The Importance of Census Records
If you don’t know the year your ancestor arrived in the USA, search the 1870, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 census for the year of immigration!
1870 Census
Search billions of historical records and family trees on Ancestry, including immigration records, passenger lists, naturalization records, census records, and other documents that can help trace your ancestors' journey.
Start your Ancestry free trialCheck the column “Male Citizens of the United States of twenty-one years of age and upwards” If your ancestor has a check mark in this column, you have a clue that naturalization took place before 1870. This can help you narrow the exact year for his naturalization, especially if you have a year of arrival.
1900 Census
Under the question of whether or not an individual was naturalized, you are likely to see one of these three abbreviations regarding his status:
AL was used to signify that the individual was still an alien and was not naturalized nor had not begun the naturalization process.
PA was used to signify that the individual had gone through the Declaration of Intent and had filed his “first” papers.
NA was used to signify that the individual had completed the naturalization process and was a naturalized citizen.
1910 Census
The 1910 census requested naturalization status in column 16. Responses are identical to 1900 census
1920 Census
The 1920 census has the same naturalization data in column 14 but also asks for an exact year of naturalization (column 15). e)
1930 Census
Column 22 asks for the year of immigration to USA. Column 23 asks for Citizenship status just as 1900, 1910 and 1920 do
Search all USA Census Records (1790-1930) at Ancestry.com
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