xt7pvm42vn7m https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7pvm42vn7m/data/mets.xml New Jersey Historical Records Survey Project United States Work Projects Administration. Division of Community Service Programs New Jersey New Jersey Historical Records Survey Project United States Work Projects Administration. Division of Community Service Programs 1941 185 p., [3] leaves 28 cm. UK holds archival copy for ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program libraries. Call Number: FW 4.14:N 42j/16 books  English Newark, N.J.: Historical Records Program  This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. New Jersey Works Progress Administration Publications Naturalization -- New Jersey Archives -- New Jersey Guide to Naturalization Records in New Jersey, 1941 text Guide to Naturalization Records in New Jersey, 1941 1941 1941 2020 true xt7pvm42vn7m section xt7pvm42vn7m  

 

_ W,a-,m;w~

UNIVERSITY 0

m;

\L

 

THE . H'ISfcRIcALTRE'C'dRISSL PHocHAH
WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
ROBERT W. ALLAN ‘5TATE ADMINISTRATOR

 

_ NEWARK NEWJERSEY' |94| ’”

 

i‘M

\

 

 

 ."f; ‘
"Hi-.5;

Hmi/Ji-Js;:>t:z;é~

02" iii??? EL

GUIDE TO
NATURALIZATION RECORDS
IN NEW JERSEY

Prepared by
THE NEW JERSEY H ‘TORICAL RECORDS PROGRAM

Division of Community Service Programs
Work Projects Administration

Sponsored by

New Jersey State Planning Board

Newark, New Jersey
The Historical Records Program
1941

 

  

The Historical Records Pro ran

saTSent B. Child, National Director
Gustave Koeppe, State Supervisor

Research and Records Section
Harvey E. Becknell, Director

Edward 3. Bennett, Region 1 Supervisor
Edward I. Boyle, State Coordinator

Division of Community and Service Programs

Florence V. Kerr, Assistant Commissioner
EVa H. RedaéReina, State Director

WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION

Howard 0. Hunter Commissioner
Robert W. Allan, State Administrator

 

 "To bring together the records of the past’
and to house them_in buildings Where they will
be preserved for the use of men living in the
future, a nation must believe in three things.
It must believe in the past. It must believe
in the future. It must, above all, believe in
the capacity of its peeple so to learn from the
past that they can gain in judgement for the
creation of the future."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

 

  

PREFACE

The New Jersey Historical Records Program was organized in
February 1936 as a unit of the Works Progress Administration. It operates
as a State-wide project under the local sponsorship of the New Jersey State
Planning Board.

The Program has, as its primary objective, the preparation of
inventories of the municipal, county, state and Federal archives in New
Jersey and the publication of these inventories as guides to source
material of historical interest. In addition to these inventories, work
is proceeding in the cataloging and calendaring of manuscript collections,
the inventorying of church archives, and the transcription of some of the
earliest public records. Additional features of this comprehensive
approach to authentic historical source materials are found in the Program‘s
research in American imprints and portraits in New Jersey. '

The very nature of the Program's work in archival materials and
its demonstrated adaptability in handling the most varied research problems,
as these occur in the daily routine or as they are assigned to it, have
qualified the Program for the task of preparing a guide to naturalization
records in New Jersey. The broad implications of the grave crisis con—
fronting our country have brought the problems of citizenship into sharp
focus. For every individual, naturalization records have become of
paramount importance. Heretofore, only researchers, police officials,
heads of agencies and industrial employers have felt the need for a compre-
hensive guide to such records. Now, a guide to naturalization records can
well be of inestimable service to any member of the community.

The Guide tg_Naturalization Records in_New Jersey is arranged
to show the laws, past and present, affecting the naturalization process
in the United States. Since the United States naturalization laws are a
direct outgrowth of the naturalization laws of Great Britain, abstracts of
the British naturalization laws are placed first in this volume, followed
by abstracts of the Colonial, State, and Federal naturalization laws of the
United States. The introductory essay is an account of the evolution of
the changes in the procedure of sequiring citizenship. Following the
section on the laws is a listing of the records now kept in the deposi—
tories of each County of the State and in the files of the Supreme Court
and the State Public Record Office at Trenton.

