he had only filed his declaration of intention or "first papers" and had not followed through with the process of becoming naturalized.

A declaration of  intention states that the person wishes to become a citizen of the United States and renounces all allegiance to any other foreign country.


Walter Leeming filed his first papers on 6th July 1901 at the district court in Central Falls, Rhode Island.   The document doesn't give very much information other than his city and county of residence at the time, in this case Lincoln, Providence, Rhode Island.   Because his son John Edward Leeming came to the U.S. as a minor, he was not required to file the declaration of intention.

Here is Walter's declaration:

These declarations are typically filed two or more years prior to the actual proof of residency and the finalization of citizenship.    

Exploring the U.S. Naturalization Records Indexes

I recently began searching a bit in the U.S. Naturalization Records Indexes on Ancestry.  I was somewhat expecting not to find my ancestors in the index, simply because it was previously believed that many of them never went through the process of becoming naturalized citizens.  Yet again it's been proven - don't believe everything you hear!

I first searched for Walter Leeming, my 2nd great grandfather who I knew came to the US (via Canada) in 1899, according to the 1900 US census.

I found Walter's card easily and then began to search for the other members of his family, some of whom were born in England, others in Canada.

I quickly found another record, this one for Walter's oldest son, John Edward Leeming, who was also born in England.  Note the dates on these two records are the same.   Father and son became citizens together, with the same witnesses.

I next turned my attention to another 2nd great grandfather, George Roe.  With many spelling variations (Row, Rowe, Wroe) on various records, I had much trouble finding George in passenger arrival lists but managed to find him in this index without a problem.

Note that George's card appears to be incomplete.  After speaking with a nice employee at the NARA in Waltham, MA, I learned that George filed his declaration of intention (also called First Papers) in the Albany County Court on 8 August 1898, and his petition in Adams on 30 Mar 1901.  He did not appear in court to complete the process.

The NARA offers copies of the naturalization documents for $7.50.  I have ordered copies of the documents for Walter and John and will post them in a follow-up later this week.

Tombstone Tuesday

Great Grandparents

Joseph Leeming b. 9/10/1886 Quebec, Canada; d. 9/29/1950 Adams, Massachusetts

Sarah Hannah Roe Leeming b.1891 Lancashire England; d. 6/24/1965 N. Adams, Massachusetts

Tombstone Tuesday

This is the headstone of Rachel Roe, my great grand Aunt.   Rachel was the daughter of George William Roe and Jane Fountain.    She was born in New York in 1899 and died in 1930 in Adams Massachusetts, where she is buried in the Bellevue Cemetery.   Rachel was the mother of two small children at the time of her death, which was caused by a fall down a flight of stairs.

Again a very special thank you to Eric Jacobsson, a Find-A-Grave volunteer who photographed this headstone for me.

Tombstone Tuesday

Great-Great Grandmother

Jane Fountain Roe

b. Aug 10, 1866; Upwood, Huntingdonshire, England

d. Mar 9, 1958; Cheshire, MA

Buried at Bellevue Cemetery, Berkshire County MA

Daugther of Thomas Fountain and Johanna Feekins

Married George Roe, Aug 21, 1889; Great Harwood, Lancashire, England

Mother of Rachel and Sarah Hannah Roe

Special thanks to Find-A-Grave volunteer Eric Jacobsson for photographing this stone for me.

Adams News Clip Of The Week

I haven't written much about my 2nd Great Grandmother Jane Fountain Roe and came across this news clipping in my favorite little newspaper The Adams Transcript.

This article is again from the social pages, about a 69th birthday party in honor of Jane Roe. This clipping is from the paper dated August 13, 1935. Jane's birthday was August 10th. The party was held at the home of her daughter Sarah Leeming (my Great Grandmother - see stories about her "accidents" here and here).

Not sure what "musical program" was playing but I am very curious about what "Round Dancing" is.. anybody know?







This is a photo of Jane. We're not sure about the date of this photo, but she certainly appears to be in her 80s.

Jane died in March of 1958 at the age of 91, at a nursing home in Cheshire MA.







News clipping image: Ancestry.com. North Adams Transcript (North Adams, Massachusetts) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data: North Adams Transcript. North Adams, MA, USA. Database created from microfilm copies of the newspaper

Adams News Clip Of The Week

I mentioned in a previous post about a newspaper collection from the North Adams Transcript - a very small town paper in Mass. What a treasure that collection has been! In doing searches for my Bellew & Leeming families, I found an enormous amount of little stories and obits for family members who lived in that area. The best stories are found on the social pages - you couldn't have company, or catch a cold for that matter, without the whole town knowing about it. Imagine my surprise to find this article about 5 generations of family members gathered for a birthday celebration, but then imagine my shock to find a photo of my Great Great Grandmother (in the center of this photo, sitting down) staring back at me! The article was wonderful but the photo? I couldn't have asked for more! My Grandmother (who is still living - age 91) was as shocked as I was to see a photo of her Grandmother, Mother, Sister, Neice and Grand Nephew pictured in this photograph taken in 1956. What a find!!!

Pictured are Brian Gary Mull (baby), Jane Fountain Roe (seated), Edith Leeming Jones (left), Marjorie Jones Mull (center standing), Sarah Roe Leeming (right).

Image: Ancestry.com. North Adams Transcript (North Adams, Massachusetts) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data: North Adams Transcript. North Adams, MA, USA. Database created from microfilm copies of the newspaper.