52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #7 Charles Follett

This is #7 in a Genealogy Blog Challenge issued by Amy Johnson Crow over on her blog "No Story Too Small." The challenge is to write 52 blog posts on 52 ancestors throughout 2014.

 Charles Follett is one of the ancestors of whom I have been trying to learn more about for years. He is one of my "brick walls."  Many of the typical tools that are used for genealogy just don't work very well. I don't think I have a lot of information about him, and I certainly don't know where he came from.

Photocopy of Grandma Rose's genealogy notes.

The first record I have of Charles, comes from some family group records that my grandmother filled out many years ago. In it, she indicates that Charles was Mae's father, that he was buried in Oakwoods Cemetery. She included a note that Charles Follett died on 11/1/1933 and was buried on 11/3/1933, however this note is followed by a question mark. This note stymied my research for years as it turned out to be a false lead - and a lesson in being willing to let go of what "I already know."

This false lead made me doubt Charles's devotion to his family as he wasn't present in the 1900, 1910, 1920, or 1930 censuses at all! Did I have an absentee father on my hands? In those census records, the "father's nationality" for Charles's daughters is listed as either "Ireland" or "England" depending on the year. The 1890 Census was destroyed in a fire in the National Archives in 1921, so they aren't available to search, and my Charles does not show up in the 1880 census (there are some other Charles Folletts - one born in Aurora IL and one born in Iowa, but I traced them through the census records to their own families in other places - ruling them out).

Naturalization Index Card for Charles Follett

My next step was to look for Naturalization documents. The index did have a card for him, and the address lined up with an address I had for Nora Sullivan, his wife, from the early 1900s. While the card did lend some intriguing information - he went to the Criminal Courts to be naturalized - it did not provide the date of arrival like several other cards that I've found.  However, since he was naturalized, there should be 3 documents connected to this naturalization: his Declaration of Intent to naturalize, his Petition for Naturalization, and then the official Naturalization Oath.

Seeing as how I live in the Chicago area, I took the opportunity about 4 years ago to go in person to the Circuit Court Archives in Chicago, located in Daley plaza. I handed over my copy of the index card and the lady disappeared into the back. The results? I now have his Declaration of Intent and his Final Oath. His Petition is missing. The gal said that it was fairly common as people did not have to go to the same courts to file all three papers and that sometimes they never filed a petition. (I'm not so sure of the accuracy of that statement). As of yet, I have not found his petition.

Charles Follett's Declaration of Intent

 Why is this a problem?

The Declaration of Intent, is simply that, and people did not have to live in the United States for any set amount of time in order to declare their intent to become citizens. It states "I Charles Follett do solemnly declare on oath... that it is BONA FIDE my intention to become a citizen..."  It is then signed by Charles (though in this case, the signature looks suspiciously like the clerk's handwriting), dated and signed by the clerk of the court. Charles made his declaration on the 13th of October, 1890 in the Cook County Courts.

Charles Follett's Final Naturalization Oath
note: Charles's signature at the bottom right

The actual Naturalization document doesn't provide much more information. In this case, Charles had to bring someone who knew him and who could swear that he was a man of "good moral character." The person he brought along was John Orr. Who this man was, I'm not sure. A friend? A co-worker? A neighbor? Charles was naturalized on the 29th of October, 1892 in the Criminal Court of Cook County.


What does a petition have that's different? Most petitions included parents names, dates of entry into the United States, what ship they took, any children's names, wife's names, what city / country they were born in, birth date, etc.

So while this doesn't give me any concrete information, it does tell me that he immigrated to the U.S. at least 5 years prior to when he took his final oath - or prior to 1887.

Charles and Nora's Marriage License

I then decided to search for Charles and Nora's marriage information. I not only found a copy of their marriage license on familysearch.org (now no longer available due to an agreement between familysearch.org and Cook County), but the information on the marriage license led me to some other interesting tidbits of information. Charles and Nora were married on the 13th of October, 1890 the same day that Charles filed his Declaration of Intent! I guess that saved a trip to the courthouse. Charles was also 29 years old at the time of his marriage.  That gives me an approximate birth year of 1861.


The person who performed their marriage was from St. Malachy's church in Chicago. Familysearch.org has a lot of church records scanned in and available online for Chicago Catholic Churches, so I thought I'd go there to see if there were any other records about Nora or Charles...maybe other possible relatives listed as witnesses or such. While the names of witnesses don't look familiar - I'm not aware of any Rourke's or Corbt in the family - there is an interesting note on the side of the entry. "Disp. Mixtae Relig. ob." Meaning: One person was Catholic, one was not.