 

 

The data for the volume was obtained, in the field. by
researchers of the Historical Records Program under the supervision of
George C. Decker, Helene R. Shanahan, and Russell E. Swayze, District
Supervisors. The entries were written by Mary mcMullen, Ellsworth
Hatfield, and Bart Steib and edited by Allyn G. Jackson and Harvey L.
Rees, Entry Editors. Legal research for this volume was directed by
Leo Forcella. The introduction was written by Elizabeth McPherson and

 

  

Jean Seville, Project Technicians. All editorial phases of the guide
were completed under the direction of Elmer V. Swan, State Editor.
Administrative functions of the Program were supervised by Louis A.
Lupton, Assistant State Supervisor.

This guide could never have been completed but for the coopera-
tion of Sargent B. Child, Director, and of the many public officials of
this State. The editorial staff of the Historical Records Program of
New Jersey expresses its gratitude to Robert W. Allan, State Administrator,
for his personal service and attention which were of inestimable aid in
the production of this guide and for the continuance of the Program under
local sponsorship.

The various publications of the Program are distributed, with—
out charge, to Government offices, libraries, and historical societies
in New Jersey, and to major universities, libraries, and depositories
throughout the Nation. A.list of other publications of the New Jersey
Historical Records Program.appears at the end of this volume. Requests
for information concerning any unit of the Program should be addressed
to the undersigned at 1060 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey.

Gustave Koeppe

December 1941. State Supervisor

 

 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
OFFICERS

DIXON RYAN FOX. L. H. D.. LL. D.. UNION COLLEGE. SCHENECTADV. PRESIDENT
FREDERICK B. RICHARDS. L. H. D.. GLENs FALLS. FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT
HORACE A. MOSES. LL. D.. SPRINGFIELD, MAss.. SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT
STEPHEN H. P. PELL. L. H. D.. FORT TICONDEROGA. THIRD VICE-PRESIDENT
ALEXANDER C. FLICK. L. H. D.. ALBANY. CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
CLIFFORD L. LORD, A. M.. COOPERSTOWN. DIRECTOR

 

TR U STEES
Governor Herbert H. Lehman, LL.D.. u-olfieio

Albert M. Banker. A. 3.. Johnstown

Robert W. Bingham. Bufialu

Harry V. Bush. Clnliobari:

Frederick Coykendall, LL. D.. New YoIk
HomThos. (L Desmond. L. H. D.. Newburgh
Richud C. Ellsworth. A. 3.. Canton

AIenndeI C. Flick. L. H. D.. Alblny

Dixon Ryan Fox. L. H. D.. LL.D.. Schenectady
Han. Gilbert D. B. Heabranck. LLD.. Kingston
Carlton J. H. Hayes, 1.1.. D.. Afton

William Wallace Kincaid, Youngstown

job.“ A. Kraut. Ph. D.. Sergiolo

Walter Ricks Line“. A. 3.. Cooperstown
Deni: Tilden Lynch. New York

Hone: A. Moses. LLD.. Springfield. Mun.
Mn. Alton Brook: Parker. Enopna

Arthur C. Parker, D. Sc.. Rochuter

Stephen H. P. Yell. L. H. D.. For! Ticonderog-

Cooperstown,
November 27

3

Arthur Pound. A. 8.. Sfingerluds

Hon. Borne A. Pytkc, Crown Point
Fredgrick B. Richardo. L. H. D.. Glenn Pulls
Charles Mauser Stow. New York

Mn. Herman Stump. Bel Air. Md.
Alexander 1. Wall. New York

Mn. John G. Wither-Enid.)

Nev York
1941

 

 

Mr. Gustave Y;oep 3pc
Historical Records
lQGu Broad Street

Newark, flew Jersey

Survey

Dear Mr. Kooppe:

In a nation which, as the President has
recently reminded us, is composed of people 211 of whom or
whose forebears were once immigrants the history and records
of naturalization are bound to be 01 peculiar interest. This
volume, The Guide to Naturalization Records in New Jersey,

 

 

Promises to be the f‘rst serious 2ttempt to catalog such records
which any State has yet made. Though I suppose this material

is bound to be of
citizens or their
material also ior
among others.

naturalized
wealth of
ans the genealogist

and to
surely there is here a
the historian

primary value to lawyers
families,
the sociologist,

This new type of G“id_e re a new sector
of the invaluable work of recording an:1 inven basic
State, county and local archiv es and making t}1enIavailsble Ior
general us 0 and raft? rs once Nhich the Histories 3 ‘ Surve:y
is performing through out the country. The -ew Jersey
is to be congratulated for adding this volume — the first of this
series to be completed in any State in the nation - to its many
other pioneering ventures in the f elo of hist OPiCEzl records
and research.

