Pennsylvania Dutch Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q. What did the term naturalization entail for our Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants?
A. From the introduction to the South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society publication Pennsylvania Naturalizations 1695-1773, we read:
"In 17th and 18th century Pennsylvania the primary function of naturalization was to enable aliens (non-British born) to hold, sell, trade, and bequeath property. Secondly, it gave an alien full civil rights and political participation through the vote and the holding of public office.
Until 1740, most naturalizations in Pennsylvania were obtained by special acts passed by the General Assembly and approved by the Governor. In a few instances naturalizations were obtained through the 'authority' vested in the chief office holders of the Province.
The British Parliament, in 1740, passed a naturalization act through which alien colonists could obtain the rights of natural-born subjects of Great Britain. For an alien to become naturalized by this act in Pennsylvanina, he first had to reside in the colonies for seven years (not being absent for more than two months at any one time). He then had to produce in Court a certificate showing he had taken the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in some Protestant or Reformed Congregation in the Province of Pennsylvania within three months before the said Court, take and subscribe specified Oaths, and make and repeat a specified Declaration prescribed by the act. Special provision was made for an Affirmation in place of the Oaths to be made by Quakers, and both Quakers and Jews were exempted from the obligation of receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The act did not cover religious groups such and the Mennonites and Moravians. In Pennsylvanina this problem was met by an Act of Assembly passed 3 Feb. 1742-3 for naturalizing 'such Foreign Protestants as are settled or shall settle within this Province who, not being of the People called Quakers, do conscientiously refuse the taking of any Oath.' In 1747 the British Parliament passed a similar act.
Pennsylvania, even after the British Act of 1740, continued on occasion to naturalize by private Acts of Assembly. Available evidence suggests that, in most cases, this was done when those desiring to be naturalized did not meet the seven year residency requirement.
The Division of Archives and Manuscripts of The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, located in the William Penn Memorial Museum and Archives Building in Harrisburg, has the official lists fo aliens naturalized by Pennsylvania Courts, 1740-1773. All information contained in these lists is available in printed form, some in Pennsylvania Archives, Series 2, Volume 2 (reprinted by Genealogical Pub. Co., Balt., MD, 1967, as PERSONS NATURALIZED IN THE PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1740-1773), and others in M.S. Giuseppi's NATURALIZATION OF FOREIGN PROTESTANTS IN THE AMERICAN AND WEST INDIAN COLONIES....(reprinted by Genealogical Pub. Co., Balt., MD 1964). These publications, or their reprints, are readily available in libraries throughout the country.
Records pertaining to names of those naturalized in Pennsylvania by special and private acts are found in COLONIAL RECORDS (vol. 1, 2, 3, 9, and 10), THE STATUTES AT LARGE OF PENNSYLVANIA (vol. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8), and PENNSYLVANIA ARCHIVES (Series 1, Vol. 1, 3, and 4). These volumes are readily available in historical and genealogical collections in libraries throughout Pennsylvania. Outside of Pennsylvania the volumes are generally found only in the larger public and state libraries."
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