USCIS C-File for Morris Goldstein ~ The Applications

When I last wrote about Morris Goldstein's C-File, I said that there was more work he had to do to obtain the replacement citizenship certificate that he wanted (and presumably needed).

The next documents are two applications with the same heading (see image) - one handwritten and another typed. There was a $10 fee for obtaining this replacement Certificate of Citizenship.

The handwritten application is dated 18th day of April 1931.

This is Morris Goldstein's signature and someone else's handwritten "Woodbine, N.J." which is in different handwriting than in the previous post (which was his wife's handwriting), so perhaps he dictated it to the notary public who notarized the application.

There is an undated letter from the Commissioner of Naturalization (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Naturalization) which states that the naturalization paper is being returned to "be amended and promptly returned to this office." Three months later, there is a typed application.

USCIS C-File for Morris Goldstein ~ His Letter to Washington, D.C.

I am sharing documents that I received as part of the USCIS C-File for Morris Goldstein, my husband's grandfather. I first shared a 1918 Certificate of Citizenship for a Rhode Island Morris Goldstein and the replacement 1931 Certificate for Pop-pop (as he was known to his grandchildren).

I have concluded that this file has combined two men of the same name, born within a few months of each other in 1897. One immigrated to Boston in August 1913 and the other to New York City in August 1914.

Additional documents in this file include the July 1918 petition for naturalization for Morris Goldstein of Central Falls, Rhode Island, where he states that he was born in Brest, Russia. His occupation was "Machinist." (This signature looks like "signature #1" in the previous post: Comparing Signatures.)

Pop-pop was a tailor and spent his entire working life in the garment industry in New York City and in Woodbine, New Jersey.

Letterhead from March 5, 1931 letter

The C-File file also includes most of the correspondence that Pop-pop had with government officials as he tried to get a replacement citizenship certificate. There is a March 5, 1931, letter from a Major General at the War Department letting him know that "No record has been found in this office of the naturalization papers of Morris Goldstein, Army Serial No. 4,489,126." (This serial number agrees with the abstract of his service that I shared in January 2014.) He is instructed to contact the Commissioner of Naturalization, Department of Labor, Washington, D.C.

USCIS C-File for Morris Goldstein ~ Comparing Signatures

In the previous post about the USCIS Citizenship File for Morris Goldstein, I shared a 1918 Certificate of Naturalization for Morris Goldstein of Rhode Island and a 1931 replacement Certificate of Naturalization for Morris Goldstein of Woodbine, New Jersey.

Did you notice the additional difference of the signatures?

Signature from the 1918 Certificate of Naturalization for Morris Goldstein of Rhode Island

Signature from the 1918 World War I Draft Card for Morris Goldstein (Pop-pop) of Forsyth Street, Manhattan

Signature from the 1931 replacement Certificate of Naturalization for Morris Goldstein, now of Woodbine, New Jersey

I suggest that the third signature looks much more like the second one not the first one.

The next post in the series will show additional correspondence I received as part of this C-File: USCIS C-File for Morris Goldstein ~ His Letter to Washington, D.C.

USCIS C-File for Morris Goldstein

About a year ago, I shared the Certificate of Citizenship for my husband's grandfather, Morris Goldstein. It was a re-issued certificate for one that had been lost. I was confused because there were several facts on this certificate that conflicted with what I already knew about Morris.

Emily Garber of (going) the Extra Yad asked if I had applied for Morris' file with the USCIS genealogy program. I decided this was a good idea and started the process a few weeks after that blog post.

A C-File is a Certificate File, which documents an individual's naturalization. C-Files contain copies of records that show the granting of naturalized U.S. citizenship by courts between 1906 and 1956.

The first place to go is USCIS / Genealogy.

I first requested an index search in case there was more than one file number. It turns out that the number on the Certificate of Citizenship was the one file number that was returned: 984234. It took a little over three months to get this.

A little more than four months after submitting the request for the C-File, I received the twelve photocopied pages in the mail. I scanned the images and did my best to transcribe them.

It confirmed for me that yes, this Morris Goldstein (known as Pop-pop to his grandchildren) was mixed up with another Morris Goldstein of Rhode Island.