1 . '1.
I\-.. I

 

Sincerelv yours.

(é/M%/

Clifforc. II." Lord
Director

CLL/h

 

  

II.

III.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ——————————————— ' ————————————————————————————

Colonial Period, Settlement to 1820; Period of
Industrial and National Expansion, 1820 to 1882;
Formulation of Basic Regulations, 1882 to 1906;
Present—day Procedure, 1902 to date.

ABBREVIATIONS, SYMBOLS, and EXPLANATORY NOTES ——————————
ABSTRACTS or NATURALIZAT ION LAWS:

1. British __________________________________________
2. Colonial ——-————————_—1 ___________________________
5. New Jersey State __________________________________
4. United States — (Federal) ________________________

NATURALIZATION RECORDS BY COUNTY:

Atlantic _________________________________________
Bergen ___________________________________________
Burlington _______________________________________
Camden ___________________________________________
Cape May _________________________________________
Cumberland _______________________________________
Essex ____________________________________________
Gloucester _______________________________________
Hudson ___________________________________________
Hunterdon ________________________________________
Mercer ___________________________________________
12. Middlesex ________________________________________
15. Monmouth _________________________________________
14. Morris ___________________________________________
15. Ocean ____________________________________________
16. Passaic ~———~————-—_—1_——e ________________________
17. Salem --+ —————————————————————————————————————————
18. Somerset ————-—-———-———-—————_—5-________________1
19. Sussex ——-————-——g ________________________________
20. Union ____________________________________________
21. warren ———————————————————————————————————————————

o I o O o t o -

KOCDQC3UEI-PQJNH

H14
F‘O
I I

OTHER NATURALIZATION RECORDS:

1. Supreme Court of New Jersey ——————————————————————
2. State Public Record Office ———————————————————————

BIBLIOGRAPHY ———————————————————————————————————————————

LIST OF SURVEY PUBLICATIONS

    

Page
'I

25

27
51
59
51

156
157
159
140
142
145
150
151
155
156
158
160
165
165
166
170
172
174
176
178

180
181

185

  

 
    
   
   
   
   
  
  
  
   
   
  
   
 
  
   
  
 

  

wva—_.1-._.___m.,...,w . A A ..1A A ,....., w

I. INTRODUCTION

Colonial Period, Settlement 39 1820

The story of the legal procedure which gives the alien in the
United States the right to participate in the civic affairs of his
adopted country and to receive its protection is a history of our country
told from an entirely new perspective.

The immigrant from earliest times sought new lands from which
he might gain material aid to better the conditions of his life, and so
it was with the earliest pioneer, the nineteenth—century immigrant, and
the twentieth-century refugee, all seeking a near—Utopia in the New World.

The colonists from England, who in 1790 represented 82.1 per—
cent of our population, (1) formed the foundation of the new American
people, and as a result our institutions as well as our language have
remained English. (2)

Citizenship in England was granted for such reasons as church
affiliation, valor, or service in the various colonial governments. The
Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, was made an
English subject primarily because she was a Protestant; on the other
hand, others lost their citizenship if they were "Papists" or Catholics. (5)

At common law a British subject could not by any voluntary act
of his own divest himself of his British nationality. (4) He could,
however, lose his nationality by loss of territory by the British Crown;
either by the severance of the Crown from the territory in which the
British subject was born, or by cession to a foreign country in conquest,
treaty, or Act of Parliament. (5) It is doubtful, however, whether the
Crown, without the authority of Parliament, possessed the right of
alienating British territory by treaty following the close of a war,
and in the case of the treaty made with the United States of America,
September 5, 1785, a statute was previously passed authorizing the Crown

 

(l) H.G. Duncan, Immigration and Assimilation, pp. 477- 9, herein—
after cited as Duncan, Immigration and Assimilation.

(2) Maurice R. D8Vi€,J WOrld Immigration, p. 19. hereinafter cited
as Davie, _flg£ld'Immi: ration.

