Home | Angelillo Family History - U.S. naturalization papers for Raffaele Angelillo (Ralph Angelo)
Naturalization Papers - Raffaele Angelillo, 1941-1943
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- Petition for Naturalization
- Affidavit of Witnesses
- Notice of Objection to Final Hearing
- Certificate of Naturalization
- Supplement: Social Security Number Application, 1935
| ORIGINAL (To be retained by Clerk of Court) |
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
| No. 2870 |
[Of a Married Person, under Sec. 310(a) or (b), or 311 or 312, of the Nationality Act of 1940 (54 Stat. 1144-1145)]
Sec. 310 A
To the Honorable the Common Pleas Court of Burlington County at Mt. Holly, N.J. This petition for naturalization, hereby made and filed pursuant to Section 310(a) or (b), or Section 311 or 312, of the Nationality Act of 1940, respectfully shows:
(1) My full, true, and correct name is (Full, true name, without abbreviation, and any other name which has been used, must appear here) Raffaele Angelillo
(2) My present place of residence is (Number and street) (City or town) (County) (State) 750 N. Forklanding Rd. Maple Shade, N.J.
(3) My occupation is Machine Operator
(4) I am 55 years old.
(5) I was born on (Month) (Day) (Year) Aug. 16, 1888, in (City or town) (County, district, province, or state) (Country) San Angelo, Italy
(6) My personal description is as follows: Sex M; color W, complexion Dk., color of eyes Br., color of hair Br.-Gray, height 5 feet 5 inches, weight 170 pounds; visible distinctive marks None; race White; present nationality Italian
(7) I am _____ married; the name of my wife or husband is Eleanor Becker we were married on (Month) (Day) (Year) June 9, 1924 at (City or town) (State or country) Doylestown, Pa.; he or she was born at (City or town) (County, district, province, or state) (Country) Phila. Pa., on (Month) (Day) (Year) 3/19/1909 entered the United States at (City or town) (State) ---- on (Month) (Day) (Year) ---- for permanent residence in the United States, and now resides at (Number and street) (City or town) (State or country) with me and was naturalized on (Month) (Day) (Year) _____ at (City or town) (State) _____ certificate No. _____ ; or became a citizen by birth
(7a) (If petition is filed under Section 311, Nationality Act of 1940) I have resided in the United States in marital union with my United States citizen spouse for at least 1 year immediately preceding the date of filing this petition for naturalization.
(7b) (If petition is filed under Section 312, Nationality Act of 1940) My husband or wife is a citizen of the United States, is in the employment of the Government of the United States, or of an American institution of research recognized as such by the Attorney General of the United States, or an American firm or corporation engaged in whole or in part in the development of foreign trade and commerce of the United States, or a subsidiary thereof; and such husband or wife is regularly stationed abroad in such employment. I intend in good faith to take up residence within the United States immediately upon termination of such employment abroad.
(8) I have 5 children; and the name, sex, date and place of birth, and present place of residence of each of said children who is living are as follows: Michael (M), born 3-31-27 at Croydon, Pa., Ralph 8-15-28 at Croydon Pa., John 1-21-30, Phila. Pa., Leon 7-20-31 at Phila. Pa. and Joseph 6-1-35 at Phila. Pa. All reside with me.
(9) My last place of foreign residence was (City or town) (County, district, province, or state) (Country) Naples San Angelo, Italy
(10) I emigrated to the United States from (City or town) (Country) Naples, Italy
(11) My lawful entry for permanent residence in the United States was at (City or town) (State) New York, N.Y. under the name of Raffaele Angelillo on (Month) (Day) (Year) May 6, 1901 on the (Name of vessel or other means of conveyance) Guerra as shown by the certificate of my arrival attached to this petition.
(12) Since my lawful entry for permanent residence I have not been absent from the United States, for a period or periods of 6 months or longer, as follows:
| DEPARTED FROM THE UNITED STATES | RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PORT | DATE
(Month, day, year) |
VESSEL OR OTHER
MEANS OF CONVEYANCE |
PORT | DATE
(Month, day, year) |
VESSEL OR OTHER
MEANS OF CONVEYANCE |
(13) (Declaration of intention not required)
(14) It is my intention in good faith to become a citizen of the United States and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which at this time I am a subject or citizen, and it is my intention to reside permanently in the United States.
(15) I am not, and have not been for the period of at least 10 years immediately preceding the date of this petition, an anarchist; nor a believer in the unlawful damage, injury, or destruction of property, or sabotage; nor a disbeliever in or opposed to organized government; nor a member of or affiliated with any organization or body of persons teaching disbelief in or opposition to organized government.
(16) I am able to speak the English language (unless physically unable to do so).
(17) I am, and have been during all the periods required by law, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.
