Josefa's petition for naturalization

Yesterday's post and photo of Josefa Vasquez concentrated on Federico Ronstadt's memoirs recalling his interactions with Josefa, Concepcion Suastegui and Maria Jesus Vasquez Dalton. There is another document I did not include in yesterday's post. Josefa Vasquez completed a petition for naturalization in 1916. The document has some important detail on the dates of arrival for the family into the US.

According to Josefa's petition, she left Altar, Sonora by wagon for the US on 25 November 1864. This is much earlier than I thought. Perhaps the family went to Arizona first, and then on to California. They were clearly in California for the 1870 US Census. One of the family photos of Maria Jesus Vasquez is dated 1864, so perhaps that was taken in California. By Josefa's statement, she had been living in Arizona since 3 May 1878 and continuously since 12 September 1910. Her occupation was rooming house keeper.

1899 Tucson City Directory, via Ancestry.com

According to the Declaration of Intention, Josefa was living at 60 North 6th Avenue at the time. This was the home she inherited from her mother in 1903, and also their address as of the 1899 Tucson City Directory.

Josefa's brother, Adolfo Vasquez, became a citizen on 2 July 1890. There's much more in the newspapers and records on Adolfo, which is where the story will follow next.