(5) Addenda to the Third Volume of the Statutes at Large ,Begin—
ning Wiu +h flthe Fourth Year of the Reign of Queen Anne and
Continued to the End of the “Last Session of Parliament, April
1,1708, ch. 4, p. 2405.

(4) Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries 9n the Laws 2f England,
vol. 1, bk. 1, ch. 10, sec. 570, p. 280.

(5) A. P. Stone, ed., The Law Reports, Queen's Bench Division,
vol. 17, p. 54.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Introduction

to treat of and conclude a peace with the American Colonies. Such treat;
ies may specifically regulate the future nationality of the inhabitants
of the ceded territory, but in the absence of an express provision, a
relinquishment of the government of a territory was not only relinquish—
ment of the right to the soil but also of the right over the inhabitants
of the country. ConSequently, children born in the United States of
America since the recognition of their independence, or parents born
there before that time and continuing to reside there afterwards, were
aliens; (6) but it was held that children born in the United States since
such recognition, of parents who resided there before, but who were
natural—born British subjects and at the time of the separation adhered

-to the British government, were not aliens. (7)

Prior to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, when
the American colonists became citizens of a new state, the inhabitants
of the various colonies were British subjects.

When the colony of New Jersey was first settled in 1664, the
Lords Proprietors gave to "all strangers, as to them shall seem meet,
a naturalization, and all such freedoms and privileges within the said
Province as to his majesty's subjects_do of right belong, they swearing
or subscribing as aforesaiid (allegiance to the King and faithfulness to
the proprietors); which said strangers, so naturalized and privileged,
shall be in all respects accounted in the said Province, as the King's

natural subjects." (8)

During the period from 1702 to 1776, the New Jersey Assembly,
under authorization from the British Crown, granted citizenship (9) to
better enable the various inhabitants of the Province to hold lands,
and to enjoy the privileges of natural born—subjects. (10) Peter Bard,
a native or France and one of the first persons to become a citizen by
an act of the New Jersey Assembly, was naturalized March 11, 1714. (ll)

(6) Barnewall and Cresswell, vol. 2, sec. 779 found in English
Eepgrts, vol. 56, p. 572.

(7) ~Barnewall and Cresswell, vol. 5, sec. 771 found in English
Eeports,_vol. 37, p. 287. ,

(8) Aaron Leaming and Jacob Spicer, eds., The Grants, Concessions,
and Original Constitutions g£_the Province 9£_New Jersey, 1664—
gigg, p, 17, hereinafter cited as Leaming and Spicer, grants
and Concessions.

(9) Samuel Allinson, comp., Acts 9f_the General Assembly g£_New
Jersey, izgggizzg, p. 32, hereinafter cited as Allinson,

Acts of the General Assembly.

(10) William Paterson, ed., Laws g: the State 9£_New Jersey,
1705w1799, p. 98, hereinafter cited as Paterson, Laws.

(11) Allinson, Acts 2: the General Assembly, p. 52.

 

 

 

 

  

 

Introduction

On July 2, 1776, just two days prior to the Declaration of
Independence, the New Jersey Provincial Congress approved a law permit-
ting "all Inhabitants of this Colony of full age who are worth fifty
poundS, Proclamation money, clear Estate in the same, and have resided
within the county in which they claim.a vote for 12 months immediately
preceding the election, shall be entitled to vote for representatives
in council and assembly, and also for all other public officers that
shall be elected by the people of the county at large..77 (12)

With the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1776,
the free inhabitants of the United States (paupers, vagabonds, and fugi~
tives from justice excepted) were entitled to all privileges and immuni—
ties of free citizens in the several States. (15) During the Revolution,
Tories were classified as aliens until they swore alleviance to the new
government. (14) There was, however, no United States citizenship at
that time nor was national citizenship created or organized by the
Articles of Confederation. State citizenship was therefore, the older
of the dual citizenships existing in this country. (15)

National or United States citizenship was first created by and
upon the adoption of the Federal Constitution in 1787, whereby "EVery
person, and every class and description of person, who were, at the time
of the adoption of the Constitution, recognized as citizens in the
several States, became citizens of this new political body." The Four-
teenth Amendment to the Constitution and the Acts of Congress passed
pursuant to the authority granted by Article 1, Section 8, of the Consti-
tution, have fixed citizenship status and requirements in this country. (16)