Now that I had an approximate year of birth, my next move was to check passenger lists, Ellis Island, and Castle Garden for Charles's immigration.

CastleGarden has a Charles Follett arriving in 1877 as an infant. 13 year old children could not declare for Naturalization until they were 18, and my Charles was born 16 years earlier.

Ellis Island only has records AFTER 1892. (Castle Garden was where immigrants were processed prior to Ellis Island opening.)

Ancestry.com has quite a selection of passenger lists, so going through them was time consuming.  First, I knew he came from the U.K. (England or Ireland). Secondly, he had to have arrived prior to 1887, and third, his birth was around 1861. Only one C. Follett matches those three requirements.  However, his ethnicity is listed as "American." I've put that record into a "shoebox" so I can revisit it if necessary. I don't know if it's him or not.

Interestingly, I found a Chicago Voter Registration List from 1892. Charles had registered to vote on October 25, 1892. (4 days before he actually was Naturalized). Coincidentally, this was the week before a major election. I think there was a big voter registration push at that time. I would need to research the context, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was something or someone controversial on the ballot.

1892 Voter Registration List. Charles Follett highlighted

This voter registration paper has some interesting information on it. His naturalization information is listed as "Date not known, court not known." (Of course it's not known... he hadn't actually naturalized yet!) However, according the rolls, Charles, living at 2031 Prairie Ave, had lived in the precinct for 1.5 years, in the County for 10 years, and the State for 10 years. His place of Nativity is listed as "England." This means that he immigrated at the latest 1882! This still didn't help me find anything in passenger lists though.


From there, I revisited the records that I have for his children. Charles and Nora had three daughters.  Sarah, Mae, and Catherine. Sarah was born on July 5th, 1891. She was born at home (2031 Prairie Ave. Chicago)  On her birth return, Charles is listed as "American," he is 31 years old (making his birth year 1860) and his occupation is a "coachman." On this return, their last name is spelled Follet.

Mae, the middle child, (profiled here) was born on the 25th of January, 1893. She was also born at home (2031 Prairie Ave., Chicago). On her birth return, Charles is listed as "Irish," is 33 years old, and is still working as a Coachman." This time, their last name is spelled Follett.

Catherine (or Kitty) is unique. She was actually born in Ireland on the 1st of October, 1897!  Apparently, Charles's wife, Nora, and children had gone back to Ireland for a visit, leaving Charles behind. I wonder if Nora knew she was pregnant when she started her travels.

Charles Follett's Death information

The last document I found was an Undertaker's Report of Death for Charles. He died at 3007 So. Canal Street on the 1st of November 1898.  I'm confident that this is my Charles due to the close proximity to their address on Praire, his occupation is listed as Coachman, and it indicates that his burial was at Oakwood Cemetery (which matches my grandmother's original information). He was 39 when he died, making his birth year approx 1859. He was also listed as having been born in England.

When Charles died, he left behind his wife Nora and three young children, the oldest, Sarah, was only 7 years old, and the youngest was still an infant.

I followed up on the date from my grandmother's information and yes, there was a Charles Follett who died on that date. However his birth year was all wrong, his naturalization wasn't there and things just didn't mesh.

I went out to Oak Woods Cemetery - located at 1035 E 67th Street, Chicago, with my husband a few years ago. Charles Follett is buried in section 02, one of the oldest sections. There is no headstone for him or really for anyone in that section.

Regardless, a man that I "know nothing about" still has a lot of information about him. I still hope that I will find that key that will help me learn about where he came from before he got to America. Who were his parents? Where did he grow up? Why did he come to the US? 

I've started trying to find Charles in England or Ireland, which is difficult without concrete information about where he was born or when he immigrated. A census search of the 1881 Census in England and Northern Ireland brings back about 4 potential Charles Folletts. A couple I have ruled out as being far too old or too young. (+/- 10 years is a bit much). However there are two that are possibilities. One is a young man working as a groom at an estate, and another is an orphan. I'm leaning towards the groom as it wouldn't be that big of a jump from groom (working on horses) to coachman (driving coaches and working on horses). Who knows what I'll find?

Charles Follett is my great-great-grandfather on my mother's side.