Index these?
I am Indexing Wisconsin Naturalization part C. Batch [MSSC-P8N] are Facts for Dec. of Intentions. They have useful information. That is why I have been Indexing these. Should they be Indexed?
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So yes please index those!
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In all the naturalizations projects I have worked on, and there have been thousands over the years, we did not index the facts statements or the testimony of witnesses. You might want to recheck with "headquarters"- but a declaration of intention and those facts statements are different documents. Sorry I can't see the Wisconsin project - hard to believe they won't even let the experts in this type of indexing and reviewing see these documents. I would definitely visit the examples and field helps if given the opportunity.
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Nothing specific in the instructions, so I will index them. There are NO instructions indicating NOT to index Native to... as birth countries as well in Part C. Your advice with that?
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If they don't show them in the examples, and they aren't actual declarations, then they probably don't get indexed. Just my opinion - but they are not one of the five documents. Is there an actual Declaration for the person within the reference images of fact sheets?
Without seeing the forms you are reading, it is hard to say what I would advise about Native to. If in the other parts of the Wisconsin project there was an instruction not to use Native of as a birthplace, then I would apply that instruction to Part C. When it comes to the 5 forms, it should be pretty easy to decide as there are only two forms where we would index the birthplace, the Declaration of Intention and the Petition for Naturalization.
A Declaration of Intention has the words "I was born in ..." and also for the spouse "she was born in" . A Petition for Naturalization has the words, "I was born on [date] at [place]. Naturalization Cards and Certificates of Naturalization don't have a birthplace. With the Oath they are only relinquishing their allegiance to the place they are emigrating from, so that may or may not be where they were born.
I have seen the following instruction on Naturalization projects.
- When indexing the birthplace, please remember that the terms "native of," "foreign," and "citizen of" do not necessarily indicate the place of birth. Terms such as "nativity" or "country of nativity" do refer to the birthplace.
Hope that helps you decide what to do.
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Part of the Instructions - "Any documents that are similar to these 5 should also be indexed". Facts for Declaration of Intention seems very similar. I will ignore it if there is an actual declaration of intention in the same Batch. I will save another batch for you to look at if you want. Batch [MSSC-P89]. The other forms are Indexes. I know NOT to index them even though there is NO instruction not to.
Thanks for the native to issue. When I first started indexing that was ok to accept that. I originally thought it was improper for {Native to} to indicate a birth country. I still did it because it was in the Instructions.
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Let's try something else, just because I am curious, @Harmon, James Bartlett - I can't see the batches with the batch codes, because these are from the Great State of Wisconsin. But, does the general population have access to the whole film since these are federal documents?
If you go to About Batch and copy and paste the Image Name we can try the experiment. It probably won't work. I have seen Facts of Declaration Forms before, but, would love to view the whole film, if possible.
There have been some projects that specially allowed using Native to or Native of as a birthplace. I think there were mistaken, but, like you, I followed that rule.
Thanks.
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I can also explain it. It asks for name - age - occupation - then personal info - where born - month, day, year born - present residence - Emigrated from - name of vessel - last foreign residence - previous country allegiance - date of arrival - Port of arrival. That is all of the info.
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That's not really helpful. I just wonder if they need to be indexed if there is also a completed Declaration of Intention that accompanies them (which also has the same information). It would be a duplication of work to index the declaration and fact sheets. I suppose when in doubt, index - unless you start to notice on review that they aren't being indexed.
Here's a different Declaration of Intention for Wisconsin. Notice Image 52 is an overlay of Melcher's "bona fide intention to become a citizen of the US" and then on Image 53 the overlay is lifted and the petition is exposed. Image 52 should have been indexed since it is definitely a "similar" document. It is a declaration before the Immigration Act of 1906 standardized the forms across states and territories.
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These forms come alone. That is why I have been indexing them. They are also fill the whole screen like the actual Declaration's. They also have the spouses name on them sometimes.
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