The first uniform rule for the naturalization of aliens in the
United States was provided by an act of Congress passed in 1790. (17)
By a further act passed in 1795 and substituting for the act of 1790, an
alien desiring naturalization was required to make a declaration of
intention of becoming a citizen and of renouncing all foreign allegiance,
three years before naturalization. On applying for citizenship, the
alien was to declare under oath that he had resided five years in the

 

(12) Peter Wilson, comp., Acts of the Council and General Assembly
9£_the State 9£_Now Jersey, Const. 1776, sec. 4.
(15) F. G. Franklin, legislative History of Naturalization in the

 

United Spates, frEm the-Revolutionary War tg_l§gl, p. 15,
hereinafter cited as Franklin, £9§§Slatiyfi.§}§39£X,9£
1d+1£3_l.22119_2

. 3, p. Bio

New Jersey‘State, Emergency Relief Administration, laws and
gaggl'grggedure, 1955, p. 53, hereinafter cited as N. J.,
E.R.A., Laws and Legal Procedure.

(16) Ibid.

_——._._

(17) nited States Statutes at Large, I, 105, 104.

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Introduction

United States and one year in the State or Territory where application
was made; that he renounced all foreign allegiance; and that he would
support the Constitution of the United States. He was requested to give
to the court satisfactory evidence of qualifying residence, good moral
character during the five years of residence, attachment "to the princi-
ples of the Constitution of the United States," and proper disposition
toward "the good order and happiness" of the United States. The act

also provided for the renunciation of any title or order of nobility.

An exception to this law provided that aliens resident in the United
States at the time of the passage of the act were to be naturalized after
two years‘ residence and upon meeting the other requirements listed. (18)

While the act of 1790 stipulated that any common law court of
record had jurisdiction, within the law, to grant citizenship, the 1795
act gave this power to the circuit or district courts of the United
States and to the Supreme, superior, district, or circuit courts of the
States or Territories. (l9) Doubts arose as to whether certain courts
of record in some States were included within the description of district
or circuit courts, and Congress ruled on April 14, 1802 that every court
of record in any individual State, having common law jurisdiction, a
seal, and a clerk or prothonotary, shall be considered as a district
court, within the meaning of the act, and any alien who may have been
naturalized in any such court, shall enjoy the same rights and privileges
as if he had been naturalized in a district or circuit court of the
United States. (20) This is probably the only legal basis for the Court
of Chancery having jurisdiction in naturalization cases.

In 1798, the required term of residence before naturalization
was increased to 14 years. (21) However, when Congress revised and
amended the naturalization laws in 1802, the 1798 act was repealed and
the term of residence requirement reverted to the 5-year provision of
1795; evidence, rather than mere oaths of compliance, was required; as
was registration with some Federal or State court from which certificates
were issued to be used later as evidence. (22) In general, the basic
provisions of this naturalization law have remained unchanged since

1802. (25)

 

(18) United States Statutes at_Larse, I, 414, 415.

(19) Ibid., 103, 104, 414, 415.

(20) J. T. Nixon, comp., New Jersey Laws, Statutes, Etc., Digest
9: the Laws 9f_New Jersey, 1709—1868, pp. 1119, 1120, here—
inafter cited as Nixon, Digest. '

1) United States Statutes a: Large, I, 566—569.

2) House Journal, Seventh Congress, First Session, pp. 123—129.

5) Franklin, Legislative History 23 Naturalization, pp. 109, 110-

 

 

 

 

  

Introduction

The New Jersey legislature voted, in 1806, to continue until
1812 (24) a law of 1794 which granted aliens the right to hold real
estate in New Jersey, (25) with the proviso that they had declared their
intentions to become citizens of the United States prior to any such
purchase. (26) This, however, did not give the alien the privilege of
holding or voting for public office in the State or in the United
States. (27)

The War of 1812 opened the embarrassing problem of English
aliens, and the Legislature passed an act in 1815 permitting these people
to declare their intentions of becoming American citizens after only nine
nwnths' residence, but there was nothing in the act to prevent the re-
moval of enemy aliens in the usual manner. (28)

