I'm working again on Thomas Frame, English immigrant to Chicago, Illinois. I think I have his naturalization index card which indicates he was naturalized in 1873:
The card comes from
Source Citation: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.;Soundex Index to Naturalization Petitions for the United States District and Circuit Courts, Northern District of Illinois and Immigration and Naturalization Service District 9, 1840-1950 (M1285); Microfilm Serial: M1285; Microfilm Roll: 59.
Of course, I need to view the actual record to confirm the name and date.
Thomas appears on Chicago Voter's Lists that are extant for the following years with entries as summarized below:
- 1888, Thomas Frame, 117th Street, native of England, naturalized "court of Cook County" in September of 1872.
- 1890, Thomas Frame, 117th Street, native of England, naturalized "court of Cook County" in September of 1872.
- 1890, Thomas Frame, 2539 117th Street, native of England, naturalized "court of Cook County" in 1872.
The "source information" at Ancestry.com for these records is not great, but it is:
Ancestry.com. Chicago Voter Registration, 1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001.
The question is, do I have the same person?
How crucial is the difference in time? There is no other Thomas Frame in Chicago during this time period who was an English native. Was Thomas confusing a declaration date with his naturalization date?
I need to obtain the actual naturalization record and look at entries in city directories for the time period. There are no other Thomas Frames in the 1880 census besides this one. There's more work to be done, but it looks like I've got the right person--if additional details warrant we'll have a longer followup article in Casefile Clues.