Saturday, March 9, 2013

Fearless Females: March 9 ~ Hilda's Declaration of Intention

Lisa Alzo, author of The Accidental Genealogist blog, has once again presented us with the opportunity to honor our "fearless female" ancestors by providing 31 blogging prompts for the month of March.

Blogging Prompt for March 9 — Take a family document (baptismal certificate, passenger list, naturalization petition, etc.) and write a brief narrative using the information.



Hilda Maria Carlsson Gillberg
Hilda Maria Carlsson Gillberg

On August 12, 1939 in Los Angeles, California, my great-grandmother, Hilda Maria (Carlsson) Gillberg, signed a Declaration of Intention1 to become a United States citizen.  According to this document, Hilda was born in Eskilstuna, Sweden on February 17, 1878.  She and her husband, Carl Albert Gillberg, were married on April 3, 1901 in Eskilstuna, Sweden.  Carl was born in Stockholm, Sweden on January 8, 1882.
Hilda Maria Gillberg Declaration of Intention 1939
Hilda Gillberg's Declaration of Intention
From Ancestry.com
(See Footnote)

Hilda and her mother, Karin Johnsson Carlsson joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden.  They decided to come to America.  Carl agreed.  Karen emigrated from Sweden to the United States several years before Carl and Hilda.  The 1910 census states Karen's year of immigration as 1891.

Carl, along with two of Hilda and Carl's three daughters, emigrated from Sweden to the United States next.  Hilda and Naomi, the youngest daughter, stayed behind in Sweden.  Carl entered the United States at Chicago, Illinois on September 18, 1909.  Karen, Hilda, and Carl all worked to earn the money needed for Hilda and Naomi to immigrate to America.

This document states that Hilda entered the United States at Sault St. Marie, Michigan on July 4, 1910 on the
Canadian Pacific Railway.  At last, the family could be together again!

On the date this Declaration was signed, Hilda was residing in Los Angeles, California.  The document also states that Hilda had eight children and provides the names, birth dates and birthplaces for each of them.  Also mentioned is that these children were all residing in Los Angeles, California at the time this document was signed by Hilda in 1939.

  1. Margaret Gillberg –  Born July 20, 1902 in Sweden
  2. Naomi Gillberg – Born October 4, 1907 in Sweden
  3. Ruth Gillberg – Born June 17, 1911 in Salt Lake City, Utah
  4. Ingrid Gillberg – Born November 5, 1913 in Salt Lake City, Utah (my grandmother)
  5. Helen – Born September 4, 1915 in Salt Lake City, Utah
  6. Ida – Born October 26, 1916 in Salt Lake City, Utah
  7. Edith – Born October 26, 1916 in Salt Lake City, Utah
  8. Ruby – Born July 15, 1910 in Salt Lake City, Utah

Hilda actually had ten children.  She didn't list the other two, Judith Maria and Carl Martin.  Judith was the oldest child and died in 1914 in Salt Lake City, Utah and Carl died in Sweden when he was only a little over a year old.  Hilda must have only listed her eight surviving children.

Hilda became a United States citizen on November 20, 1942.  I have her Certificate of Naturalization which is contained in one of my Grandma Ingrid's
Books of Remembrance.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last 
 


1 National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division (Los Angeles), 1887-1940; Microfilm Serial: M1524; Microfilm Roll: 55. Ancestry.com. U.S., Naturalization Records - Original Documents, 1795-1972 (World Archives Project) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

16 comments:

  1. Nice post. I love the Fearless Females prompts and have been writing them all afternoon :-)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Debi,

      Thanks! This is my first "Fearless Females" post. What a wonderful idea Lisa has come up with!

      Thank you for reading and for your comments!

      Delete
  2. Jana, what I wonderful post. I can see I have a lot to learn as your blog looks amazing!

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    1. Hi Patricia,

      Aren't you sweet! Thank you so much for your kind compliment and for stopping by to read my blog.

      Delete
  3. That Declaration of Intention surely does have a lot of information on it. Your ancestors come from (and have been to) so many places! It's impressive. Are you going to have DNA tests to find out all that scientific information? I've been putting off getting mine done.

    Hilda has an especially nice face. She looks peaceful and content with life.

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    1. Hi Mariann,

      Yes, this Declaration really is a gold mine when it comes to genealogical information.

      I'm not sure when or if I'll do a DNA test. Since my dad was full Scandinavian and I know the ancestry of my mom's side, I'm not sure if I'll learn anything new. I'm pretty sure I'm 1/4 Norwegian, 1/4 Swedish, 1/4 Portuguese, 1/8 Mexican and 1/8 English. But, I suppose it would be cool to verify all of this.

      Thanks for the compliment about Hilda. I do like this photo of her.

      Thank you for stopping by Mariann!

      Delete
  4. Jana,

    What a wonderful document with so much information! I also liked how you listed the source in the footnote. Great idea!

    Kathryn

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kathryn,

      Thank you! Yes, I love the information this document provides. And I'd seen the footnotes on another blog and thought it was a great idea to include them as well.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  5. There is a lot of good info in that document. Now I'm wondering if my Irish great-grandmother ever became a citizen.

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    1. Hi Wendy,

      Ooh! It would be worth checking into. And even if she didn't complete the process to become a citizen, she may have filed this kind of Declaration document to start the process.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  6. Great post and information! Hilda has a sweet face and the shape of her face seems a lot like yours. My great-grandmother and great-grandfather remained resident aliens and my attempts to find their documentation has been fruitless. :(

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    1. Hi Kathy,

      Oh, that's too bad about you not being able to find any citizenship documents about your great-grandparents. How frustrating!

      Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comments!

      Delete
  7. Jana, your family is so international! Amazing!

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    1. Hi Smadar,

      Yes, I suppose so. And it does make genealogoy research quite interesting, to say the least. Unfortunately, I don't know Norwegian, Swedish, or Portuguese. I took Spanish in high school, but that was a very long time ago. So, international research can be a bit challenging at times.

      Thank you so much for stopping by!

      Delete
  8. Wow Jana---this document truly is a gold mine! I also love Hilda's picture--she looks like a very sweet woman. When I think of moving and all that goes with it for us today, I am so amazed at these courageous folks that had the courage to move so far from their home and all that they knew in order to start a new life, knowing they might never see their homeland again. I am sure they didn't fully understand the challenges that awaited them on the trip or in adjusting to a new country and life, but the courage they showed in facing the unknown is inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Michelle,

      I agree. These ancestors of ours who left all they knew and loved to move to a new country were certainly courageous. I can't imagine how difficult it would have been, especially considering they must have known the real possibility that they wouldn't have been able to see their loved ones again who were left behind in the old country.

      Thank you so much for stopping by!

      Delete