An act relative to evidence in cases of naturalization, passed
in 1816, provided that the Certificate of Report and Registry required
by the act of 1802 and also a Certificate of Declaration of Intention be
recited at full length in the record of the court granting naturaliza~
tion. Omission to do so after adoption of this act of 1816 operated to
void the ruling of the court granting citizenship, unless the applicant
had proved to the satisfaction of the court that he was a resident in
the United States before April 14, 1802, and had resided in the country
continuously since. The proof of his residence for five years immed—
iately preceding admission was to be by oath or affirmation of citizens
listed in the record as witnesses. The record was to show continuous
residence, with a list of all places resided. (29)

All those peOple who came to the New World before 1820 were
classified as colonists, while those who came afterwards were known as
immigrants, since in that year the United States passed its first immi-
gration law, During this period, colonial migration was largely Teutonic
in blood and Protestant in religion. Intolerable economic, political,
and religious conditions in the United Kingdom sent approximately 150,000

 

(24) Joseph Bloomfield, Laws g: the State g§_New Jersey, 1800—1811,
p. 172, hereinafter cited as Bloomfield, E,L, 180071811,

 

(2F) Paterson, Laws, p. 125.

(26) Bloomfield, 3;. 1800—1811, p. 172.

(27) Paterson, pew/ye, p. 125.

(28) C. M. Panunzio, Immigration Crossroads, p. 122, hereinafter

 

cited as Panunzio, Immigration Crossroads; House Journal,
Thirteenth ggngress, First Session, pp. 115, 114, 150, 151,
155, 141; Franklin, Legislative History 9§_Naturalization,
p. 1176 ’

(29) United States Statutes 91 large, III, 258, 259.

 

 

 

 

 

      

Introduction

Scotch-Irish to America during the 50 years immediately preceding the
Revolution. (30) Many of these colonists came under a system of servi—
tude whereby they sold their services for the price of transportation;
while many others, such as convicts and vagrants and paupers, were
forced into servitude and came involuntarily. (51)

There was no opposition to immigration on economic grounds and
the only anti-immigration laws that existed were those designed to prevent
the entrance of unwanted religious sects and those aimed at excluding

. paupers and criminals. (52) New Jersey, however, welcomed all religious
groups, (35) and soon became known, along with Pennsylvania and New York,
as a "Zone of Tolerance." (34)

Period 9§_Industrial and National Expansion, 1820—1882.

Between 1820 and 1882, which may be termed the period of expan- A
sion, the demand for labor, brought about by industrial and national ex—
pansion, encouraged an influx of immigrants and with them came many
serious social problems. (55) In 1820, the nation was in the throes of a
business depression and, as in 1950, the people opposed immigration. (56) ,
Aliens residing in Paterson, New Jersey, were instrumental in initiating g
the efforts that led to the revision of the naturalization laws by
CongreSs in 1824. (57) By this act any alien, being free, white, and
under 21 years of age, who had lived in the United States for three years
and had continued residing there until he made application for citizenship,
might, after becoming 21 and after residing in the United States five
years, including the three years of his minority, become a citizen with-
out having made the required declaration of intention three years before
naturalization.. At the time of his admission he was required to make
the declaration of intention, and to take an oath and offer proof satis—
factory to the court that for the previous three years it had been his
intention to become a citizen. No certificates of naturalization were
to be invalidated because of failure to comply with the declaration of
intention requirements of the act of 1816. Declarations of intention 3
previously made before clerks of courts were to be as valid as if made E
before the courts themselves. Any declaration of intention (previously)
otherwise made according to law, two years before admission to citizen—
ship, was thus made valid. (88)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(50) Duncan, Immigration and Assimilation, pp. 477~481.
(51) Davie, flgrld Immi ration, pp. 30, 51.
(52) 331., p. 57.
(55) Leaming and Spicer, Grants and Concessions, pp. 220—222,
661—665; New Jersey Archives, First Series, vol. 1, pp. 45, 88. *
(54) Panunzio, Immigration Crossroads, p. 17.
(55) Duncan, Immigration and Assimilation, pp. 479—481.
(56) Franklin, Legislative History pf Naturalization, p. 184.
(57) Ibid., p. 170.
(58) United States Statutes at Large, XV, 69.

