County's archives document centuries of citizenship

ASBURY PARK, N.J. — Lillie Ingrid Peterson attempted to look reserved, with a closed-mouth smile and a floral shirt buttoned to the collar, as she sat for a photograph.

But the gentle upward curve of the corners of her lips and twinkle in her light blue eyes hint at a joy that's still evident some 70 years later.

The 62-year-old housewife and mother of five was about to take the oath that would make her a U.S. citizen, about 45 years after she left her native Sweden on the SS Oceanic.

Peterson, who made her home in Monmouth Beach during the early 1900s, is one of roughly 35,000 people who became U.S. citizens in Monmouth County over a nearly 200-year span. Their lives — and paths to citizenship — are etched in record books that officials hope to preserve for the future.

The naturalization records give a glimpse of not only a county but a country founded by immigrants. They tie together with the 4,000 new Americans who have taken and will take the Oath of Allegiance in naturalization ceremonies across the country this weekend.

Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon first came across the county's naturalization record books in her office shortly after she was appointed to the post in April.

"That's when I realized, 'Wait, we have to preserve these records and make sure they are properly cared for,'" she said.

Many of the earliest naturalization records, which date back to 1804, appear to be written by a quill feather pen.

But the about 80 of the original books had been stored on shelves in her office. Giordano Hanlon said she knew immediately that the records needed to be in the county's archives.

THE FIRST NEW CITIZEN

Luke Reily was the first person to become a naturalized citizen in Monmouth County records.

But despite the honor, little can be learned about the man from his naturalization records. He applied for citizenship in 1798. He was granted citizenship in 1804 after waiting the five years required at the time to become a citizen.

His naturalization record shows that Reily swore to be a "man of good moral character" and to uphold the principles of the U.S. Constitution.

Reily was also a teacher, the records show.

RECORDS ELSEWHERE

For nearly the first two centuries, counties across the United States held naturalization records similar those in Monmouth County.

Since the first laws on immigration were approved in the late 1790s, it was the duty of county clerks to record and retain documents on naturalized citizens. That changed in May 1991, when all duties related to granting citizenship were moved to the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service, now known as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Yet those older naturalization records likely aren't still housed by counties as they are in Monmouth County. County Archivist Gary Saretzky said many of these records are now in state archives.

"Many counties do not have what Monmouth County has," he said.

The commitment to preserving history came from then-County Clerk Jane Clayton during the 1980s when she created the Archives Division in 1987. Her successors have carried on her tradition.

"We're the keepers of Monmouth County's history," Giordano Hanlon said.

"These records are a very important part of our history because they detail immigrants who came to the United States and naturalized through Monmouth County."

THE DIETZ FAMILY

John Frederick Dietz was 39 when he filed the initial paperwork to become a U.S. citizen on Jan. 10, 1900, in the Common Pleas Court of Monmouth County.

Dietz was living at the time in Oceanic — the borough now known as Rumson — with his wife, Christine Wilhelmine, 32, and their three sons, John, 5; Herbert, 3; and Albert, 3.

John Frederick Dietz Sr. became a naturalized U.S. citizen on June 11, 1908. His certificate number is 32437.

And with his naturalization granted, his wife, Christine, became a U.S. citizen as well.

LOSING CITIZENSHIP

Women do not appear in Monmouth County's naturalization records by themselves until 1922.

Women could petition to become citizens but often did not, Saretzky said. Instead, they were granted citizenship when they married.

And women could just as easily lose their citizenship through marriage. Saretzky said there were cases when a husband would die and the wife would remarry a noncitizen. She, in turn, would lose her U.S. citizenship, he said.

"Even natural-born American women could lose their citizenship through marriage," he said.

That changed with the suffrage movement in the 1920s.

LANGUAGE BARRIER

Florence Garabedian first came to the United States from Turkey in 1920 under the name Filomen Delimentiniau, but it would be more than two decades later before she became a U.S. citizen in Monmouth County.

Garabedian, a 5-foot-1-inch tailor with brown eyes and black hair, filed paperwork in 1929 to become a citizen when her family was living in Syracuse, N.Y., but that application was denied because she did not speak English.

Garabedian tried again in 1942 after her family, husband Arthur and children Hilda and Edward, moved to Long Branch. She was granted citizenship on March 3, 1947.

AURA AND EMOTION OF HISTORY

Monmouth County's naturalization records aren't heavily used today. About 500 people visited the Monmouth County Archives in person to search the naturalization records, Saretzky said. Seven people requested records via the online database in June. There were 18 such requests in May and two in April.

But when they are used, the impact can be huge, Saretzky said. He recalled helping one family find naturalization records for their relatives.

"They saw the picture of their grandparents and just started crying because that's the first photo they've ever seen of them," he said. "It was just so emotional for them."

And for Saretzky, that's why preserving original documents is so important.

"Original records have an aura about them that a copy will never have. When you look at an original, you have an immediate connection to history that a digital will never have," he said.