The Political Side of Pre-Civil War Naturalizations

The Political Side of Pre-Civil War Naturalizations Jefferson M. Moak D URING THE PAST DECADE, staff and volunteers at the Philadel¬ phia City Archives have been slowly indexing all of the declarations of intention and petitions for citizenship in the various city and county courts. Eventually, this comprehensive index will virtually replace the old W.P.A. index, which was republished as “Philadelphia Naturaliza¬ tion Records" in 1982.* Naturalization is, of course, the process by which immigrants to the United States may gain full citizenship rights. In the nineteenth century, however, there were no “illegal aliens,” green cards or restrictions by aliens to hold jobs, own land, marry, etc. Many aliens waited years and decades before beginning the process, if they ever became citizens at all. There is documentary proof that some aliens resided in this country for 25 years or longer before filing for citizenship. Samuel Jenkins, a native of Wales, arrived through the port of Philadelphia in 1801 and received his citizenship in 1870.2Jenkins is only one of many immigrants who postponed a final decision on receiving full United States citizen¬ ship benefits. P. William Filby, ed., Philadelphia Naturalization Records: An Index to Records of Aliens’ Declarations of Intention and/or Oaths of Allegiance, 1789—1 880, in United States Circuit Court, United States District Court, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Quarter Sessions Court, Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia (Detroit: Gale Research Company, ca, 1982). The original W.P.A. volumes were completed about 1940 under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Historical Commission. For a related article about the use of this index, see Jefferson M. Moak, “The W.P.A. Index of Naturalizations: An Explanation,” Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 36, no. 2(1989), 109-16. 2 Philadelphia County District Court, petition no.J-2of 1870 (9/19/1870). Mr.Jenkins petitioned as a “minor." 209 210 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine The only major restriction was that aliens could not partake in the political process, either by voting or holding elective office. As the fran¬ chise was opened and more offices were elected directly by the voters, rather than by the legislators, the naturalization process became more politicized. The tie between naturalization and politics also accounted for the absence of female participation in the naturalization process, since women were not accorded the right to vote until the early twenti¬ eth century. Indeed, the preprinted forms used by all courts in Pennsyl¬ vania bore the pronoun “he.5’ As a direct result of the connection between naturalization and the political process, there were definite peaks and valleys in the number of petitions filed. More naturalization petitions were filed in the various courts during a presidential election year than the off-years. As the fol¬ lowing table shows, petitions peaked on a four-year cycle with a secon¬ dary peak on the years in which the federal House and Senate elections were held. This table lists numerically the petitions filed in all city and county courts between 1820 and 1863. 3 90 1831 614 1853 1,423 1820 1842 239 853 1843 445 1854 2,515 44 1821 1832 1833 1844 1,721 1855 2,470 279 1822 62 591 1845 1856 7,377 1823 268 1834 1,332 1857 1,119 1835 364 1846 1,340 112 1824 1847 1825 264 1836 1,398 843 1858 4,107 1837 559 1859 1,965 1848 1,905 1826 252 1849 313 1838 1,458 1860 8,736 302 1827 809 1839 1850 1861 818 1828 626 425 1829 1840 2,577 1851 1,790 1862 1,236 242 477 1830 1841 1852 3,245 1863 1,251 352 A total of 59,208 petitions were filed in the courts during this period. A drop of the numbers occurred during the Civil War. Although a final count of the naturalizations after the war has not been made, prelimi¬ nary estimates indicate that the same pattern continued as in the pre-war years. This table is a count of the total petitions filed in the Common Pleas Court ( 1 7931863), Philadelphia County District Court (1812-1863), Quarter Sessions Court (1800-1863), Mayor’s Court (1794-1838), Criminal Sessions Court (1838-1840), General Sessions Court (1840-1843) and Recorder’s Court (1836-1838). The list does not include those petitions filed in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania or either of the federal courts located in Philadelphia. The Political Side of Pre-Civil War Naturalizations 211 The process for naturalization generally consists of two steps: the declaration of one’s intention to renounce allegiance to one’s native country and monarch, and the petition to have final citizenship granted. The first step may be taken anytime after reaching United States soil the applicant must wait five years before achieving citizenship. In addi¬ tion, a two year waiting period has to occur between the two steps. (Prior to 1828, this was a three-year period.) The applicant was accompanied by a person who swore that he was currently a citizen of the United States, that he knew and was “well acquainted” with the petitioner