 

-6—

 

 

 

  

 

Introduction

An act of 1828 dispensed with registration of aliens as required
evidence of length of residence in the United States, but did not inter—
fere With provisions that aliens, upon application for citizenship, must
prove five years‘ residence by disinterested testimony, and must show a
certificate that they had declared their intentions to become citizens
two years prior to the application. Section 2 of this act was intended
to mitigate hardships in another class of cases. It was contended that
aliens who had arrived in the country since 1802 should not be required
to show the two-year certificates of intention when they could show con-
tinuous residence in the United States before June 18, 1812. _This, how-
ever, would still require proof of residence for nearly 16 years. (59)

The influx of foreign paupers brought protests and memorials
to Congress, asking revision of the immigration laws and greater restric-
tions on naturalization. (40) By 1844 active opposition to immigration
began to develop, and eventuated in the rise of the "Native American
Party," organized to seek protection for those already here, and the anti—
Catholic riots. However, it was largely as a result of the industrial
depression of 1857 and the Civil War that the number of immigrants
dwindled. With the return of prosperity after the war, the number of
immigrants increased rapidly, dominated largely by the Irish and Germans.
Less than a decade earlier, during the "gold rush" of 1848, the Chinese
began arriving in California. (41)

In 1838, the New Jersey legislature ruled that the authorities
of any township or city (with provisions concerning city and township
boundaries) in the State were authorized to impose and collect from
shipmasters, or those responsible for the operation of the ship, $1.00
to $10.00 for each alien permitted to land. A complete list of all
rpassengers, together with their case histories and health reports, was
to be filed with the city or township authorities twenty~four hours after
arrival. All passengers, visitors, and returning citizens as well as
aliens, were required to obtain permission to land under penalty of
$50.00 fine for each passenger landed otherwise. The new arrivals who
filled all legal requirements were provided maintenance in case of dis-
ability until capable of providing for themselves. (42)

On March 11, 1855, the New Jersey Legislature approved an act
to establish uniform fees of clerks and judges in naturalization cases.

--—-—~——_.______

(59) Franklin, Legislative History 9: Naturalization, pp. 179, 180;
Egg§g_£9urnal, Ewegtieth Congress, First Sessibn, pp. 235, 662,
677, 875T_Sanate Iournal,Twentieth Congress, First Session,
pp, 552, 2553, 4127, 484.

(40) Franklin, legislative HistorygiNaturalization, pp. 196, 197.

(41) Duncan, Immigration and Assimilation, pp. 479—481.

(42) Nixon, Digest, 1). 618.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

The cost of first application was 25 cents, while certification, and
'administration of the oath and examination by the judge were 50 cents
each, making a total charge of $1.25. (45)

Formulation 9£_Basic Regulations, 1882 t9 1906.

 

 

The modern period, 1882 to the present, is characterized by an
increasing number of immigrants and a proportionate increase in restric—
tion laws. At the beginning of this period a marked change in immigra—
tion took place. While earlier immigration was primarily Teutonic and
Protestant, the new was Latin and Slavic and largely Catholic. The
number of immigrants in 1882 (788,992) reached a peak not surpassed until
1905, when the number.reached 857,046. (44) Although opposition to
immigration had been developing since Colonial times, and a Supreme
Court decision in 1875 had invalidated all State legislation regarding
immigration on the grounds that such legislation invaded the right of
Congress to regulate commerce with foreign nations, no comprehensive
hmnigration law was passed by the United States until 1882. (45) By
this law of 1882, immigration procedure was placed under the control of
the Secretary of the Treasury; a head-tax of fifty cents was levied on
each immigrant; and idiots, lunatics, and other persons likely to become
public charges were denied admission. (46) By an agreement with China
in this same year, Chinese laborers were excluded. (47) Neither State
nor Federal courts were to admit Chinese to citizenship. (48)

The New Jersey Circuit Court held, in 1885, that aliens desir-
ing naturalization in New Jersey must reside in the United States the
required five—year period, but that the one-year State resident require-
ment need not be the year immediately preceding application. (49)

In 1892, the New Jersey Court of Common Pleas interpreted the
words "white persons" in the Federal naturalization laws to mean persons

 

 

(45) P.L. 1855, pp. 427, 428.
(44) Duncan, Immigration and Assimilation pp. 481—485.
(45) EREQ', p. 495; United States Reports, vol. 92, pp. 259,

275, Decisions of United States Supreme Co