Citizen Bangle… Wrong title, right? I was desperately trying to find naturalization records for Adam Bangle since I knew he had been naturalized, but I was looking at the wrong era for answers, as New York was not a State then but a Province, of course. Therefore, Adam Bangle didn’t become an American citizen but rather a subject of His Majesty the King of Great Britain.
One thing for sure, something else is wrong here. Adam was first naturalized on December 31, 1768, and then, again, on March 8, 1773!
According to the genealogists I talked to in Salt Lake City, a foreigner had to be living in a colony for seven years before being naturalized. In 1768, Adam Bangle had been in America for only four years. Was it a mistake? Have the authorities realized afterwards that he shouldn’t have been naturalized?
The name of Adam is mentioned in Denizations, Naturalizations, and Oaths of Allegiance in Colonial New York by Kenneth Scott and Kenn Stryker-Rodda. The references regarding naturalization are as follows: Laws, ch. 1385, for the first one, and Laws, ch. 1638, for the second. Time to take a look at the legend at the beginning of the book, right?
Laws ch. = Laws of the colony of New York, chapter (as printed in CLNY [Colonial Laws of New York]).
Once again, while in Salt Lake City, I had the chance to check out Laws 1385 and 1638 and the name of Adam Bangle appeared in both.
Besides these naturalization records, my good friend Judy had found Adam Bengel’s name on a tax list for Canajoharie, Albany County (once changed for Tryon County, and nowadays, Montgomery County), New York, where he paid the equivalent of 1 English pound.
Mohawk River Valley, William Wall, 1862 [http://mohawkvalley-wiki.com/]
After being naturalized in 1773, did Adam Bangle realize that his world would be turned around just a few years later with the American Revolution?
Our next chapter will follows in two weeks.