and that “to his knowledge he (the petitioner) has resided in the United States five years, and one year last past in the State of Pennsylvania, immediately preceding his application to be a Citizen; that during the said period he has behaved as a man of good moral Character attached to the principals of our constitution, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same.” This person is often referred as the voucher for the applicant. The rise of political parties during the nineteenth century mirrored the interest in naturalization during major election years. It was not unusual for the parties to have naturalization committees organized to assist immigrants and aliens with the process. In many cases, members of these committees would accompany the applicant to the courthouse to vouch for them, whether they were familiar with the petitioner or not. Indeed, after the war, the committees had small forms which they gave to the applicant asking the court to naturalize them. Unlike modern times, vote registration procedures during the nine¬ teenth century were non-existent. Today, the voting lists are closed ap¬ proximately one month before the primary or general election. This does not appear to be the case during most of the nineteenth century. Of the 7377 petitioners in 1856, only 50 received their citizenship after the presidential election on the 4th of November, many of whom were naturalized during the week immediately preceding the election. Indeed, with one major exception, one will find that most naturaliza¬ tions in each year will occur during the months of September and Oc¬ tober generally during the election campaign. This one exception is 1860. Over 4,400 petitions were granted during April and May and an¬ other 3,800 in September and October. The political crisis leading to the Civil War definitely had an effect upon the political scene, enfran¬ chisement, and naturalizations. The 1840 election between William Henry Harrison and Martin Van Buren saw some of the worse cases of naturalization abuse in the city’s — 212 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine history. Historians remember this election as one of the most hardfought campaigns prior to the Civil War. Indeed, Harrison won the City of Philadelphia by a vote of 7,643 to 4,783 but lost the County of Phila¬ delphia by a margin of 10,200 to 13,293. Overall, Van Buren won the combined City and County of Philadelphia vote by less than 250 votes: 18,076—17.843 in the election held on 30 October 1840.4 On 19 October 1840, eleven days before the election, the justices of the General Sessions Court were asked to rule upon the legitimacy of six naturalizations filed in that court. What they saw disturbed them.5 In order to comply with the two-year waiting period, approximately 75 declarations had been backdated and carefully inserted in the Quar¬ ter Sessions Court declaration volume for 1838 in order to appear as though the applicant had indeed waited the full two years. Inspection of the volumes quickly uncovered this fraud. Not only was it clear that the additional pages had been pasted, but the form itself was printed on a different type and size of paper from that of the original volume.6 The Court ruled on 21 October 1840 “that hereafter in all applica¬ tions for citizenship no certificate of naturalization shall be granted, until the voucher has been specially examined by one of the Judges and the application has been approved and signed by the Judge.” On the same day, the Grand Jury of the General Sessions Court requested all of the naturalizations papers filed in August, September, and October of 1840 and the declaration of intention volumes to compare them. The Court ordered the clerks of the Quarter Sessions and General Sessions Courts to turn over all the naturalization papers and dockets of these courts and of the old Mayor’s Court.7 Three days later, upon review of the papers, the Court voided the naturalizations of those applicants whose declarations had been back¬ dated.8 The Quarter Sessions Court declaration volume for 1838 is the only volume that still contains the voided declarations. There is an indication that the clerks of the courts may have placed backdated declarations in other volumes. Rody McManus petitioned the General Sessions Court on 29 September 1840 stating that “he declared on oath before the 4 Philadelphia County Commissioners, Election Returns, 1820-1858. Philadelphia City Archives. Record Series 1.18. 5 Philadelphia. Quarter Sessions Court. Minutes. 19 October 1840. 6 Philadelphia. Quarter Sessions Court. Declarations of Intention, volume Q.S.-1 6: 339. 7 Philadelphia. Quarter Sessions Court. Minutes. 21 October 1840. 8 Philadelphia. Quarter Sessions Court. Minutes. 