Monday, January 4, 2010

An Irish Treasure: Citizenship Papers for Matthew McGinnes


[This post was composed for the 17th Edition of the Carnival of Irish Culture & Heritage]

One of my most cherished treasures was received from my great-grandmother Therese McGinnes Austin: it is the original certificate/form for US Citizenship for her father - my 2nd great-grandfather - Matthew McGinnes.

I remember when I inherited this item after Grandma has passed.  It was folded up (unfortunately) in a small envelope with her noticeable scrawl.  Usually if it was important, Grandma would use the words "very precious" and then lots of DO NOT DESTROY-type statements in all caps.

Matthew McGinnes was born about 1851 in Ireland and died in New York City on 15 February 1899, leaving behind a wife and five daughters.  His son, also Matthew McGinnes, had lived for less than a year from 1892 to 1893.

Naturalization as a United States citizen took place on 9 October 1888 in New York City.  One of my genealogy goals is to have a better scan done of this large document and then have it archivally framed so that it can be preserved for my nieces and nephews.

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

2 comments:

Julie said...

What a great memento!

FranE said...

What a noble thought of preserving for future generations. Be sure and get copies so others can have a copy.

You are so blessed to have this. Good for your grandmother.