Hi, Linda. I surely would welcome any other ideas by way of answers to your unique (to me) questions.
....I found mention of
one Hicklin person, said to be born 1742 in Philadelphia, who was
naturalized in 1764. I think this is an error, for a person born in the
colonies wouldn't have to be naturalized before he could legally own land
-- right Paul?
**** I would rather think that the parents of this child for whatever reasons held themselves out as citizens of a non-British nation, and thus their child, though otherwise born here as an English citizen, was viewed as non-English.
My question then, "Is there an age at time of emigration whereby
a boy would or would not have to be naturalized before he could legally own
land?"
*** No, however if born in the PA colony - as you have stated - the rules of land ownership of the Penns would have obtained.
Let's say a hypothetical family arrived from Germany with a five
year son, a 17 year old son, and a 21 year old son. The 21 year old would
surely be naturalized in his own right. But what about the 17 year
old? And would the five year old be treated differently?
**** You have stated what I suspect; namely, that the child was viewed as German until the rules of the Penn colony - Pennsylvania - were met concerning citizenship and land ownership in that colony.
My thinking is, with exceptions, at age 14 one could choose one's
own guardian. So was there an 'age 14' kind of thing when it comes to
naturalizations? Thanks in advance for your help with this. Linda
**** I am sure only that the boy would have become a citizen of the PA colony, since there was NO "America" or United States then. Again, I hope that others more knowledgeable in the rules of the Penn Colony would add to this explanation. Please tell me what more you learn. Good luck. Paul
Linda Sparks Starr [log in to unmask]
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~lksstarr
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