24 October 1840. The Political Side of Pre-Civil War Naturalizations 213 Clerk of the Mayor’s Court Alien Docket page 35 on the 14th day ofjuly A D. 1835. ..." A check of the Mayor’s Court declaration docket shows no Rody McManus on this page, or indeed even in the volume at all. However, a close inspection of the pages reveals indications that there may have been a supplemental page inserted between pages 34 and 35 which was later removed. It is possible that Rody McManus’ declaration may have been one of these backdated declarations, especially as no declaration paper accompanied the petition.9 There were potentially many other abuses of the system, including false ages in order to qualify for citizenship as a minor. This would eliminate the need for a declaration of intention and the two-year wait¬ ing period required between the declaration and petition. Another ploy was the “lost" declaration. The petitioner would claim that he lost his declaration of intention. Upon searching the records, the clerk would find a declaration filed in the same name. The petitioner would then use this declaration as his own, even though he knew that it was false. One will find a number of instances in the naturalization records in which a person appeared to have been granted citizenship twice based upon the same declaration of intention. Upon searching the actual records, one finds the original declaration filed with the true declarant and either a duplicate declaration or a statement listing the volume and page in which the original declaration was filed attached to the pre¬ tender’s petition. Similar to this action is the creation of a declaration with the wrong first name or date. One instance is that ofjohn Corr who petitioned for citizenship in the Philadelphia County District Court on 28 September 1839 using a declaration allegedly dated 31 May 1837 in the Court of Common Pleas. 10 Upon checking the Common Pleas declaration dock¬ ets, one finds that there was a John Corr who declared not on 31 May 1837 but 31 May 1839. The true John Corr eventually received his citi¬ zenship in 1845 in the Quarter Sessions Court.1 1 There is also a petition on 8 October 1840 in the District Court for James Coyle, who declared upon 10 October 1836 in the Common Pleas Court.12 A duplicate dec¬ laration was given to James Coyle in 1840 to attach to his petition. Upon 9 Philadelphia. General (Quarter) Sessions Court. Petition #Mc-176 of 1840. 10 Philadelphia County District Court. Petition #03 of 1839 (9/28/1839). 11 Philadelphia. Quarter Sessions Court. Petition #012 of 1845 (10/12/1845); Phila¬ delphia. Common Pleas Court. Declarations of Intention Volume 07: 566. 2 Philadelphia County District Court. Petition #012 of 1840 (10/8/1840). 214 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine researching the declaration dockets again, one finds that John Coyle, notjames Coyle, declared his intention in 1836. John Coyle was already a citizen by 1840, having successfully petitioned the Quarter Sessions Court in 1839.1S There are probably many more examples of these types of abuses in the court records which have not yet been catalogued. Occasionally the abusers of the procedures were caught and prose¬ cuted. There are three cases in the Quarter Sessions Court in 1849, two against Francis McKenna and one against Timothy Morley, for creating false naturalization certificates and “unlawfully and wickedly contriving . . . an alien and not entitled to vote at any election in the said common¬ wealth procure and get the said . . . unlawfully and fraudulently to vote. . . McKenna issued false certificates (with false dates of declaration and petitions) for a Michael Quigley and Francis Quigley: Morley issued his certificate to Bartholomew Thomas.14 As the table on page 210 shows, over 2,500 legitimate petitions for naturalization were filed in the Common Pleas Court, [County] District Court, Quarter Sessions Court and General Sessions Court during 1840. Not until 1852, another presidential election year, would this yearly figure be surpassed. Naturalizations were on the increase during the 1850s owing to the increase of Irish immigrants and the Native American sentiment that arose as a backlash. The American Party, also known as the Native Ameri¬ can or “Know Nothing" Party, traced its origins to a meeting in German¬ town in 1837. Its principal goals included repealing the existing Naturalization Law of 1790, extending the period of residency to 21 years before naturalization, and barring all foreign-born citizens from holding any position of public trust. As one member of the party stated, “The rapid influx of foreigners into the country, and the facility with which their votes could be secured by political wire-pullers, had become the subject of most serious consid¬ eration, and of no little alarm. It was well known that the Naturalization Laws, even as they then existed, were a mere dead letter, and that men were yearly brought to the polls, and their votes received, who had not been sufficiently long in the country to have lost the odour of the sieer13 Philadelphia. Quarter Sessions Court. Petition #C-15of 1839 (9/18/1839); Philadel¬ phia, Common Pleas Court. Declarations of Intention. Volume 0-7: 144. 