Originally published in the Cecil Whig
Between 1880 and 1920 twenty million people immigrated to the United States seeking to start and fulfill their unique version of the American dream. In the northeast, most of those immigrants came through New York’s Ellis Island, the port of Baltimore, the city of Philadelphia, and even Cecil County. That’s right; Cecil County, Maryland saw its share of immigrants from the 19th through the first quarter of the 20th century. They moved here, found places to live, jobs or started farms, and made a new life for themselves and their families. Eventually many of these individuals made application for citizenship at the Cecil County Court House, which recorded all the proceedings in Naturalization books, thus starting a paper trail that today’s researcher, including genealogists, can pick up and follow. Those books, which date back to 1802, are conveniently housed in the Archive Room of the Historical Society of Cecil County.
A quick review of one of the Naturalization books from 1917 shows a majority of the immigrants, and there were only about a dozen who applied for citizenship that year in Cecil County, came from Europe. John S. Stephenson, 34 years old, hailed from Ireland, arriving in New York on November 11, 1897 aboard the steamer “Adriatic.” He, and his wife, Mary took up residence in Perryville, Maryland where John was a railroad brakeman. All three of their children, Clara, John, and Walter, were born in the U.S. and already citizens. John senior and his wife applied for citizenship on May 31st, 1917, renouncing their allegiance to King George V of Great Britain and Ireland.
While most of the applications for citizenship came from Europe, not all did. One Peter Halem, and his wife Mary, immigrated through New York aboard an unnamed French steamer on September 18th, 1911. They came from Syria, which, at the time, was under the Ottoman Empire. Peter and Mary made citizenship application on May 2nd, 1918 renouncing their allegiance to Mehmed V, Emperor of the Empire. They also made their home in Perryville.
As indicated earlier, there were only about a dozen individuals applying for citizenship in Cecil County annually during the 19th and early 20th centuries and most were granted their application… but not all. Zippo Bolletta who immigrated from Marcone, Italy through New York aboard the steamer “Victoria,” submitted his application on October 2, 1903. He applied for himself, and his wife Lucia. Their daughter, Lonni, was already a citizen having been born in Port Deposit. Zippo renounced his allegiance to King Victor Emanuel III of Italy and completed all of the paper work; however, he apparently did not follow through for a note in his file from March, 1912 says the application was dismissed “for failure to present after 4 years.”
The condition of these Naturalization books varies from decade to decade. Some of their pages are crumbling and require a great deal of care when handling. If you are interested in reviewing this resource, please contact the Historical Society via our web site at www.cecilhistory.org and one of our library volunteers will be glad to assist you.