(18) I have resided continuously in the United States of America for the term of 1 year at least immediately preceding the date of this petition, to wit: since (Month) (Day) (Year) May 6, 1901
(19) I have not heretofore made petition for naturalization number _____ on (Month) (Day) (Year) _____ at (City or town) (County) (State) _____ in the (Name of court) _____ Court, and such petition was dismissed or denied by that Court for the following reasons and causes, to wit: _____ and the cause of such dismissal or denial has since been cured or removed.
(20) Attached hereto and made part of this, my petition for naturalization, are a certificate of arrival from the Immigration and Naturalization Service of my said lawful entry into the United States for permanent residence (if such certificate of arrival be required by the naturalization law), and the affidavits of at least two verifying witnesses required by law.
(21) Wherefore, I, your petitioner for naturalization, pray that I may be admitted a citizen of the United States of America, and that my name be changed to Ralph Angelo
(22) I, aforesaid petitioner, do swear (affirm) that I know the contents of this petition for naturalization subscribed by me, that the same are true to the best of my own knowledge, except as to matters therein stated to be alleged upon information and belief, and that as to those matters I believe them to be true, and that this petition is signed by me, with my full, true name: SO HELP ME GOD.
(Full, true, and correct signature of petitioner, without abbreviation)
[Petition Notes and Corrections]
AFFIDAVIT OF WITNESSES
The following witnesses, each being severally, duly, and respectively sworn, depose and say:
My name is Bernard Theodore Kogel my occupation is Machine operator I reside at (Number and street) (City or town) (State) Rose Ave. Croydon, Pa.
My name is Joseph Merkel my occupation is Machine operator I reside at (Number and street) (City or town) (State) 4221 Decatur St. Philadelphia, Pa.
I am a citizen of the United States of America; I have personally known and been acquainted in the United States with Raffaele Angelillo, the petitioner named in the petition for naturalization of which this affidavit is a part, since (Month) (Day) (Year) Jan. 1 1931 to my personal knowledge the petitioner has resided, immediately preceding the date of filing this petition, in the United States continuously since the date last mentioned, and I have personal knowledge that the petitioner is now and during all such period has been a person of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States, and in my opinion the petitioner is in every way qualified to be admitted a citizen of the United States.
I do swear (affirm) that the statements of fact I have made in this affidavit of this petition for naturalization subscribed by me are true to the best of my knowledge and belief: SO HELP ME GOD.
(Signature of witness) Bernard Theodore Kogel (Signature of witness) Joseph Merkel
Subscribed and sworn to before me by the above-named petitioner and witnesses, in the respective forms of oath shown in said petition and affidavit, in the office of the Clerk of said Court at Mt. Holly, N.J. this 14th day of October, Anno Domini 1941. I hereby declare that Certificate of Arrival No. _____ from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, showing the lawful entry for permanent residence of the petitioner above named, has been by me filed with, attached to, and made a part of this petition on this date.
Palmer L. Adams Clerk.
By Sadie M. Phillips Special Deputy Clerk.
OATH OF ALLEGIANCE
I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion: SO HELP ME GOD. In acknowledgement whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.
(Signature of petitioner)
Sworn to in open court, this 2nd day of September 1943, A.D. 1943
Palmer L. Adams Clerk.
By Sadie M. Phillips Special Deputy Clerk.
NOTE. -- In renunciation of title or order of nobility, add the following to the oath of allegiance before it is signed: "I further renounce the title of (give title or titles) which I have heretofore held," or "I further renounce the order of nobility (give the order of nobility) to which I have heretofore belonged."
Petition granted: Line No. 6 of List No. 1 and Certificate No. 5647797 issued.
Petition denied: List No. _____
Petition continued from _____ to _____ Reason _____
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE c16-10400
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Immigration and Naturalization Service
Market Street National Bank Building
Philadelphia, Penna.
NOTICE OF OBJECTION TO FINAL HEARING UNDER SECTION 326(b)
OF THE NATIONALITY ACT OF 194O (8 U.S.C. 726(b).
Judge, Common Pleas Court of Burlington County at Mt. Holly, New Jersey
In re: Raffaele Angelillo
NATURALIZATION
Petition No. 2188-P-2870
Dear Sir:
The above petitioner for naturalization in your court is a native, citizen, subject, or denizen of a country with which the United States is at war. Section 326(b) of the Nationality Act of 1940 provides as follows:
"An alien embraced within this section shall not have such alien's petition for naturalization called for a hearing, or heard, except after ninety days notice given by the clerk of the court to the Commissioner to be represented at the hearing and the Commissioner's objection to such final hearing shall cause the petition to be continued from time to time for so long as the Commissioner may require."
Pursuant to the provisions of said act, objection is hereby interposed to a final hearing in the above entitled cause. It is respectfully moved that the said petition be continued until such time as objection is withdrawn.