4 Philadelphia. Quarter Sessions Court. February Sessions 1849 #265 (Commonwealth vs. Timothy Morley); February Sessions 1849 #273 (Commonwealth vs. Francis McKenna); April Sessions 1849 #160 (Commonwealth vs. Francis McKenna). The Political Side ofPre-Civil War Naturalizations 215 age of the ships that brought them across the Atlantic. ”15 The writer continued by complaining of the participation of the foreigners in the American election process, both as voters and as office-holders. It was these nativist and anti-Catholic sentiments that sparked some of the riots in Kensington and South Philadelphia during the early 1840s. The American Party emerged as a dominant force in local and na¬ tional politics in 1854 when its candidate for mayor, Robert T. Conrad, captured 20 of 24 wards of the newly consolidated City and County of Philadelphia. (Two of the four wards that he lost, the 4th and 11th, each went to Richard Vaux by only eleven votes each. Only the 17th 8c 19th Wards, which comprised much of Kensington, gave overwhelming sup¬ port to Vaux.) 16 As one can see by the chart on page 210, the reaction to this anti¬ immigrant vote was immediate in the rise of the number of petitions filed for naturalization during the remainder of 1854 and for the next two years. Before 5 June 1854, only 627 petitions had been filed in the various courts. Almost 1,900 petitions were filed during the remainder of the year, a year marked by virtually no summer lull, as is often the case. The pace did not slacken during 1855, an off-election year. At the height of the movement, in the 1856 election,James Buchanan won the city and state over his competitors, Millard Fillmore and John C. Fremont, The American Party split during the year over the slavery issue, and thus there were two American parties that year: the North American and South American. Fillmore was supported by the Whigs, members of the South American Party and renegades from the North American Party. John C. Fremont benefitted from a coalition between the Republicans and North American Party. Buchanan won the state over the combined efforts of his competitors. He polled 230,500 votes statewide to Fremont’s 147,447 and Fillmore’s 82,229. In the City of Philadelphia, Buchanan received 38,222 votes to Fillmore’s 24,084 and Fremont’s 7,893.17 The overwhelming increase of naturalization requests in 1856 over previous years reflected the new political strength of the Irish immi15 John Hancock Lee, The Origin and Progress of the American Party in Politics: Embracing a Complete History of the Philadelphia Riots in May and July, 1844, With a Full Description of the Great American Procession ofJuly Fourth, And a Refutation of the Arguments Founded on the Charges of Religious Proscription and Secret Combinations. (Philadelphia: Elliott 8c Gihon, 1855) 13-14. Philadelphia. County Commissioners. Election Returns. 1820-1858. 17 Philadelphia. County Commissioners. Election Returns. 1820—1858. 216 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine as Ireland. If all of the petitioners voted that year, then the new citizens cast over 10% of the votes in the City of Philadelphia. (A total of 70,199 votes were recorded.) A man named Philip Rump, who was listed in the city directories as an employee of the U.S. Custom House, a highly politicized office, ap¬ peared as the voucher for 32 applicants between 6 October and 25 October 1856. Twenty-two of the 32 petitions for whom he was the voucher have disappeared from the files it is conceivable that the court voided the naturalizations later but did not note these actions in the index. James Callahan, whose petition remains, wrote to the Common Pleas Court on 22 September 1880 stating: James Callahan being duly sworn according to law doth de¬ pose and say that he was naturalized in the District Court for the County of Philada. In the year 1856 that his voucher was a man named Rump at that time a waiter in the Girard House, that the certificate of said naturalization has since been lost and is not now in possession of said deponent he therefore prays that the prothonotary issue a new certificate. Note that Rump was remembered by Callahan as a waiter at the Girard House and not as a Custom employee. One assumes that Callahan’s and Rump’s acquaintance was minimal and not as extensive as presumed on the petition. The staff at the Philadelphia City Archives has also noted numerous cases throughout the early nineteenth century in which two petitioners would vouch for each other. Since the voucher had to be a citizen of the United States, both petitions were technically fraudulent, even if they were not treated as such. Although the Quarter Sessions Court attempted to put a stop to this practice in 1840, it survived into the post-Civil War period. Although the information found on most of the naturalization dec¬ larations and petitions is generally accurate, genealogists should be aware that abuses of the system were common during this period. One must be careful in assessing the information found in these records. — County District Court. Petition C-391 of 1856 (13 October 1856). Editor's Note. Readers will also be interested in the book recently compiled by Jefferson M. Moak and published by the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania: Military Petitions for Naturalization Filed in the Philadelphia [ County ] District Court , 1862—1865. For ordering information, see the GSP ad on page 327.