Treasure Chest Thursday: Sarah Cohn's Naturalization Petition

While Sarah Ett arrived in New York in December 1903 as Sali Ett, she did not naturalize until 30 September 1941.[1]

Sarah Cohn petition for naturalization (1941), petition number 291380, Eastern District of New York; Records of the District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21; National Archives - Northeast Region, New York City.

[Items in red will be discussed further, below.]

To the Honorable the U.S. District Court of Eastern District of Brooklyn, N.Y.
This petition for naturalization hereby made and filed, respectfully shows:
(1) My full name is SARAH COHN
(2) My place of residence is 949 East 12th St., Bklyn, NY
(3) My occupation is Housewife
(4) I was born at Silaschicka, Poland on Sept. 26, 1887
(5) My nationality is Poland
(6) My race is Hebrew 
[item 7 is crossed out]
(8) I am married. The name of my wife or husband is Louis; he now resides at 949 E. 12th St., Bklyn, NY; we were married on August 5, 1907 at Brooklyn, NY; he was born at Poland on December 12, 1884; entered the United States at New York, NY on May 1903 for permanent residence therein; was naturalized on June 13, 1924 at Brooklyn, NY certificate No. 2025748
(9) I have 6 children, and the name, date, and place of birth and place of residence of each of said children are as follows:
Jack, April 9, 1908; Dorothy, Dec. 13, 1910; Pauline, Sept. 13, 1912; Blanche, Oct. 5, 1914; Rose, Sept. 26, 1919; Ira, Dec. 12, 1920. All born and reside in Bklyn, NY
(10) My last foreign residence was Silaschicka. I emigrated to the United States of America from Bremen, Germany. My lawful entry (arrival) for permanent residence in the United States was at New York, NY under the name of Sarah Ett on December 1903 on the vessel S.S. Brendon.
...

AFFIDAVITS OF WITNESSES

I, Louis Cohn, occupation Metal supply dealer residing at 949 East 12th St., Bklyn, NY, and 

I, Dorothy Brown, occupation Housewife residing at 146 Amherst St. Bklyn, NY

each being severally, duly, and respectively sworn, depose and say: I am a citizen of the United States of America; I have known and have been acquainted in the United States with SARAH COHN, the petitioner above mentioned since January 1, 1913 and that to my personal knowledge the petitioner has resided in the United States continuously preceding the date of filing this petition, of which this affidavit is part, to wit, since the date last mentioned at Brooklyn, NY on the County of Kings, State of New York continuously since Jan. 1, 1913 ...

I do swear (affirm) that the statements of fact I have made in this affidavit of this petition for naturalization subscribed by me are true to the best of my knowledge
/s/ Louis Cohn                              /s/ Dorothy Brown

(signature of witness)                                                 (signature of witness)

Subscribed and sworn to before me by the above-named petitioner and witnesses in the respective forms of oath shown above in the office of Clerk of said Court at Brooklyn, NY this 9th day of September, Anno Domini 1940 ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah identified her place of birth as "Silaschicka, Poland." The community was actually Zaleszczyki (today Zalishchyky, Ukraine). When Sarah was born it was within the boundaries of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Between World Wars, it was within Poland. Thus, Sarah's identification of the community as in Poland is a reflection of her knowledge of the contemporary situation of the town.

If Sarah and Louis were married in Brooklyn on 5 August 1907, their marriage certificate has not been indexed. I have not been able to find it within the ItalianGen.org index for New York City marriages. I have tried Cohn and Cohen; several possible first names; and kept the date flexible - no certificate.

Louis, Sarah's husband, sailed from Hamburg on 25 May 1903 and landed in New York on 8 June 1903. So, he entered the United States in June 1903, not May.[2]

Sarah's name on her manifest was not actually "Sarah Ett," but "Sali Et." The ship she arrive on was not the "Brendon," but the S.S. Brandenburg.

Both of Sarah's witnesses were family members. Louis was her husband and Dorothy Brown, her eldest daughter. 

I have not yet determined the significance of the 1 January 1913 date mentioned as the date by which she'd permanently resided in the United States and Brooklyn, N.Y. If Louis and Sarah married in 1907 and Dorothy was born in 1910, then they were familiar with Sarah and her whereabouts several years before 1913. The earliest census enumeration I have located for the the Louis and Sarah Cohn family is the 1915 New York State census record in Brooklyn.[3] In 1905, Sarah is living in Brooklyn with her sister Clara Rappaport and Clara's family.[4] If the 1 January 1913 date has some legal significance for Sarah's naturalization, I do not yet know what that might have been.
Notes:
1. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 22 November 2013), manifest, S.S. Brandenburg, Bremen to New York, arriving 26 December 1903, List 10, number 19, Sali Ett; citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715, microfilm roll 423.
2. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 22 November 2013), manifest, S.S. Batavia, Hamburg to New York, arriving 8 June 1903, List 31, number 13, Lewys Kohn; citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715, microfilm roll 423.
3. 1915 New York State Census, Kings County, New York, population schedule, Brooklyn, Assembly District 6, Enumeration District 6, page 24, entries 35-40, Alexander and Sadie Cohen family; digital image, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 21 July 2013), citing New York State Archives, Albany, New York.
4. 1905 New York State Census, Kings County, New York, population schedule, Brooklyn, Assembly District 15, Enumeration District 18, sheet 74, entries 8-11, Adolph Rappaport family and Sarah Att; digital image, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 8 July 2010), citing New York State Archives, Albany, New York.