Amanuensis Monday - Naturalization Papers for William Johnson (1868-1938)

DearFOLKS,

I am starting off another work week by transcribing a document that is important to my family research. I struggled for many years trying to find where my paternal great-grandfather was born.  I was told and U.S. census records confirmed that he was born in Denmark, but the question remained where in Denmark.

Trips to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT, the South Dakota State Library in Pierre, SD and the North Dakota State library in Bismarck, ND all searches came up with nothing regarding William becoming a citizen. I also tried, the online record sets too but to no avail. I had no choice but to set this question aside for a while.

Then one day I realized that in receiving the full homestead file from the National Archives for another individual, it contained proof of citizenship. That gave me a new idea of where to look and I ordered the full land record for William Johnson's homestead that he filed for in Ward County, North Dakota.

Today I am going to transcribe some of what I found in this land file as part of Amanuensis Monday.

Amanuensis Monday is a weekly blog theme that was started by John Newmark, the author of TransylvanianDutch blog. John defines Amanuensis as "A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another." I also appreciate the good work and format examples of San Diego genealogist Randy Seaver of the blog Genea-musings. Thanks guys.

I hope that working through transcribing documents that are important to my family's history will help to to recall the fine details they contain. I have a tendency to gloss over important bits of information in my excitement of the find.

This is a form filled out primarily by typed-in information. Any fields that are left blank on the original will also be left blank on the transcription. If I make any  comments these will show with square brackets [ ].

IMAGE 1: Declaration of Intention  - First
Citizen Paper for William Johnson,
Kingsbury County, South Dakota;
digitized microfilm copy. [1]

-------- transcription of Image 1 begins --------

Mar 8 - 1910 [hand stamped]
FIRST CITIZEN PAPER.- DECLA ATION OF INTENTION.
SERIAL No. 03919 [hand stamped]
====================

United States of America,
TERRITORY OF DAKOTA} ss.
County of Kingsbury,

William Johnson personally appeared before the subscriber, the Clerk of the Circuit Court in and for said County of Kingsbury County, Dakota Territory, being a court of record, and made oath that he was born in Denmark on or about the year eighteen hundred and sixty six; that he emigrated to the United States and landed at the port of New York on or about the month of March, in the year Eighteen Hundred and eighty six; that it is bona fide his intention to become a citizen of the Unites States or Territory, and to renounce and abjure forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign Prince, Potentate, State or Sovereignty whatever, and particularly to The King of Denmark whereof he is a subject, and that he will support the COnstitution and GOvernment of the United States and Territories.

William Johnson

Subscribed and sworn to this 3rd day of November A.D. 1888

[SEAL]

Ira F. Blewitt
Clerk of the Circuit Court in & for Moody County, South Dakota.
________

STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA,}
County of Moody       }

C.L. Dawley Clerk.

[SEAL]

By _________ Deputy.

I hereby certify that the above is a correct copy of the record now on file in my office. Witness my hand and official seal, this 3d day of March A.D. 188_ 1910.

F.A. Carpenter Clerk District Court
Clerk of the Circuit Court [hand-stamped]

-------- end of transcription --------

Then secondly, I discovered within the land grant file another page that also discussed William's citizenship; its transcription follows.

This too is a form filled out primarily by typed-in information. Any fields that are left blank on the original will also be left blank on the transcription. If I make any  comments these will show with square brackets [ ].

IMAGE: Department of the Interior
document showing William Johnson's
swearing as to citizenship on 25 February
1910; digitized microfilm copy. [2]

-------- transcription of Image 2 begins --------

MAR8-1910 [handstamped]
SERIAL No. 03919

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.
United States Land Office, Minot, North Dakota.

   William Johnson, being first duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that he is the identical person who made Homestead Entry No. 29695 for NE 1/4 Sec. 27 T. 151 R 85 and who made final Five YEar Proof before H. R. Freitag, United States Commissioner for the Dist. of North Dakota at his office at Max, North Dakota on the 25th day of February 1910.
   Affiant further states that he was a resident of the Territory of Dakota in the year of 1888 and that he declared his intention to become a citizen of the county of Kingsbury Territory of Dakota and that by act admitting the State of South Dakota as a state he became a citizen of United States and he herewith files a copy of his declaration of intention.
   Affiant further states that he filed on his homestead by the name if WIlliam Johnson and that his citizen papers were issued in the namedf ____ and that William Johnson and ____ is one and the same person and prays the Hon. Registrar and Receiver of the United States Land Office Minot, North Dakota to issue his final receipts and patent in the name of William Johnson his right and true name.

x William Johnson

   Sworn and subscribed to before at my office at Max, North Dakota on this 25th day of February, 1910.

H.R. Freitag
United States Commissioner,
Dist North Dakota

Stat 25. 676
Stat. 26 p 1549
See -Davis C.
36 L.D. 352
Feb. 22, 1889.

-------- end of transcription --------

Source:

1.)  William Johnson (Ward County) homestead file, final certificate no. 03919, Minot,North Dakota, Land Office; Land Entry Papers, 1800-1908; Record Group 49: Records of the Bureau of Land Management; National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Declaration of Intention issued by Kingsbury Territory, Dakota Territory in 1888 to William Johnson.

2.)  William Johnson (Ward County) homestead file, final certificate no. 03919, Minot,North Dakota, Land Office; Land Entry Papers, 1800-1908; Record Group 49: Records of the Bureau of Land Management; National Archives, Washington, D.C.; citizenship deposition record for William Johnson recorded by H.R. Freitag of Max, North Dakota.

Now I have the answer to the history of William Johnson's citizenship and for me it is a bittersweet story. The story is bitter in that I will not be able to find final citizenship papers for William... they just don't exist in a format I was looking for. I had been looking forward to the wealth of information this type of form usually contains, namely his location of birth.  The sweet part of the story is that I can now discontinue looking for those final papers. He became a U.S. citizen on 02 November 1889, when South Dakota became a state, because he had first citizenship or a Declaration of Intention on file with the court in Kingsbury County, Dakota Territory. It's 'Happy Dance' time.

I have since tried to find the citizenship transfer wording of the statehood declaration or law that describes why the Commissioner in North Dakota accepted William's citizenship statement as presented on the above document, but I haven't yet found what I am looking for. Maybe that will be another chapter of William's story.

Thanks for stopping by today.

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