On June 19, 1909, John and Katherine Hilgenberg and their four children arrived in New York City on the ship Lithuania. Their eldest son was 14 years old, and he would be facing mandatory military service in a couple of years. Katherine Hilgenberg's brother was living in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and he invited the family to join him.

We find the family on the Ellis Island website, www.ellisisland.org. We find them on the online United States censuses on HeritageQuestOnline, the database on many public library computers. We have bits and pieces of other documents.

John Hilgenberg's naturalization records could connect the pieces and make a more complete story.

On September 27, 1906, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was established. Naturalization records created after that date tell the ancestor's birthplace and date and the date and port of immigration. They tell the names of spouses and children. They tell where the ancestor lived, and what he did for a living.

In 2002, INS was placed under the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This agency maintains the naturalization certificate files, known as C-Files. These are all United States naturalizations conducted after September 27, 1906 from all States and Territories and from all courts — Federal, State, and local. 

USCIS has an index to the C-Files. The files are available for family historians under the Freedom of Information/Privacy Act.

To make a request for a file, send a letter to the Freedom of Information Act Officer at the field office where the documents are housed or to the field office nearest your home.The one in Portland is located at Federal Office Building, 511 NW Broadway, Portland OR 97209.

Include the name, date of birth, and place of birth of the ancestor. You may not know the exact date of birth and place of birth. In that case, make an approximation and add additional information that will distinguish your ancestor from all the other people with the same name. For instance, "I am seeking the naturalization file for John Hilgenberg who was born around 1866 in Russia. He came to the United States in 1909 and lived in Sheboygan, Wisconsin."

The Freedom of Information Act Officer will respond within ten working days with a letter that tells you the status of your request and a list of possible fees. Depending upon where the case is filed, it may take a month, or it may take six months for it to arrive in your mailbox.

For further information on naturalizations, go to Joe Beines' "Finding US Naturalization Records,"online at

http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/naturalizationrecords.html.

© 2004-2006

Connie Lenzen, CG

CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certified genealogists after periodic evaluation, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.