Projects of the Day – New York, Naturalization Originals and Delaware, Land Records


In case you are curious why we started in New York with the New York, U.S. Naturalization Records – Original Documents, 1795-1972 the main reason is that I was so excited to see this project coming so close to being completed!  And, as you know, naturalization records are a wonderful resource for researchers.  Because these are the originals there are packets for each individual which include 4-7 documents that hold a wealth of knowledge and sometimes include a photo.  I also am stirred by the thought that these individuals were coming to a new country, often not knowing the language and wanting to become a citizen – what determination they had!

And we added Delaware, Delaware, Land Records, 1677-1947, since it was close and there are plenty of image sets for all of the keyers who want to participate in the Challenge.  Having records that date back to the 1600’s is pretty cool, but also can create a challenge in reading the handwriting.  (I just keyed an image set with beautiful handwriting so maybe you’ll get lucky like me.)  As I read through the documents I have to wonder if there would be so many documents to sign if mortgage companies today had to write them all out by hand. 🙂

If  we could rate your genealogy karma you would all be topping the scales!

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I have also enjoyed keying naturalization records, I have keyed PA and NY records.
Through keying these I also learned a lot about the entire process and sympathized with these brave immigrants who left their native countries to begin a new life in America.

I’ve keyed thousands of Delaware Land Records since they became available. I have yet to key a set that is dated prior to 1862. I’ll be interested to see the documents from the 18th century. Bring them on!

PS Bring on the records from the 17th century too. They should be even more fun!

Enjoying reviewing NY naturalization papers. Were the PA ones also originals? Seems none of the papers of my fathers Philly ancestors appear in online search. All I’ve seen are WPA indexes.

Do we need to enter all of the challenges this week to win?

I have worked on the New York Natrualization record and found it moving how many families left their homes to travel to America. As a historian, I found other things of interest as well. Many of the northern Europeans were born in the last quarter of the year when the farming season was finished. I could also follow political turmoil, famine, and overpopulation by the number of immigrants from a particular region. Too, I was amazed at the number of single women who traveled to America alone for a better life.