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.

The USCIS has an index to the C-Files. The files are available for family historians under the USCIS Genealogy Program, and requests can be made online. Go to the USCIS website: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis. Click on the “About USCIS” tab; then click on “USCIS History, Library and Genealogy;” and finally click on “USCIS Genealogy Program.”

Just like naturalization is a two-step process, the application is a two-step process. First you apply for an Index Search ($20.00). Search results are returned to the researcher, along with instructions on how to request the file(s) from USCIS or the National Archives.

The index search is important because USCIS will check the following record groups:

• Naturalization Certificate Files (C-files) from September 27, 1906 to April 1, 1956;
• Alien Registration Forms from August 1, 1940 to March 31, 1944;
• Visa files from July 1, 1924 to March 31, 1944;
• Registry Files from March 2, 1929 to March 31, 1944; and
• Alien Files (A-files) numbered below 8 million (A8000000) and documents therein dated prior to May 1, 1951.

The second step is to request the records. Given the index search results, you can order the files. The fee is $20.00 (if the record is on microfilm) or $35.00 (if the record is in manuscript form).

For further information on naturalizations, go to Joe Beines' "Finding US Naturalization Records,"online at http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/naturalizationrecords.html.

If you are interested in other helpful articles, go to my Columns page.

© 2000–2009

Connie Lenzen, CG^SM

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.