Citizenship Lost

When reviewing records from the first half of the 1900s, you may find entries about citizenship that you might think are errors.

For example, in the 1920 census in West Hoboken, New Jersey is the Nelson household. Bessie is listed as "Al," or alien. Yet her place of birth is listed as New York.

1920 United States Federal Census
Bessie Nelson. No year of immigration. Alien. Born in New York.
Husband Harry Nelson. Immigrated in 1908 from Norway; has first papers.
West Hoboken is now Union City, Hudson County, New Jersey.

Bessie was correctly described as an alien in the 1920 census. In 1919 she married Hartwig Nelson, an immigrant from Norway. Under the 1907 federal law known as the Expatriation Act (34 Stat. 1228), American women who married men of a foreign nationality lost their American citizenship. Bessie's legal status became that of her husband- a Norwegian immigrant who was not an American citizen. She was no longer a citizen of the United States, even though she was born and resided in the United States.

Marriage record
Hartwig Nelson (1890-1970) and Bessie M Durling (1892-1969) married May 31, 1919
in West Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey

Note: Bessie listed her place of birth as Warwick, New York. As New York has stopped issuing genealogy records, we cannot obtain this record.

A woman who lost her citizenship had to apply to regain her citizenship- if her husband was eligible to become a citizen. This is why Pearl Maurer petitioned for naturalization in 1927, even though she was born in Connecticut.

Pearl's petition is stamped "Declaration of intention omitted under Cable Act Sept 22, 1922." This law (42 Stat. 1021b) reversed the 1907 law for women who married foreigners after September 22, 1922. Women who lost their citizenship by marrying foreigners between 1907 and 1922 still had to apply for naturalization. Apparently the Cable Act was interpreted to mean that filing a Declaration of Intention could be skipped.

In 1940, The Nationality Act (54 Stat. 1137) eased the repatriation process by only requiring an oath to reestablish citizenship lost because of marriage, as long as the woman had continuously resided in the United States.

At this point in time, any woman who lost her citizenship because of marriage is now deceased, so this is no longer an issue.

For further explanation, please view this video by Amy Johnson Crow.

Error on Marriage Certificate

Samuel Schwartz and Hani "Annie" Perlstein settled in Jersey City, New Jersey after their arrival from Hungary in the 1880s. I wanted to know the names of their parents and their hometown. A marriage record is a great place to possibly find this information.

No match was found in the indexes of New Jersey, New York state, and New York City. However- there was an entry for Samuel Schwartz and Amelia Friedman in 1889 in New York City. Samuel and Annie's first child, Edward, was born in 1890 in Jersey City. In general, to find a marriage record, begin with the birth of the first child and work backwards.

Index of New York City marriages at Ancestry

New York City vital records are being digitized and are available for free on the website of the New York City Department of Records and Information Services.

The Certificate of Marriage is two pages. The first page lists the groom as Samuel Schwartz and the bride as Amalia Friedman. This is consistent with the index at Ancestry.

Certificate of Marriage, New York City
Samuel Schwartz and Hani Perstein married January 20, 1889.
In error was written "Amalia Friedman" as the bride's name.

The second page reveals that there is an error on the first page. The bride was Hani Perlstein, not Amalia Friedman. The author wrote the name of the groom's mother instead of the name of the bride. The document is written with two different colors of ink- blue and black. This could reveal that the document was completed at a later time, resulting in confusion.

Certificate of Marriage, New York City
Samuel Schwartz and Hani Perstein married January 20, 1889.
Groom's parents- Pincus Schwartz and Amalia Friedman.
Bride's parents- Adolph Perlstein and Lina Perlstein.

I will also note that the difference in the color of the ink would not have been known if this document was not digitized in color!

To solidify that we have the correct couple, the death certificates were obtained from the New Jersey State Archives. Samuel Schwartz died in 1958 in Jersey City at the Hebrew Home for Aged. On this document his father was Pincus Schwartz and his mother was Miriam Friedman. This is a good match for the marriage record from 1889.

Death Certificate, New Jersey
Samuel Schwartz died April 17, 1958 in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey

Annie Schwartz died in Atlantic City in 1940 from a stroke. Her residence was in Jersey City. Atlantic City is a popular vacation spot in New Jersey, so perhaps she was on a trip when suddenly struck. Her parents were listed as Abraham Perlstein and Unknown. (My least favorite name.)

Death Certificate, New Jersey
Annie Schwartz died January 23, 1940 in Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey

After collecting the death certificates to confirm that the entry in the index was for this target couple, I submitted a correction to the erroneous entry for Amelia Friedman in the index at Ancestry. The correct name of the bride, Hani Perlstein, was added. Amelia is not really wrong- it is the bride's name on the first page. Now, if someone searches for Hani, she can be found.

Corrected entry for Hani Perlstein in the 
index of New York City marriages at Ancestry

No hometown in Hungary was given in any of these records.

Kip's Castle and Another Bishop

Kip's Castle is a large mansion lying in Verona and Montclair in Essex County, New Jersey. It is remarkable because it was built in the style of a Norman castle, atop First Mountain, with spectacular views of the New York City skyline. The mansion is 9,000 square feet and sits atop eleven acres of land.

I visited in December of 2024. My pictures will not do this marvel justice, so here is a video from YouTube.

Before the castle became part of the Essex County Park System, various people and businesses occupied the structure.

The original occupants were Frederic Ellsworth Kip (1862-1938) and his wife, Charlotte Bishop Williams (1864-1926). They were married in New York City in 1884. They had one son, Ruloff Frederic Kip (1887-1953). 

Marriage record page 1
Frederick Ellsworth Kip and Charlotte Bishop Williams
married October 15, 1884 in Manhattan, New York

Marriage record page 2
Frederick Ellsworth Kip and Charlotte Bishop Williams
married October 15, 1884 in Manhattan, New York

Historic vital records for New York City are available online.

By 1910, the family had moved into their new castle, as reflected in the 1910 census, at Crestmount Road in Montclair (now Crestmont Road in Verona). With Frederic and Charlotte was their son, Ruloff, age 22, and Charlotte's maternal aunt, Julia Bishop Ford (1837-1921). Four servants also were listed in this household.

In the 1915 state census, this home was listed at a different address, 66 Highland Avenue. This is still the same structure. Entrances are on Crestmont Road and Highland Avenue.

The property of Kip's Castle touches two streets-
Crestmont Road in Verona and Highland Avenue in Montclair.
This is a modern-day map.

Charlotte's middle name, Bishop, caught my attention. I figured this could be a surname, and since I have Bishop ancestors, I delved into Charlotte's ancestry.

The parents of Charlotte Bishop Williams were Charlotte Louisa Ford (1841-1897) and William White Williams (1838-1893). Charlotte and her parents are buried in Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey.

Charlotte's maternal grandmother was a Bishop- Mary Polly (1807-1867), married to Alfred Ford (1805-1866). They were buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Morristown.

In August 2024 I visited Evergreen Cemetery to visit the resting place of my fourth great grandfather, Reuben Bishop (1805-1856). Transcriptions of stones are available at the Morristown and Morris Township Library. The cemetery, however, will not provide information.

Mary Polly Bishop was a daughter of Susannah Scofield (1773-1852) and William Bishop (1768-1844). This couple and some of their children were buried at First Presbyterian Churchyard, Morristown. They were from Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut and moved to Morristown, New Jersey probably in the 1820s.

Bishop family plot
First Presbyterian Churchyard
Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey
Photographed October 20, 2016 by J Lutter

Am I related to William Bishop and Susan Scofield? I do not know yet. I have not found a connection, other than residence in Morristown.