Respectfully submitted,
Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization
Albert Del Guercio
By:
Albert Del Guercio,
District Director.
Dated this 27th day of
April, 1942.
Source: New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, New Jersey, photocopies provided 17 November 2004. Naturalization documents used to be kept by the Clerk of Burlington County in Mt. Holly, New Jersey, at the office of which I saw the original of Raffaele's Petition for Naturalization in circa Fall 1994.
Notes: All the forms on this page were given type-written answers; I do not know how far Raffaele could read and write. (The Kingdom of Italy and the United States of America were at war with one another from 11 December 1941 to 3 September 1943.)
Petition Notes and Corrections:
- Item (1). It may be that Raffaele should also have listed the names "Raffaele Angelilli" and "Ralph Angelo" because he also used those names. Like other people legally named "Angelillo" who had emigrated to Bristol Borough, Pennsylvania, from Sant'Angelo d'Alife, Raffaele believed that his family name was "Angelilli", although the Italian civil registers of Sant'Angelo d'Alife give only the spellings "Angelillo" and (rarely) "Angiolillo".
In the dialect spoken in Raffaele's part of southern Italy, the endings of words are not pronounced, so the ending of the name "Angelillo" would also not be pronounced.
Perhaps these names were excluded because they were not in some sense legal names, although they had been used in legal documents: Raffaele's marriage license in 1924, my father's birth certificate in 1931 (his father's name: "Ralph Angelo"), and Raffaele's application for Social Security number, which is signed "R. Angelo", in 1935. In the 1920 U.S. National Census Raffaele is named as "Ralph Angelo". - Item (2). There is now an elementary school on the land at 750 N. Forklanding Road in Maple Shade, New Jersey; but at this time there was a house there that Raffaele had built himself; it was a mail-order house, which Raffaele's wife's aunt's husband Ross Hutchison, who was a printer in New York, helped Raffaele to assemble ("A house built by a farmer and a printer," Ross told his son Warren). They took about one week to build the house, maybe in 1936; it was made of wood, although it may have had a corrugated, galvanized sheet-metal roof. The house was on one floor; additions were made as they were needed.
The land had earlier been a disused apple orchard, and Raffaele and his sons had dug up all the old trees themselves by hand. Raffaele from then was a part-time truck farmer; he had a blue 1950 Chevrolet pick-up truck with his name "Ralph Angelo" painted in white on its doors. - Items (4) and (9). "San Angelo" should be "Sant'Angelo". Sant'Angelo d'Alife was known by many names in the 19th Century. At the time when Raffaele emigrated it was known as "Sant'Angelo Alife".
- Item (7). Raffaele's marriage took place in Croydon, Bucks County, of which Doylestown is the county seat. Eleanor Becker was born on 19 March 1909 in Martins Ferry, Ohio; her parents were not married.
- Item (8). "Leon 7-20-31 at Phila. Pa." was my father, who was given the name "Lione Nichola" (The correct Italian is "Leone Nicola") but always used the name "Leon Nicholas", although his name was never legally changed.
- Item (11). "Guerra" should be "Werra". Raffaele arrived in America aboard the Steamship Werra on 6 May 1901; he was 12 years, 9 months, old; he had traveled alone from Italy. No steamship named "Guerra" landed at the Port of New York in 1901, and since it is not likely that a passenger ship would be named "War", why did Raffaele remember the name that way?
Perhaps that was the sound he heard when the ship's name was pronounced. There is no letter "w" in the Italian language, and perhaps to Italian hearing the German "w" sounds similar to the English "w". (In medieval Italy the Guelfo faction that backed the pope against the emperor is said to have taken its name from the German family name "Welf".)
On the other hand, maybe "Guerra" was what the clerk who recorded Raffaele's answers heard. Cf. "San Angelo" rather than "Sant'Angelo".
Words struck out: I believe that those who arrived prior to 1906 were not required to present a certificate of arrival; the records before that date are poorly indexed: Raffaele Angelillo is not even listed in the indexes, although a search of the actual passenger manifest of the ship reveals his name and his place of origin: S. Angelo Alife.
From Petition for Naturalization forms filed in 1914, 1922, and 1924:NOTE TO CLERK OF COURT. -- If the petitioner arrived in the United States ON OR BEFORE JUNE 29, 1906, strike out the words reading "and Certificate of Arrival No. _____ from Department of Labor."
- Item (19). According to the 1920 U.S. Census, Raffaele (listed there as "Ralph Angelo") had by that date made a declaration of intention. However, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (7 October 1995) reported that it was unable to find any record of such.
- Signature. Raffaele appears to have first written "Angelilli" and then changed the final "i" to an "o". According to the Italian law in force at the time of his childhood, Raffaele should have received three years of state-provided elementary education, although apparently he did not.
Certificate of Naturalization
Certificate of Naturalization No. 5647797 (Petition No. 2870)
